Tico-tico no fubá

The piece opens with a bright, bouncing tune passed quickly between instruments, built from short repeating phrases that seem to chase each other, much like the small birds (the "tico-tico") the title describes pecking at cornmeal ("fubá") in a farmyard. There is no slow introduction, the tempo is brisk from the first bar and stays that way throughout. Listen for a series of short strains, each a little different in melodic shape, that alternate with a recurring main theme, in the manner of the Brazilian choro style from which the piece comes, a genre built on quick interplay between melody and syncopated accompaniment. A middle section often shifts the color slightly, sometimes leaning into a minor-key tinge before the opening tune returns to close things off with a flourish. In orchestral and solo-instrument arrangements, the soloist or lead section usually gets a chance to show off with rapid, precise passagework, since the tune's charm depends on crisp articulation at high speed. There is no pause for breath built into the structure, the piece runs straight through in one continuous burst of energy, so the "moment" listeners wait for is really the cumulative thrill of the whole thing staying airborne without a single beat missed.

Zequinha de Abreu, a Brazilian composer and clarinetist, wrote "Tico-tico no fubá" in the 1910s as a choro, a fast Brazilian instrumental dance genre built on syncopation and virtuosic interplay. It was originally titled "Tico-tico no farelo," and the piece circulated widely among Brazilian popular musicians before it gained international attention decades later, boosted by film appearances and recordings in the 1940s that carried it to audiences in the United States and Europe. It has since been arranged for essentially every combination of instruments imaginable, from solo guitar to full orchestra, and remains one of the most recognized Brazilian melodies outside Brazil. Its title refers to a small bird pecking at cornmeal, a homely image matched by the tune's quick, pecking rhythms. Today it appears on orchestral pops programs and as a bravura encore for visiting soloists.