Manhã de Carnaval


"Manhã de Carnaval" is a song by Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá and lyricist Antônio Maria.
"Manhã de Carnaval" appeared as a principal theme in the 1959 Portuguese-language film Orfeu Negro by French director Marcel Camus. The film's soundtrack also included songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, as well as another composition by Bonfá. "Manhã de Carnaval" appears in multiple scenes in the film, including versions sung or hummed by both the principal characters, as well as an instrumental version, so that the song has been described as the "main" musical theme of the film. In the portion of the film in which the song is sung by the character Orfeu, portrayed by Breno Mello, the song was dubbed by Agostinho dos Santos. The song was initially rejected for inclusion in the film by Camus, but Bonfá was able to convince the director that the music for Manhã de Carnaval was superior to the song Bonfá composed as a replacement. Orfeu Negro was an international success, and brought the song to a large audience.
"Manhã de Carnaval"' became one of the first Bossa Nova compositions to gain popularity outside Brazil. Particularly in the United States, the song is considered to be one of the most important Brazilian Jazz/Bossa songs that helped establish the Bossa Nova movement in the late 1950s. Manhã de Carnaval has become a jazz standard in the USA, while it is still performed regularly by a wide variety of musicians around the world in its vocalized version or just as an instrumental one. In the United States, the song is also known as "A Day in the Life of a Fool", "Carnival", "Theme from Black Orpheus", or simply "Black Orpheus". In France, the song is also known as "La Chanson d'Orphée". All versions of foreign texts were written by lyricists other than Antônio Maria, using Bonfá's original music.

Recordings of Manhã de Carnaval

There is an Arabic version of << Manhã de Carnaval >> song by Fairuz in her Wala Keef album released in early 2002, entitled << Shu Bkhaf >>. Lyrics and arrangements are by her son author, composer and arranger Ziad Rahbany.

Lyrics other than Portuguese

Although not as popular as the vast number of interpretations with Portuguese lyrics, the song can also be found with a few English lyrics adaptations and in some other languages as well. None of the versions in other languages were written by Brazilian songwriters.