Against the excesses: limits, balance and love in bossa nova examines the sparingly aesthetics that marked a new movement in modern Brazilian music. Using the concepts of Nietzsche´s aesthetic philosophy, especially outlined in his first book, The Birth of Tragedy this study describes the creation process of bossa nova music as a constant struggle against the existing 1950´s Brazilian music excesses, in a regular search for balance between opposing terms. Three main aspects are addressed in the construction of this style: an innovative interpretation by singer Joao Gilberto, based on the obsessive search of a perfect balance between singing and talking; the melodic and harmonic music of composer Tom Jobim, establishing a musical structure that conciliated the maximum of expressiveness with minimum resources - and the softer and bright content of the lyrics in opposition to the dramatic style that prevailed in sambacanção songs that dominated the musical scene. For its self- consciousness, liberal content, balance and serenity, the bossa nova is defined as a markedly Apollonian movement, although there is always some Dionysian aspect at least in its more prominent songs. These qualities are also crucial in the formulation of the love concept that is consistent with the language of this new music style and with the social class and period of time expectations. Therefore, the bossa nova poetry is characterized by a softer and less dramatic concept of love that is based more in the present than in the past, in which all feelings, even the saddest ones, are surrounded by a gratifying aura of tenderness. Keywords