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Paper for Section IV: Countries other than India


        Tunes of the Adventurers: A History of Portuguese Music

                                          Poulami Aich

                              Research Fellow, The Asiatic Society
                                 1, Park Street, Kolkata-700061




Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence expressed through time. Here my focus will

be on Portuguese music as an essential part of Portuguese Culture. Geographically isolated from

the rest of Europe, Portugal, with neighbouring Spain, at one time ruled the entire world due to a

papal decree that divided all territories between them. The enormous wealth that came to

Portugal from their colonies created the possibility under monarchs who were pre-disposed to the

arts to develop cultural patrimony. These are evidenced in the music history of Portugal, which

despite its firm European roots, nevertheless reflects the intercontinental cultural interactions

begun in the Portuguese ‘Discoveries’.


       Portuguese musical traditions are diverse and dynamic. They reflect multifarious

historical, cultural, and political processes with influences from non-European cultures from both

North and sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil. Its genres range from classical to popular music.

Portugal’s music history includes musical history from the medieval Gregorian Chants through

Carlos Seixas’ Symphony Era to the composers of the Modern Era. Portuguese music

encompasses musical production of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic

and Modern eras. Portuguese music reflects its rich history and privileged geographical location.
Starting from Afonso V (1432-81) and John II (1455-95) up to King John V (1707-1750) many

Portuguese monarchs patronized and contributed to the evolution of Portuguese music.


       Like other European courts, the Portuguese court had a predilection for religious music

rather than for secular music. The intimate connection between the court and the Catholic

Church brought some long-lasting results, such as the creation of musical training centres,

situated in the chapels connected to the great Portuguese cathedrals.


       The “Age of Discoveries” gave impetus to the development of the Portuguese Music.

Contact with the best schools of arts, humanities, and culture were made with Portugal

continuing to be influenced by the Franco-Flemish tradition. Portuguese musical trends often

followed European norms later than other countries, perhaps due to geographical considerations.

Portuguese Renaissance music was classified as ‘high’ or ‘low’. In the first category music for

out-of-doors festivities, such as of the ceremonial or military types that used very sonorous

instruments, was found. The second category was reserved to describe music at the court,

particularly dance music as played on more refined and softer-sounding instruments.


       The formation of a centre that promoted excellence in vocal polyphony performance thus

necessitated the creation of a school for the boys’ choir where the gifted received a musical

education. Primary amongst all of these chapels were those found in the southern city of Évora,

where thirteen such centres existed in the mid-fifteenth century and where the training of

Portuguese composers took place for almost two hundred years.


       At the University of Coimbra, the chair was given to the Spanish musician Mateus de

Aranda, who published the first part-music of two and four-parts in his Tratado de canto
mesurable (Lisbon, 1535), as well as the first music book to be published in Portugal, the

Tractado de cãtollano (1533). Other early sixteenth century Polyphonists active at Coimbra were

Fernão Gomes Correia (Bishop’s cantor in 1515), Vasco Pires (Chapelmaster), and João de

Noronha (d. 1506) of the Santa Cruz Monastery. Portuguese part-music tended to be more lavish

than its Spanish counterpart, as the Spanish Hierónimo Román noted in his Republicas del

mundo (Salamanca, 1595): “I will say in brief why the Portuguese exceed us, and that is because

the lavishness of their instrumental music and singing during Divine Office gives them pride of

place in the Catholic Church.”


Portuguese polyphony flourished in the seventeenth century, represented by the masses and

Magnificat settings of Manuel Cardoso (1566-1652) and Filipe de Magalhães (1570-1652).

Parody masses based on Palestrina and Francisco Guerrero were particularly common. Mention

should also be made of the religious polyphonic works of Pedro de Cristo (d. 1618) who was the

Chapelmaster in Coimbra and Lisbon. Other seventeenth century composers include: Manuel

Correa (d. 1653), Manuel de Tavares, Estevão de Brito, Gonçalo Mendes Saldanha (whose

works were known in Cartagena and Bogotá), and Manuel Mendés (known in Puebla, Mexico)

and others in Évora, Elvas, and Lisbon, such as António Marques Lésbio (1639-1709).


