Vinicius de Moraes

Vinicius de Moraes (October 19, 1913 - July 9, 1980), born as Marcus Vinícius da Cruz de Melo Morais in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music. As a poet, he wrote lyrics for a great number of songs that became all-time classics. As a composer, he wrote some good music, and as an interpreter, he left several important albums.

Advanced studies and early career

Heading to England (1938) with an English government scholarship to study literature at Oxford University, he wrote Novos Poemas. At that time he was married by proxy. With the winds of the World War II, de Moraes returned to Rio in 1941, and began to write film reviews and critiques in newspapers and magazines. Two years later, he joined Brazil's diplomatic service and released his book Cinco Elegias. In 1946, he was sent to Los Angeles as vice-consul in his first diplomatic assignment, and released his work Poemas, Sonetos e Baladas.

Related Topics:
England - 1938 - Scholarship - Literature - Oxford University - World War II - 1941 - 1946 - Los Angeles

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Beginning 1950, de Moraes returned to Brazil due to his father's death. His first samba (composed along with musician Antônio Maria), was Quando Tu Passas por Mim, released in 1953, a year in which he moved to France as Brazil's embassy second secretary. His play Orfeu da Conceição won the IV São Paulo Centennial Contest in 1954. The next year he wrote lyrics for some of Cláudio Santoro's chamber music pieces, and later he staged Orfeu da Conceição, later translated to cinema as Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro, Marcel Camus, 1959), co-produced between Brazil, France, Italy and Portugal. He was then introduced to an unknown pianist, Tom Jobim, who was commissioned with writing the music for the play. Jobim composed the music of Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Você, Um Nome de Mulher, and several others songs, that were recorded with Luís Bonfá, between others. Following a return to another diplomatic assignments at France and Uruguay, he released his books Livro de Sonetos and Novos Poemas II.

Related Topics:
1950 - Samba - Antônio Maria - 1953 - France - São Paulo - 1954 - Cláudio Santoro - Marcel Camus - 1959 - Brazil - Italy - Portugal - Tom Jobim - Luís Bonfá

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