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DONGA .
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Ernesto Joaquim Maria dos Santos, most known as Donga, (April 5, 1890 – August 25, 1974) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He gained widespread recognition for being initially credited as the sole composer to what is considered the first recorded samba, the 1916 song "Pelo Telefone. Donga was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of Pedro Joaquim Maria and Amélia Silvana de Araújo; he had eight siblings. His father was a bricklayer and played the euphonium in his spare time; his mother was the known Tia Amélia from the group of tias baianas of Cidade Nova and liked to sing modinhas and promoted countless parties. He participated in the musical gatherings at the home of Tia Ciata, alongside João da Baiana, Pixinguinha, Hilário Jovino Ferreira and others. A big fan of Mário Cavaquinho, he started playing that instrument by ear, at the age of 14. Shortly afterwards he learned to play the guitar, studying with Quincas Laranjeiras. In November 1916 he registered in the National Library of Brazil the recording of Pelo Telefone, considered the first recorded samba in history. He organized with Pixinguinha the Orquestra Típica Donga-Pixinguinha. In 1919, together with Pixinguinha and six other musicians, he joined, as a guitarist, the group Oito Batutas, which toured Europe in 1922. Description above licensed by Wikipedia, under creative commons. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
