Fernando Rocha Brant (October 9, 1946 – June 12, 2015) was a Brazilian poet, lyricist and journalist, born in Caldas,

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. Brant's interest in music and literature began to increase while he studied law at

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais The Federal University of Minas Gerais (, UFMG) is a federalIn the Brazilian Higher Education context, ''Federal'' does not mean ''collegiate'' (even though most Federal Universities in Brazil enjoy a similarly collegiate system), but it means ...

. At the beginning of the 1960s, Brant made friends with

Milton Nascimento Milton Silva Campos do Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Nascimento has recorded 32 studio albums and has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music ...

who soon became his creative partner and encouraged him to write his first lyrics, "Travessia". The song won the second place in the II Festival International da Canção (International Song Festival) in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in 1967. In the same year, "Travessia" was included in Nascimento's first album and became one of the better known songs in his repertoire. In 1969 Brant got a job as a journalist in

O Cruzeiro ''O Cruzeiro'' (initially just ''Cruzeiro'') was a Brazilian illustrated weekly magazine, published in Rio de Janeiro from 1928 until 1985, with the exception of the period from August 1975 to June 1977. History and profile The publication, subt ...

magazine affiliate in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

. That same year, in Belo Horizonte, Brant and friends began articulating a project that would become

Clube da Esquina Clube da Esquina (, in English "Corner Club") was a Brazilian music artists collective, originating in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is also the name of a double album from 1972. Clube da Esquina mixes rock and roll, progressive rock, ...

, an influential Brazilian music artists collective. His partnership with Milton Nascimento resulted in over 200 songs recorded by the most respected artists in Brazil. Among Milton-Brant most famous compositions are "

Travessia ''Travessia'' (English title: ''The Path'') is a Brazilian telenovela created by Glória Perez. It is produced and broadcast by TV Globo, and aired from 10 October 2022 to 5 May 2023. The telenovela follows the story of Brisa (Lucy Alves), who see ...

", "Maria Maria", "Canção da América", "Encontros e Despedidas", "Ponta de Areia", and "Nos Bailes da Vida". Brant composed more than 300 songs with multiple partners. He also wrote scripts and lyrics for ballets and plays, and soundtracks for Brazilian

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

and

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

s. On June 12, 2015, Fernando Brant died in Belo Horizonte from complications of a second

liver transplantation Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, al ...

surgery.

References

External links

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Fernando Brant interview

Fernando Brant at Clube da Esquina Museum
1946 births 2015 deaths Brazilian male songwriters Brazilian composers People from Minas Gerais {{Brazil-composer-stub