The composer Hans Joachim Koellreutter started to influence our erudite musical milieu soon after arriving in Brazil in 1937. He first introduced dodecaphonism to our midst. Then he brought a group of musicians-followers together and created the Música Viva movement (1939), that fought against the folkloric nationalism that oriented the local production. He was responsible for the formation of many generations of Brazilian musicians and composers, not only in the erudite milieu but also in the popular: the adolescent Tom Jobim, for example, studied piano, harmony and counterpoint with the German master.

Koellreuter was born in 1915 in Freiburg, Germany. A flute player, conductor and composer, he studied with Hermann Scherchen and Paul Hindemith. In Brazil he worked as a teacher in Rio de Janeiro. He directed courses and founded schools in São Paulo and Salvador. From 1963 onwards he went to India and Japan at the service of the Goethe Institute, countries whose classical music he studied thoroughly. On returning to Brazil in 1975 he continued his activities as a teacher and composer. He now lives in São Paulo.