Quarteto Em Cy

The sisters Cyva, Cynara, Cybele, and Cylene established the Quarteto em Cy, widely regarded as the preeminent female vocal ensemble in MPB. During the opening years of the 1960s the group received its name from composers Vinícius de Moraes and Carlos Lira after the four siblings had become acquainted with both men. The quartet subsequently toured Brazil and South America alongside Vinícius de Moraes, Dorival Caymmi, Baden Powell, and Oscar Castro-Neves, while also appearing in historic festivals where they presented “Samba do Crioulo Doido” by Sérgio Porto, “Apelo” by Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes, and “Pedro Pedreiro” by Chico Buarque de Hollanda. Among their notable stage productions were Resistindo, based on texts by Aldir Blanc, Em Mil Kilohertz, Cobra de Vidro performed jointly with the MPB-4, and O Rio Amanheceu Cantando shared with Elizete Cardoso. Their recordings subsequently appeared in Japan, Portugal, France, Spain, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, and the United States.

In 1963 the ensemble supplied the soundtrack for Alex Viany’s film Sol Sobre a Lama and made its official debut on 30 June 1964 at Bottle’s Bar inside the legendary Beco das Garrafas. Later that year the singers contributed vocals to a Vinícius de Moraes and Dorival Caymmi presentation at Rio’s Zum Zum club and issued their inaugural LP, Quarteto em Cy. By 1966 Regina had taken Cylene’s place; the revised lineup then traveled to the United States for appearances on Andy Williams’ Coast-to-Coast on NBC in Los Angeles, The Joey Bishop Show on ABC, engagements at the Sahara and Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe, the San Jeronimo Hilton Hotel in Puerto Rico, and the Shamrock Hilton Hotel in Houston, Texas. Upon returning to Brazil, Cynara and Cybele secured third place at the II Festival Internacional da Canção with Chico Buarque’s “Carolina.” In 1968 the same pair performed the winning entry of the III FIC, “Sabiá” by Chico Buarque and Tom Jobim. When the quartet was once again booked for American dates, Cynara and Cybele departed and were succeeded by Cynthia and Cymíramis. The group ultimately disbanded in the United States in January 1970.

Two years afterward Cyva, who had resettled in Brazil, reassembled the quartet with Cynara, Soninha (Sônia Maria Ferreira de Medeiros Albuquerque), and Dorinha (Dora Tapajós Gomes). In 1980 Cybele assumed Dorinha’s role, establishing the configuration that endured. The singers appeared at a bossa nova festival in Tokyo in 1989 and participated in a Japanese television special alongside Carlos Lira, Leila Pinheiro, Uakti, and Célia Vaz, who had served as the quartet’s musical director since 1980. Invited by the Spanish government, they toured Madrid, Sevilla, Salamanca, Cáceres, Huelva, and Badajós in 1992 with Gilson Peranzzetta, Lira, and Maria Creuza. Further visits to Japan followed in 1997 and 1998 for additional concerts and the release of another CD, every one of the group’s albums having been issued in that country. The Sharp prize for Best Vocal Group of the Year was conferred upon them in 1997. In January 2001 they issued the live recording Quarteto em Cy e Luiz Claudio Ramos, drawn from a 1981 tribute to the late Vinícius de Moraes staged at Curitiba’s Paiol theater.