Cândido Pereira da Silva

Introduction

Cândido Pereira da Silva, known as Candinho Silva or Candinho Trombone (Rio de Janeiro, January 30, 1879 — December 12, 1960), was a trombonist, composer, bandleader, and music copyist. Part of the first generation of Rio choro (the traditional Brazilian instrumental genre that emerged in late 19th-century Rio de Janeiro), he worked in bandas (Brazilian civic and military brass bands), instrumental ensembles, theater orchestras, and symphonic formations.

Author of more than 475 compositions, he also played an equally important role in the preservation of the repertoire of other chorões (players of choro). His musical handwriting, recognized among musicians and researchers, allowed works transmitted in the rodas (the choro circles, where musicians gather to play together) and in informal gatherings to reach the following generations.

Training and Musical Trajectory

Son of the flutist and composer Jerônimo Silva and of Rosa Pereira, Candinho began his musical studies with his father. As a young man, he lived at the Asilo dos Meninos Desvalidos (the "Asylum for Underprivileged Boys"), in Vila Isabel, an institution whose band trained musicians such as Francisco Braga, Paulino Sacramento, and Albertino Pimentel. During that period, he had an accident that caused him to lose the sight in his left eye.

His professional activity passed through the Banda da Fábrica de Tecidos Confiança (the band of the Confiança textile factory), where he reached the post of deputy conductor. At nineteen, he joined the Banda da Polícia Militar do Rio de Janeiro (the Rio Military Police Band), holding the same position. Besides the trombone, he played the bombardino (euphonium) and the bombardão (bass tuba).

In 1916, he recorded on Odeon the polca Soluçando with the group O Passos no Choro. Two years later, he joined the Conjunto Carioca alongside the flutist Antônio Maria Passos, the cavaquinho player Nelson Alves (the cavaquinho is a small four-string instrument akin to the ukulele), and the guitarist Donga.

Candinho also took part in the Africanos de Vila Isabel and the Sociedade Carnavalesca Pragas do Egito, two of Rio's carnival societies. Alongside the rodas de choro, he worked in the orchestra of the Teatro São José, in the Sociedade de Concertos Sinfônicos do Rio de Janeiro, and, from the 1930s onward, as principal trombonist of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra).

Composer and Copyist

Candinho's catalog gathers mainly choros, polcas, and valsas (Brazilian waltzes). His best-known composition is O nó ("The Knot"), a polca marked by unexpected harmonic modulations, responsible both for the title and for the work's fame among the chorões.

Among his other pieces are Soluçando, Reclamando, Triste alegria, Chorando, Dança de urso, Martirizando, Curitibanas, Trinta de janeiro, and O que diz minh'alma. Many remained unpublished or circulated only in handwritten copies.

Because he mastered musical writing, Candinho recorded compositions by musicians who played by ear or did not write scores. His manuscripts preserved works by authors such as Anacleto de Medeiros, Pixinguinha, and other representatives of the first generations of choro. This activity turned his archive into a fundamental source for the study of the genre in the first half of the 20th century.

Important Works

Preservation and Legacy

In 1959, already ill, Candinho handed his musical archive over to Jacob do Bandolim. The collection, later incorporated into the archive of the Museu da Imagem e do Som do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Museum of Image and Sound), gathers his own scores and copies of works by different composers.

In 1979, the bandleader Nelsinho recorded twelve of his compositions on the album Candinho na interpretação de Nelsinho, produced by Elton Medeiros. His work also received a dedicated volume in the collection Princípios do Choro, a project that recovered compositions by fundamental authors in the history of the genre.

Candinho Trombone thus occupies a singular position in choro: he was an instrumentalist present in the main musical environments of his time, the composer of an extensive catalog, and responsible for recording a significant part of a tradition.

Selected Discography

• Candinho na interpretação de Nelsinho, 1979. — Album with twelve compositions performed by the trombonist and bandleader Nelsinho.
• Princípios do Choro – Volume 5, CD 14, 2002. — Selection dedicated to Candinho's work, with arrangements by Maurício Carrilho.

Sources

• Instituto Casa do Choro. Biographical entry and catalog of works of Candinho Trombone.
• Instituto Moreira Salles / Rádio Batuta. Revivendo 1 – Candinho na interpretação de Nelsinho.
• Instituto Moreira Salles / Rádio Batuta. A domingueira de Jacob do Bandolim.