Choro Music: Abismo de Rosas - A Perennial Classic

Americo Jacomino 'Canhoto'

Americo Jacomino 'Canhoto' (1889-1928) is considered the founder of the violão brasileiro tradition and was elected 'Rei do Violão Brasileiro' after participating in the first officially organized contest of guitarists in Rio de Janeiro 1927 sponsored by the Correio da Manhä newspaper. Canhoto (- meaning 'lefthanded' in English) was one of three finalists, the other two were the blind guitarist Manoel de Lima and a 10 years old girl named Ivonne Rebello. Canhoto contributed with three of his own compositions, Marcha triunfal brasileira, Abismo de rosas and Marcha dos marinheiros and was awarded the first prize which bore the name of 'João Pernambuco' - another of the early Brazilian guitarists of importance and fame in the foundation of the violão brasileiro tradition. All three compositions played by Canhoto at the contest have since belonged to the classic repertoire of the violão, however, the most often performed piece probably is the waltz titled Abismo de rosas - a perennial classic and a stepstone for aspiring guitarists, even today.

Odeon 122933, Abysmo de Rozas

According to available info, Canhoto composed Abismo de Rosas in 1905 following an outburst of a broken heart because he had just been abandoned by his girlfriend. He made three recordings of this waltz: the first, with the name Acordes de violão, was launched at Odeon 121249 in mid-1916 (- available at the two cd-set devoted to solo guitar recordings by Canhoto c.1913-28 on Revivendo, PVPC 008, vol. 1, track 10 or for listening in streaming audio at Instituto Moreira SalLes); the second time, now with the title Abysmo de rozas, the waltz was launched at Odeon 122933 (-see above) in 1925 (- some sources mention 1926) - probably the best known version. The third time Abismo de rosas was added lyrics (by Joäo do Sul) and issued on Odeon 10021 in August 1927, one of the first electrically recorded discs in Brazil. - Below is inserted the audio of Odeon 122933 uploaded at YouTube (- also available in streaming audio at Instituto Moreira Salles)

As mentioned, Abismo de rosas is a perennial classic in the violão brasileiro repertoire, and the composition has been recorded by numerous Brazilian guitarists. Below I'll insert some examples of performance of the the tune by some of the renowned guitarists to celebrate the Centennial of the first recording of this classic

Garoto (Anibal Augusto Sardinha) recorded his version of the waltz playing the violão tenor accompanied by another guitarist in 1942 (Odeon 12201-A)

Next example is Dilermando Reis playing Abismo de rosas, which he recorded several times during his career (- first time in 1952 on a 78 rpm), the version below is probably copied from the LP issue of the tune (- dated 1968 at YouTube)

A live performance of Abismo de rosas as played by Antonio Rago has been saved from a TV show and uploaded at YouTube, inserted here

Raphael Rabello also performed Abismo de rosas in one of his live concerts

Before inserting the last video example this time, I'd like to point to a CD from 2003 recorded by the excellent erudite guitarist Gilson Antunes devoted solely to music composed by Americo Jacomino 'Canhoto'. Arrangements are drawn from the original manuscripts by Canhoto, and there are sixteen tracks at the CD - one of them moreover performed by Gilson Antunes at the guitar of Canhoto

Gilson Antunes, Obras Para Violão de Américo Jacomino (2003)

Gilson Antunes is a professor of the violão and a co-founder of the Violão Brasileiro website, an indispensible resource for research of the guitar in Brazil, accessible here. A career profile of Gilson Antunes (- in Portuguese only) is available at this resource site, here, and in the discography section of the profile you have the opportunity to listen to all tracks in full length of the mentioned CD. Gilson Antunes has further uploaded the CD for free download at his blog, here, and guitarists interested in the written music as played by Gilson Antunes have the opportunity to download a pdf of his transcription of Abismo de rosas, here.