In 1958, Juscelino Kubitschek, president of Brazil, asked Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim to compose a symphonic suite to be used at the opening ceremony of a city that was being built in the middle of Brazil. This city would be Brasilia, the new capital. The composers spent some time at the new city before the inauguration to get around the place and get inspiration and this is the result, recorded in the studio in November 1960. Tom Jobim conducts the orchestra with the participation of Radames Gnattali (piano), Vinicius de Moraes (words, poetry), and bossa nova singers Elizeth Cardoso and Os Cariocas.