Francisca Edviges Neves Gonzaga.
Better known as Chiquinha Gonzaga, was a famed musician known for composing the first ever Carnaval March as well as being the first brazilian woman to lead an orchestra as Maestro. Her contributions to the field of music have marked her as a national icon whose birth is celebrated to this day, though that was far from her only endeavor, Francisca was adept in various genres of music, including polka, valsa, tango, choro and, of course, samba as her chosen medium.
After separating from her first husband, Chiquinha lived as an independent musician, playing piano in music instrument stores. She gave piano lessons to support her son João Gualberto, regardless of society critics because she was raising a child without a husband. She was devoted entirely to her music, which was very successful, as her career grew and she became very famous as a composer of polkas, waltzes, tangos and ditties. Chiquinha began to participate in balls and “chorões'' reunions, normally reserved for men, where she met the flautist Joaquim Antônio da Silva Callado and started to play in his group, O Choro do Calado, being the first woman to play in this group.
The need to adjust the piano sound to popular taste are the reason for Chiquinha Gonzaga's glory to become the first popular composer of Brazil. During this time she composed her first success, the polka "Atraente", in 1877, “composed by the piano, as an improvisation, during a ‘choro’ meeting”. At that time, she was famous but highly criticized by the masculine society of her time. In 1884, she composed the waltz "Walkyria", considered one of her most beautiful waltzes.
After the success of her first printed composition, she decided to start to do vaudeville and revue. She composed the costume operetta "A Corte na Roça" in 1885. In 1911, her greatest success in the theater was the operetta "Forrobodó", that reached 1500 straight shows after the premiere - until today the best show of its kind in Brazil.
In 1900, Chiquinha meets the irreverent artist Nair de Tefé von Hoonholtz, the first woman cartoonist in the world, a bohemian woman from a noble family, and they become great friends. Between 1902 and 1910, Chiquinha traveled through Europe, becoming particularly famous in Portugal, where she wrote songs for various authors.
Shortly after her return from Europe, her friend Nair de Tefé married the Brazilian president Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca, becoming the first lady of Brazil. Chiquinha was invited by Nair de Tefé a few evenings at Catete Palace, the presidential palace, even against the will of Nair's family. Chiquinha was already very famous but very criticized by the society of her time. Once, in 1914, for the premiere of "Corta Jaca" at the presidential palace, the first lady joined Chiquinha on guitar, playing an excerpt from the song composed by the pianist. This episode was considered a scandal at the time, with public critics against the government, the life at the palace, the promotion and dissemination of music whose origins were in "vulgar" dances, contrary to the values of the aristocratic social elite. Playing Brazilian popular music in the palace of the Brazilian Government was regarded at the time as a violation of the protocol, which caused controversy in the upper echelons of society and politicians. After the end of his presidential term, Hermes da Fonseca and Nair de Tefé moved to France, where they remained for a long time. Because of this episode, Chiquinha and Nair ended up losing touch.
In 1934, at age 87, she wrote her last composition, the opera "Maria".Due to the popularity of her music, many people began to use her music and content without permission, and they were abusing her work as a musician this led to Chiquinha founding the Brazilian Society of Theater Authors, in 1917, which was the first society put into place to copyright and protect works by Brazilian artists.
By the end of her life, she composed music for 77 theater plays and was the author of about 2,000 compositions in different genres: waltzes, polkas, tangos, lundus, maxixes, Fado, quadrilles, mazurkas, Choros and serenades.
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A woman dedicated to her craft, Chiquinha as a servant isn’t interested in wishes or grails. Her only focus is in improving her ability to captivate the masses and produce ever greater musical marvels. She’s downright obsessed with this goal and will often break out into song or dance if she can think of something interesting, looking for inspiration in new forms of music to find ways to improve herself.
In some ways she’s both maestro and diva, capable of playing a multitude of roles in any kind of performance, proud of her ability to guide others by example and to give others something to be happy or excited about.
This also makes her difficult to engage into if you’re not on the same wavelength.
As a musician, Chiquinha is a perfectionist, and often won’t stop working until she’s satisfied. She’s also quite happy to lend her talents to those looking for a bit of entertainment, seeing as she was a part of many popular genres of music during her time that are popular to this day.
She considers herself a trend setter.
When it comes to other servants, Gonzaga will consider them as either one of two groups. Fellow artists or an audience. As a Servant without much offensive power to speak of, her abilities as a caster lie on improving her own position by setting up large scale performances and reaping the benefits through her unique array of skills. In that way, she’s every bit a show woman.
During the World Grail Quest, Caster was part of one of the South American factions, working alongside the likes of King Sebastian and other local servants to create an impenetrable defense against outsider factions. Though she herself mostly dealt with entertaining the faction and building up a following, disguised as a budding musician to establish a steady supply of mana for herself and others.
Gonzaga constantly complains about modern copyright laws no longer protecting her work. Though this allows her to play her own songs without being bothered, she refuses to comment on any mention of the scandalous may-december romance which was discovered after her passing and that of her lover, though she won’t hesitate to sing his praises if prompted.
She is very much a lover of the arts, and loves discovering talents in those surrounding her, specially her fellow heroes and even enemy Servants.
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Originally Posted by DelRey
