Following the release of Brazilian Suite No. 2 (for woodwind trio) and Brazilian Suite No. 3 (for string quartet), Brazilian composer João Marcondes presents Brazilian Suite No. 1 for Piano & Viola, the first piece composed in the series, now being officially released. The work reaffirms Marcondes’s deep engagement with the richness and plurality of Brazilian music.

Since the beginning of his artistic journey, Marcondes has developed a body of work rooted in Brazilian musical genres — from recorded popular music to oral and folk traditions. These expressions, which he regards as inexhaustible sources of melody and rhythm, continue to inspire his creative output.

The Brazilian Suite series is also guided by the legacy of Brazil’s modernist thinkers, particularly Oswald de Andrade and Mário de Andrade, through the concepts of musical Anthropophagy and the landmark Essay on Brazilian Music. With these ideas in mind, Marcondes explores a musical landscape where tradition and contemporary expression intertwine.

Brazilian Suite No. 1 for Piano & Viola represents the composer’s renewed connection with the viola, an instrument from which he had been distanced for some time. The piece was composed for violist Silvio Catto, whose expressive artistry reignited Marcondes’s passion for the instrument. Pianist Ariã Yamanaka also joins the recording, contributing her sensitivity and technical precision in a performance that symbolically inaugurates the series and marks a significant new chapter in the composer’s work.