Ressoando além da escravidão: Os «caquinhos» nas ruas, palcos teatrais, periódicos e lundus do Rio de Janeiro Imperial (1826-73)

Abstract

The object of this article is an unconventional musical instrument played in Imperial Rio de Janeiro between 1826 and 1873, called ‘cacos’ or ‘caquinhos’. I will examine the shape and sonority of the ‘caquinhos’, what materials they were made of, how, where and by whom they were played, which songs and dances they accompanied and the rhythms they performed. In the first part of the text I will discuss the references to ‘caquinhos’ in travellers’ reports, theatrical comedies and periodicals. In the second part I shall analyse the composition entitled Lundu dos Lavernos – obrigado a caquinhos ou ferrinhos, with music by José Maurício Nunes Garcia Júnior (1808-84) and lyrics by Manuel de Araújo Porto-Alegre (1806-79), whose score was published in the newspaper A Lanterna Mágica, in 1844. I will conclude by pointing out the importance of the ‘caquinhos’ as cultural mediators between the musical practices of enslaved Africans and those adopted by the middle and upper classes of the population.