The Polish guitarist Wojtek Niemotko plays Palhaço by Egberto Gismonti, in the guitar arrangement by Sérgio Assad. The recording was made for our Siccas Media programme at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
About Palhaço
Palhaço — Portuguese for "clown" — is one of Egberto Gismonti's best-known melodies, and one of those rare pieces that says almost everything with almost nothing. A simple, circling tune unfolds over a gently rocking accompaniment, and the emotional weight comes not from harmonic complexity but from restraint. The title carries the ambiguity the music needs: the clown is a figure of laughter and of sadness at once, and the piece refuses to settle on either.
Gismonti wrote it as part of his work for the Brazilian stage and screen, and it has since been recorded by musicians across jazz, chamber music and the classical guitar world. On solo guitar it becomes almost transparent — every note is exposed, and the temptation to add expression has to be resisted rather than indulged.
Gismonti and Assad
Egberto Gismonti, born in 1947, is one of Brazil's most singular musicians: pianist, guitarist and composer, trained partly in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and equally at home in jazz, contemporary composition and the folk traditions of his country. His work on the ten-string guitar opened sonorities the instrument had not previously had. Our Gismonti repertoire guide introduces the pieces guitarists play most.
The arrangement is by Sérgio Assad, composer, arranger and — with his brother Odair — half of one of the most influential guitar duos in history. Assad's arrangements are trusted precisely because he does not simply transfer notes: he rethinks a piece for the instrument, which is why his versions of Brazilian repertoire have become standards in their own right. You can hear more Assad in our article on Stephanie Jones' Tiny Concert.
Watch the Performance
For more Brazilian music on six strings, see our profile of Marco Pereira and our overview of famous classical guitar pieces.