       In the seventeenth century, King John IV, a composer and an admirer of Palestrina,

distinguished himself as one of the great patrons of the arts and learning, spending lavishly on

acquiring one of the best music libraries in all of Europe. One such example shows his cultural

dedication when he patronised the Roman publication of João Lourenço Rabelo’s (c.1616-1661)

Psalmi pro Vesperi in 1657.
The beginning of a significant turning point in Portugal’s political, social, and cultural

history came during the Baroque reign of King John V. The discovery of gold in Brazil, the first

indications of which were felt in Lisbon in 1699, began a period of lavishness and prosperity in

Portugal that lasted until the end of the 18th century. Lest it not be forgotten, the origin of the

word Baroque probably derives from the Portuguese (barrôco: “pearl of irregular shape”) to

denote in a derogatory way an overabundance of ornaments. Political peace and economic

affluence characterised King John’s monarchy.


       Portugal’s height of artistic glory flourished under the reign of King John V (1707-1750).

There was no other court in Europe to equal this one. Short-lived, the decline of this bountiful

state came with the deadly earthquake on 1 November 1755 that shook the Portuguese capital

and destroyed many of Lisbon’s art, artefacts, and architectural treasures, along with many

valuable manuscripts and libraries. As a result of this unfortunate tragedy, the need to re-build

took on modest proportions. Never again would Portugal witness its historical supremacy. Little

by little Portugal’s valuable lands in South America, Africa, India, and Asia were lost, leaving

the Portuguese people today with deep remorse and fewer natural resources.


       In the nineteenth century, German musical influence began to supplant that of Italian.

Many important Portuguese musicians went abroad to study in Berlin, Köln, or other German

cities. England and France too became other important destinations for some Portuguese

musicians, such as João Domingos Bomtempo (1775-1842), who performed and published

abroad. He later returned to his native soil and became the first director of the National

Conservatory of Music in Lisbon.
Portugal’s main traditional music is called Fado. Fado is almost a symbol of Portugal, a

celebrated form of Portuguese music that has retained its traditional qualities but moved with the

times. Fado is the song that harnesses the Portuguese soul. It is arguably the oldest urban folk

music in the world. Some say it came as a dance from Africa in the nineteenth century and was

adopted by the poor on the streets of Lisbon. Or perhaps it started at sea as the sad, melodic

songs coaxed from the rolling waves by homesick sailors and fishermen. The essential element

of Fado music is “saudade,” a Portuguese word that translates roughly as longing, or nostalgia

for unrealized dreams. Fado flowers from this fatalistic world-view. It speaks of an undefined

yearning that can’t be satisfied. For Portuguese emigrants Fado is an expression of homesickness

for the place they left behind. Some enthusiasts claim that Fado’s origins are a mixture of

African slave rhythms with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors and Arabic influence.

Whatever its origins its themes have remained constant: destiny, betrayal in love, death and

despair. A typical lyric goes: “Why did you leave me, where did you go? I walk the streets

looking at every place we were together, except you’re not there.” It’s a sad music and a Fado

performance is not successful if an audience is not moved to tears.


       By the early twentieth century, Fado had become a fixture in the everyday life of

Lisbon’s working class. It was played for pleasure but also to relieve the pain of life. Skilled

singers known as fadistas performed at the end of the day and long into the night. Fado was the

earthy music of taverns and brothels and street corners in Alfama and Mouraria, the old poor

sections of Lisbon. Another strain of Fado, Coimbra Fado, was favored among university

students and professors.
The Fado is normally sung by men or women and accompanied by one Portuguese guitar

and one classic guitar, which in Portugal is called viola. This song reached its golden era in the

first half of the twentieth century, when the Portuguese dictatorship of Salazar (1926-1968)

forced the Fado performers to become professional and confined them to sing in the Fado houses

and the so called “revistas”, a popular genre of “vaudeville”. The main names of that period

were: Alfredo Marceneiro, Amalia Rodrigues, Maria Teresa de Noronha and Armandinho and

Jaime Santos (guitar players).


