Stories about the musics
The intention behind this project — beyond the simple (and essential) joy of musical aesthetic pleasure — is to present original compositions that highlight traditional Brazilian rhythms and to create a modern repertoire that can be played by musicians and students. We’re making the sheet music for the arrangements available, along with playbacks and videos.
We aim to include both people who are rooted in oral tradition and those who are used to reading sheet music. This is a project for anyone who wants to dive deeper into Brazilian string techniques or who feels like exploring this repertoire.
The album’s sound image is meant to stay true to our live performances — Vanille on the right and Ricardo on the left. We paid close attention to this detail since we play instruments with very similar timbres.
Since we play 10 different instruments throughout the album, we invite you to check out the instruments page as well.
01
INTRODUCTION ARCOS BRASILEIROS - improviso 1:23
Welcome to our world — this dialogue between the rabeca and the violin.
Ricardo: rabeca 5 cordas (Rabeca São Paulo)
Vanille: violino (ver a página os instrumentos)
02
R: This piece came from a commission — someone wanted a tribute to her husband, who’s Hungarian and loves rabeca and Northeastern Brazilian music. I already had a forró sitting in the drawer, half-finished, and decided to blend it with a typical Hungarian scale that has that very “Eastern European” flavor.
For the groove (rhythmic pattern), I chose maracatu — a rhythm from Pernambuco that mixes beautifully with forró — and that’s how this new tune, “Maracatúngaro,” was born. The original forró pops up briefly in the middle. If you catch it, you win a prize!
For the instrumentation, we went with this blend of rabeca and violin. In this version, we left plenty of room for improvisation, like in the intro and in a section right in the middle.
Ricardo: rabeca 5 cordas (Rabeca São Paulo)
Vanille: violino (André Amaral, SP)
03
R: This toada came all at once. It’s a heartfelt tribute to one of the most inspired — and inspiring — musicians to ever walk this earth: the great master Dominguinhos. I had just read in the newspaper that he had fallen into a coma he wouldn’t recover from. He had left us.
I immediately picked up the violin and composed this very Northeastern-sounding melody. In this arrangement, we trade off between the melody and a pizzicato accompaniment. The melody was born in the heat of that loss. Even so, what came out isn’t sad, but nostalgic — a piece that moves you through its simplicity, much like Dominguinhos’ most beautiful compositions.
It’s one of the most intimate moments in our concerts.
04
R: This composition grew out of the idea of a really free-spirited forró, the kind that spreads across the dance floor full of spins and twirls. I first recorded it on the album with Nelson Ayres, and here we created a pretty challenging version for two violins. We love playing this one — a lot of times, it’s the one that kicks off our show!
05
R: This is an older composition I wrote for an instrumental group I used to play with in France — Tekerê. The name comes from three different inspirations: it starts with an ijexá, as a nod to those descending guitar lines by Milton Nascimento (berets), then moves into a march inspired by the melodies of Dori Caymmi (mustaches), and finishes with a frevo (umbrellas). It’s the piece we’ve been using to wrap up our duo concerts.
R: This chamamé is one of those pieces that’s followed me through all my different lineups. It was born from a little provocation by Yamandú Costa. One day he asked me if I knew what a “chamamé” was. I didn’t think I did — but when I looked into it, I realized I’d actually heard plenty of chamamés during my stays in Rio Grande do Sul, visiting my father’s side of the family.
I’ve recorded it with Yamandú himself, with my trio, with Samuca do Acordeon, and with Camerata Romeu — each version completely different.
In this duo version, we highlight the final solo, splitting it between us and bringing the voice in alongside the violin. That idea started as a spontaneous spark from Vanille — and ended up becoming part of the arrangement.
R: This is another forró inspired by the sound of the rabeca, brought over to the violin. It starts in a key that shifts the violin’s tone color, deliberately trying to get closer to that raw rabeca sound. It’s full of breaks, key changes, and plenty of improvisation.
It wraps up with a high-energy improvised section in a super fast forró — almost like a cavalo-marinho.
