program notes by composition > T > Tico-Tico
Tico-Tico
Zequinha Abreu/arr. by Naohiro Iwai
Tico-Tico Zequinha Abreu (1880-1935) was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A musician from an early age, he composed nearly 100 works by the age of 25. In 1917 his orchestra played his new composition, still unnamed, at a ball. The jumpy, fast-tempo song made the dancing couples go crazy. Abreu observed that those people looked just like tico-ticos (a kind of little bird) eating corn meal, which is the meaning of the song’s eventual name "Tico-tico No Fubá". The song became popular in the early 1940’s in Brazil, and in the U.S. where it was sung by Carmen Miranda and included in a movie by Walt Disney.
Last updated on April 5, 2012 by Palatine Concert Band