       Like many other countries political agendas and opinions has been expressed by the

Portuguese through Music. This type of music was categorized as Música de Intervenção or

Political music. Political songs (Canções de Intervenção) played an important part in the protests

against the totalitarian regime that ruled Portugal from 1926 up to the 1974 revolution. Once it

was created as an object to criticize what was wrong, mainly in a political point of view. One of

its main protagonists was José (Zeca) Afonso (1929-1987) but others also contributed to its

development, for example Adriano Correia de Oliveira, José Mário Branco, Luís Cilia, Francisco

Fanhais, José Jorge Letria, José Barata Moura and Sérgio Godinho. They traced a new course for

urban popular music and influenced a further generation of musicians, some of whom also

participated in the protest movement and are still active, including Fausto, Vitorino, Janita

Salomé and Júlio Pereira, among others. This musical style reflects a confluence of influences

from traditional music, French urban popular songs of the 1960s, African music and Brazilian

popular music.


       During the reign of the fascist regime music was widely used by the left-wing resistance

as a way to say what could not be said, singing about freedom, equality and democracy, mainly
through metaphors and symbols. Many composers and singers became famous and prosecuted by

the political police, some of them being arrested or exiled. After the Carnation Revolution that

same music was used to support left-wing parties. Political ideas and causes, like the agrarian

reform, socialism, equality, democratic elections, free education and many others were a constant

presence in these songs lyrics, often written by well-known poets.


       The history of Portugal’s rise and fall of political and musical supremacy is marked by

good luck on the one hand and misfortune on the other. The identity of Portuguese culture is

always dominated by certain preconceived notions. The Portuguese are always described as

‘pirates’, ‘cruel’, ‘uncivilized’, ‘uncultured’ and awarded with many more negative adjectives.

However in this present paper an attempt has been made to understand the nature of Portuguese

culture through their rich history of music. What Portuguese music in the twenty first century

will offer to the world remains to be seen. However, if the young and gifted generation is any

indication, the future is indeed very bright.

