Irmãos Valença Biography

Winners of the Carnaval of Recife three times, with the maracatu “Ô, Já Vou” and the marches “Nós dois” and “Foi você,” the brothers João Vítor do Rego Valença and Raul do Rego Valença, from a musical family, wrote many musical plays, revues, and songs in their youth, just for fun; all of them were staged at the Santa Isabel theater in Recife, Pernambuco, by the Gente Nossa group. In 1930, they wrote their first carnival march, “Mulata.” The song became an immortal classic of MPB and one of the biggest hits of the repertory of marchinhas two years later, when Lamartine Babo modified it in part, launching it as “O Teu Cabelo Não Nega,” recorded by Castro Barbosa. This was followed by a series of awards for the brothers, who were credited in each edition of the song together with Babo. Their compositions were recorded by many top artists of their time, with highlights being Carlos Galhardo (his debut on record was with the marcha “Você Não Gosta de Mim,” and he had success with the maracatus “Pisa Baiana” and “Sustente o Baque”), Francisco Alves (“A Lua Veio Ver”), Mário Reis (“Você Faz Assim Comigo”), Almirante (“Se Tu Quiseres uma Casinha”), Augusto Calheiros (“Que Esperança, Meu Bem” and “Boneca Sem Coração”), Manezinho Araújo (“Um Sonho Que Durou Três Dias,” another big Carnaval hit), Odete Amaral (“O Mandarim”), Ciro Monteiro (“Dama de Ouro,” “Lá…Rá…Lá…Lá,” and “Rosinha”), Nélson Gonçalves (“As Covinhas de Laiá”), Alcides Gerardi (“Está Legal”), and the Orquestra Tabajara (“Ninguém me Tira o Pedaço”).