Noel Rosa: Making Samba History

Son of Manuel de Medeiros Rosa and Martha de Azevedo, Noel de Medeiros Rosa was born on December 11, 1910 in the neighborhood of Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro. The childbirth was difficult, time consuming, and the baby had to be removed by forceps, leaving a mark on Rosa that at the time of school earned him the nickname "Little Chin".

As he sang in the verse above, from "Feitio de Oração" ("Prayer Format"), since his student days at São Bento High School, in Rio de Janeiro, Noel Rosa was already doing samba. He was a colleague of Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga (Braguinha), with whom he would later form (together with Henrique Brito, Alvinho and Almirante), the "Flor do Tempo" ensemble, renamed in 1929 as "Bando de Tangarás" (something like a "Bunch of tangarás" - a kind of brazilian bird).

In 1931, Noel Rosa entered the Faculty of Medicine. But Rosa didn't attend classes and stayed only a few months in college. His family was very disappointed, but luckily for Brazilian music, Rosa knew very well what he wanted.

A prolific composer, Noel Rosa continued writing and recording dozens of songs each year. A kind person, he accumulated partners (Bide, Braguinha, Vadico, Cartola, Ismael Silva, Orestes Barbosa, Lamartine Babo etc.). Eclectic, Rosa composed rumbas, waltzes, marches and sambas, addressing a wide variety of themes, among which one deserves attention: the daily life. Rosa is acclaimed as the greatest chronicler of Brazilian music. (In the picture, Rosa's Professional registration document as a singer).

Noel Rosa gets tuberculosis, doctors advise him to abandon his bohemian life and take better care of his health. In response to the appeals of his mother and wife, Rosa even tries, but cannot leave the bohemia. Sneak away from home at night to meet friends and make music. In his last year of life, he composes sad and powerful sambas, such as "Eu sei sofrer" ("I know how to suffer") whose verses are above, and "Último Desejo" ("Last Wish").

Noel Rosa died in Rio de Janeiro on May 4, 1937 at the age of 26. He left more than 250 songs admittedly of his own, and surely a few dozen whose authorship he sold (as was usual at the time). Author of classics of the Brazilian music, it was in "Feitio de Oração" ("Prayer Format") that Noel Rosa eternalized the definition of samba genesis: "The samba in reality does not come from the hill / Not even from the city / And who bear a passion / Will feel that the samba then / Is born in the heart".