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Paper final

  • 1. Paper for Section IV: Countries other than India Tunes of the Adventurers: A History of Portuguese Music Poulami Aich Research Fellow, The Asiatic Society 1, Park Street, Kolkata-700061 Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence expressed through time. Here my focus will be on Portuguese music as an essential part of Portuguese Culture. Geographically isolated from the rest of Europe, Portugal, with neighbouring Spain, at one time ruled the entire world due to a papal decree that divided all territories between them. The enormous wealth that came to Portugal from their colonies created the possibility under monarchs who were pre-disposed to the arts to develop cultural patrimony. These are evidenced in the music history of Portugal, which despite its firm European roots, nevertheless reflects the intercontinental cultural interactions begun in the Portuguese ‘Discoveries’. Portuguese musical traditions are diverse and dynamic. They reflect multifarious historical, cultural, and political processes with influences from non-European cultures from both North and sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil. Its genres range from classical to popular music. Portugal’s music history includes musical history from the medieval Gregorian Chants through Carlos Seixas’ Symphony Era to the composers of the Modern Era. Portuguese music encompasses musical production of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras. Portuguese music reflects its rich history and privileged geographical location.
  • 2. Starting from Afonso V (1432-81) and John II (1455-95) up to King John V (1707-1750) many Portuguese monarchs patronized and contributed to the evolution of Portuguese music. Like other European courts, the Portuguese court had a predilection for religious music rather than for secular music. The intimate connection between the court and the Catholic Church brought some long-lasting results, such as the creation of musical training centres, situated in the chapels connected to the great Portuguese cathedrals. The “Age of Discoveries” gave impetus to the development of the Portuguese Music. Contact with the best schools of arts, humanities, and culture were made with Portugal continuing to be influenced by the Franco-Flemish tradition. Portuguese musical trends often followed European norms later than other countries, perhaps due to geographical considerations. Portuguese Renaissance music was classified as ‘high’ or ‘low’. In the first category music for out-of-doors festivities, such as of the ceremonial or military types that used very sonorous instruments, was found. The second category was reserved to describe music at the court, particularly dance music as played on more refined and softer-sounding instruments. The formation of a centre that promoted excellence in vocal polyphony performance thus necessitated the creation of a school for the boys’ choir where the gifted received a musical education. Primary amongst all of these chapels were those found in the southern city of Évora, where thirteen such centres existed in the mid-fifteenth century and where the training of Portuguese composers took place for almost two hundred years. At the University of Coimbra, the chair was given to the Spanish musician Mateus de Aranda, who published the first part-music of two and four-parts in his Tratado de canto
  • 3. mesurable (Lisbon, 1535), as well as the first music book to be published in Portugal, the Tractado de cãtollano (1533). Other early sixteenth century Polyphonists active at Coimbra were Fernão Gomes Correia (Bishop’s cantor in 1515), Vasco Pires (Chapelmaster), and João de Noronha (d. 1506) of the Santa Cruz Monastery. Portuguese part-music tended to be more lavish than its Spanish counterpart, as the Spanish Hierónimo Román noted in his Republicas del mundo (Salamanca, 1595): “I will say in brief why the Portuguese exceed us, and that is because the lavishness of their instrumental music and singing during Divine Office gives them pride of place in the Catholic Church.” Portuguese polyphony flourished in the seventeenth century, represented by the masses and Magnificat settings of Manuel Cardoso (1566-1652) and Filipe de Magalhães (1570-1652). Parody masses based on Palestrina and Francisco Guerrero were particularly common. Mention should also be made of the religious polyphonic works of Pedro de Cristo (d. 1618) who was the Chapelmaster in Coimbra and Lisbon. Other seventeenth century composers include: Manuel Correa (d. 1653), Manuel de Tavares, Estevão de Brito, Gonçalo Mendes Saldanha (whose works were known in Cartagena and Bogotá), and Manuel Mendés (known in Puebla, Mexico) and others in Évora, Elvas, and Lisbon, such as António Marques Lésbio (1639-1709). In the seventeenth century, King John IV, a composer and an admirer of Palestrina, distinguished himself as one of the great patrons of the arts and learning, spending lavishly on acquiring one of the best music libraries in all of Europe. One such example shows his cultural dedication when he patronised the Roman publication of João Lourenço Rabelo’s (c.1616-1661) Psalmi pro Vesperi in 1657.
