Luperce Miranda is one of the most important composer of choros for the bandolim, the brazilian mandolin. Miranda was born in 1904 and died in 1977, he has composed more than 500 choros.
You can find some biographical notes about Miranda in the Choro Blog: Luperce Miranda – King of the Mandolin
Many of Mirandas compositions are played until today. The Brazilian bandolim player Dudu Maia has recorded a complete CD with compositions by Miranda some time ago with his band A Quattro.
Bandolim Brasileiro – A Quattro toca Luperce Miranda
Dudu Maia – bandolim 10 cordas
Fernando Cesar – violao 7 cordas
Pedro vasconcellos – cavaco
Valerinho – pandeiro
musica: norival aos sessenta (Luperce Miranda)
www.myspace.com/bandolimbrasileiro
Compositions by Luperce Miranda have been published some time ago in a book titled Brasil na Pauta (da Fonseca publishing company – it might be difficult to find this, but I can really recommend this book!).
The transcriptions in this edition are very clear, the typical rhytmical variations played in choro music have not been included in the transcriptions. Instead the basic rhythm of the music has been transcribed. This makes it quite easy to read and play those pieces, and so I think that this book is very good suited for beginners who want to start to play choro music. Later it is still possible to add the rhythmical variations – those can be learned from listening to good recordings of choro music.
The book does also contain useful biographical information about Luperce Mirand – unfortunately only in Portuguese. However one important information can be found, that should be known. Miranda frequently used an instrument for his recordings that was tuned in A instead in G. The transcriptions in this book however were based on the sound of the music. To play the pieces in the way they were played by Miranda it is necessary to play some of the pieces one note lower than transcribed. For some pieces this does not make a big difference, but for other pieces it is absolutely necessary to be able to play the pieces in the required tempo.
One of the best pieces composed by Luperce Mirando is Quando me Lembro. This piece is frequently played on the bandolim, but also on the guitar or even on the accordion. For mandolin players this is a really interesting piece with typical elements of the classical mandolin technique – especially a beautiful part in duo style.
The following video shows a version played by Marco de Pinna, other versions can be found in my playlist at the end.
Danilo Brito – Quando me Lembro (Luperce Miranda) – Instrumental SESC Brasil – 30/03/2010
Nomeado o melhor instrumentista brasileiro, aos 19 anos, pelo júri do 7º Prêmio Visa, Danilo Brito lançou, aos 24, seu terceiro CD, “Sem restrições” (Tratore, 2009), com composições inéditas de sua autoria e de seus contemporâneos. Participação de Luizinho 7 Cordas (violão de 7 cordas); Alexandre Ribeiro (clarinete); João Camarero (violão) e Rafael Toledo (percussão).
Another favorite tune of mine is Nea Sorrindo. This was recorded by the 12 year old bandolim player Tiago Tunes:
Nea Sorrindo – Luperce Miranda
Tiago Tunes, 12 anos, tocando Nea Sorrindo, de Luperce Miranda.
Playlist Luperce Miranda
Luperce Miranda – Historical Radio & TV Shows
Learn to play Brazilian Choro (Amazon partnerlink)
Brazilian Choro: A Method for Mandolin and Bandolim
by Marilynn Mair (Author), Pablo Sa (Author) –