08
R: The only reinterpretation on the album. Our arrangement for two violins of this great choro classic grew out of a solo violin version I recorded on “Aqui é o Meu Lá.” Vanille discovered that solo version before she even met me in person. When we finally met — on a boat heading to Ilha do Cardoso (SP) to research fandango caiçara — she remembered the video she had seen on YouTube.
V: Ricardo wrote the first solo sheet music version of this piece for me.
We moved in together, got married, and after two years of studying this piece at home, Ricardo started popping into the bedroom improvising an accompaniment, just for fun. It felt so good that little by little we began sharing more of the melody and the accompaniment, until this two-violin arrangement came to life.
I think of this piece as Ricardo’s “arrangement squared” — the arrangement of the arrangement. To me, it represents the peak of his technical work, because it brings together absolutely everything: rhythm, melody, harmony, swing, even improvisation — and most importantly… playfulness.
09 MOURINHO - Ricardo Herz 5:12
Vanille e Ricardo : rabecas 5 cordas (rabeca SP)
R: This is probably the piece I’ve recorded and played the most in my life. It was my very first composition — a forró inspired by what’s maybe the most iconic piece of the Armorial movement, “Mourão,” by Clóvis Pereira and Guerra-Peixe.
V: We really dove into researching the sound of violins and rabecas. That’s why we decided to record two versions: one as a violin duo, and another with 5-string rabecas.
R: We thought it would be cool to keep both, so you can really hear the differences and similarities between the two instruments. In these versions we left a big section open for improvisation. You can also notice how the sound and possibilities of each instrument influence the way we solo in different ways.
V: With a rabeca in my hands, for example, I feel super inspired to get closer to the sound of the rabecas I heard during my research. The idea was to be able to compare the two interpretations. So… what did you think?
R: This is a brand-new xote that I’ve been playing in a few duo concerts. It didn’t have a name for a while, so just for fun, we asked the audience to suggest one. After a show with Vanille, a musician friend (thanks, Cyran!) came up with this name. We loved it because it captures this poetic dialogue between France and Brazil.
In this arrangement, we explore a bit of the violin’s jazz side, with some really improvised moments.
V: Olinda (PE) is my heart city. I arrived in Brazil researching the rabeca and forró, and I was totally surprised and blown away by Pernambuco’s cultural richness — and, among other things, I discovered frevo.
This composition came to me at the start of 2025, while we were deep into a repertoire of traditional frevos that we’d be performing with the band Fios de Choro and Antônio Nóbrega, paying close attention to the orchestral arrangements. That same year, we were going to spend Carnival in Olinda. The music just appeared, in a quick, natural process — no overthinking.
Since I love mixing styles and creating dialogues, the title refers to the introduction from Jacob do Bandolim’s “Noites Cariocas”, which is also part of our duo repertoire.
R: This composition was born from the desire to honor this incredibly rich tradition from Maranhão. It’s based on the boi de matraca rhythm and was made to be learned through oral transmission. The first time we played it was at a beautiful festival in Germany that combines a popular violin festival with a Forró festival, the ForróXperience (Leipzig Bahnhof), where we performed and taught in the first two editions. At that festival, all music is passed down by ear. It was such a fun exercise — composing something to be shared this way. Now, on the album, even though we recorded it as a duo, we still hear it with the memory of all the violinists at the festival, our hearts full of sweet nostalgia.
V: Ricardo chose the key of Eb major, which isn’t usually associated with the traditional rabeca, but he wanted that sound, connected to the voice. For the recording arrangement, we picked rabecas for their unique tones, which carry the simplicity of the music beautifully. Ricardo handled all the accompaniment on the 5-string rabeca built by luthiers Adam Bahrami and Mateus Andrade (Rabeca SP), bringing in a reference to the tambor onça — a kind of deep cuíca typical of Maranhão’s boi.
I played the melody on a gourd rabeca that I built in 2019 during Ricardo Bressans’ rabeca workshop (SP). The strings are mandolin strings, giving the instrument a sound that matches the delicacy of the music (GDAE).