  • 4. The beginning of a significant turning point in Portugal’s political, social, and cultural history came during the Baroque reign of King John V. The discovery of gold in Brazil, the first indications of which were felt in Lisbon in 1699, began a period of lavishness and prosperity in Portugal that lasted until the end of the 18th century. Lest it not be forgotten, the origin of the word Baroque probably derives from the Portuguese (barrôco: “pearl of irregular shape”) to denote in a derogatory way an overabundance of ornaments. Political peace and economic affluence characterised King John’s monarchy. Portugal’s height of artistic glory flourished under the reign of King John V (1707-1750). There was no other court in Europe to equal this one. Short-lived, the decline of this bountiful state came with the deadly earthquake on 1 November 1755 that shook the Portuguese capital and destroyed many of Lisbon’s art, artefacts, and architectural treasures, along with many valuable manuscripts and libraries. As a result of this unfortunate tragedy, the need to re-build took on modest proportions. Never again would Portugal witness its historical supremacy. Little by little Portugal’s valuable lands in South America, Africa, India, and Asia were lost, leaving the Portuguese people today with deep remorse and fewer natural resources. In the nineteenth century, German musical influence began to supplant that of Italian. Many important Portuguese musicians went abroad to study in Berlin, Köln, or other German cities. England and France too became other important destinations for some Portuguese musicians, such as João Domingos Bomtempo (1775-1842), who performed and published abroad. He later returned to his native soil and became the first director of the National Conservatory of Music in Lisbon.
  • 5. Portugal’s main traditional music is called Fado. Fado is almost a symbol of Portugal, a celebrated form of Portuguese music that has retained its traditional qualities but moved with the times. Fado is the song that harnesses the Portuguese soul. It is arguably the oldest urban folk music in the world. Some say it came as a dance from Africa in the nineteenth century and was adopted by the poor on the streets of Lisbon. Or perhaps it started at sea as the sad, melodic songs coaxed from the rolling waves by homesick sailors and fishermen. The essential element of Fado music is “saudade,” a Portuguese word that translates roughly as longing, or nostalgia for unrealized dreams. Fado flowers from this fatalistic world-view. It speaks of an undefined yearning that can’t be satisfied. For Portuguese emigrants Fado is an expression of homesickness for the place they left behind. Some enthusiasts claim that Fado’s origins are a mixture of African slave rhythms with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors and Arabic influence. Whatever its origins its themes have remained constant: destiny, betrayal in love, death and despair. A typical lyric goes: “Why did you leave me, where did you go? I walk the streets looking at every place we were together, except you’re not there.” It’s a sad music and a Fado performance is not successful if an audience is not moved to tears. By the early twentieth century, Fado had become a fixture in the everyday life of Lisbon’s working class. It was played for pleasure but also to relieve the pain of life. Skilled singers known as fadistas performed at the end of the day and long into the night. Fado was the earthy music of taverns and brothels and street corners in Alfama and Mouraria, the old poor sections of Lisbon. Another strain of Fado, Coimbra Fado, was favored among university students and professors.
  • 6. The Fado is normally sung by men or women and accompanied by one Portuguese guitar and one classic guitar, which in Portugal is called viola. This song reached its golden era in the first half of the twentieth century, when the Portuguese dictatorship of Salazar (1926-1968) forced the Fado performers to become professional and confined them to sing in the Fado houses and the so called “revistas”, a popular genre of “vaudeville”. The main names of that period were: Alfredo Marceneiro, Amalia Rodrigues, Maria Teresa de Noronha and Armandinho and Jaime Santos (guitar players). Like many other countries political agendas and opinions has been expressed by the Portuguese through Music. This type of music was categorized as Música de Intervenção or Political music. Political songs (Canções de Intervenção) played an important part in the protests against the totalitarian regime that ruled Portugal from 1926 up to the 1974 revolution. Once it was created as an object to criticize what was wrong, mainly in a political point of view. One of its main protagonists was José (Zeca) Afonso (1929-1987) but others also contributed to its development, for example Adriano Correia de Oliveira, José Mário Branco, Luís Cilia, Francisco Fanhais, José Jorge Letria, José Barata Moura and Sérgio Godinho. They traced a new course for urban popular music and influenced a further generation of musicians, some of whom also participated in the protest movement and are still active, including Fausto, Vitorino, Janita Salomé and Júlio Pereira, among others. This musical style reflects a confluence of influences from traditional music, French urban popular songs of the 1960s, African music and Brazilian popular music. During the reign of the fascist regime music was widely used by the left-wing resistance as a way to say what could not be said, singing about freedom, equality and democracy, mainly
  • 7. through metaphors and symbols. Many composers and singers became famous and prosecuted by the political police, some of them being arrested or exiled. After the Carnation Revolution that same music was used to support left-wing parties. Political ideas and causes, like the agrarian reform, socialism, equality, democratic elections, free education and many others were a constant presence in these songs lyrics, often written by well-known poets. The history of Portugal’s rise and fall of political and musical supremacy is marked by good luck on the one hand and misfortune on the other. The identity of Portuguese culture is always dominated by certain preconceived notions. The Portuguese are always described as ‘pirates’, ‘cruel’, ‘uncivilized’, ‘uncultured’ and awarded with many more negative adjectives. However in this present paper an attempt has been made to understand the nature of Portuguese culture through their rich history of music. What Portuguese music in the twenty first century will offer to the world remains to be seen. However, if the young and gifted generation is any indication, the future is indeed very bright.