Instruments on this track:
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Ricardo: 5-string rabeca (Rabeca São Paulo)
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Vanille: gourd rabeca (Vanille & Ricardo Bressans, SP)
V: Do you know what a lepidopterologist is? It’s someone who studies butterflies.
After a show in Monte Verde (SP) where I played this forró, someone from the audience came up to me and said: “I’m a lepidopterologist [first time I’d ever heard that word]. Did you know butterflies are really interesting insects? They actually get two lives: one as a caterpillar and then another as a butterfly.”
That idea really resonated with how I see my own life — which went through a big transformation when I decided to move to Brazil. From a French caterpillar, day by day I’m turning into a Brazilian butterfly: lighter, more colorful, able to fly and connect with all the poetry of popular culture.
Instruments: 5-string rabecas (Rabeca São Paulo)
V: This baião is one of Herz’s classics and has been recorded on several albums with different lineups (duos with Nelson Ayres, Yamandú Costa, Ricardo Herz Trio, Camerata Romeu, etc.). I thought it was important to include it on the album because, from Ricardo’s work, it’s the favorite piece of so many people.
R: A Inocente came from an inspiration in children’s songs. It’s almost a folk tune, where I focus on simplicity and playfulness.
R: This composition was born from the idea of creating a moto perpetuo — those nonstop sixteenth-note melodies. As the great Hamilton de Holanda says, a “machine gun for good.” In its form and harmony, it’s a choro, a bit crooked — hence the name Minhoca (Worm).
In the middle of the piece, I had the idea to add an even quirkier section (a 7/16) and then a samba, and that’s how this mix came together… I’ve already recorded it with my trio and with Camerata Romeu.
Here’s the version for two violins, where we trade off dynamically between melodies and accompaniments — just the way we love it.
V: A forró written in the typical language of the rabeca, celebrating a Brazil full of colors and inviting Ijexá and voices to complete the picture.
Ricardo: 5-string rabeca (Rabeca São Paulo)
Vanille: 4-string rabeca tuned “Pernambuco” DAEB (Damião, RN)
V: Here’s a tribute to Mestre Luiz Paixão, a major reference for the Pernambuco rabeca. I had the chance to meet him in 2018 and had the honor of taking my first steps on the rabeca with him, studying at his home. I didn’t even speak Portuguese yet — it was a meeting full of observation and intuition.
“Salve Mestres” is the first piece I composed thinking in the language of forró, and I realized that many other inspirations popped up from Brazilian artists (Egberto Gismonti, Hermeto Pascoal, among others) — but not only them: jazz musicians from all over the world that I listened to while studying at the Jazz Conservatory in France also influenced me.
This music carries many “languages,” showing how the work of masters and other artists influences us and becomes an intrinsic part of who we are.
Ricardo: 5-string rabeca (Rabeca São Paulo)
Vanille: 5-string rabeca (Valdecir da Rabeca, PI)
R: This is a tribute to a truly Brazilian sport that blends tradition, health, mandinga, fight, and music — a classic Afro-Brazilian cultural expression. For this piece, I was inspired by the iúna rhythm (recorded by Mestre Dalua and Felipe Roseno for the Ebatuque app). The accompaniment comes from that berimbau pattern. This rhythm has a particularity: traditionally, it’s only played for masters, and no singing is included. For the music, I took the liberty of creating a melody inspired by other capoeira rhythms, like São Bento Grande. This is the only track on the album recorded with more than two instruments. The arrangement came from Vanille’s idea, inspired by the dynamics of a capoeira circle: one person leads the song, everyone responds, two players stay in the center, but the game can be joined by another, and the pairs keep rotating.
V: We used all the rabecas we had in the house (8 in total) plus a violin, each instrument with its own personality and distinctive tone. Normally we don’t play with all of them at once, but for the album, everyone joined the game!
Instruments used: 10 in total — 1 violin and 10 rabecas