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Portuguese music includes many different styles and genres, as a result ofits history. These can be broadly divided intoclassical music,traditional/folk music andpopular music and all of them have produced internationally successful acts, with the country seeing a recent expansion in musical styles, especially in popular music.
In traditional/folk music,fado had a significant impact, withAmália Rodrigues still the most recognizable Portuguese name in music, and with more recent acts, likeDulce Pontes andMariza. The genre is one of two Portuguese music traditions in theUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, with the other beingCante Alentejano. Regional folk music remains popular too, having been updated and modernized in many cases, especially in the northeastern region ofTrás-os-Montes. Some more recent successful fado/folk-inspired acts includeMadredeus andDeolinda, the latter being part of afolk revival that has led to a newfound interest in this type of music.
In popular music, there is a significant number of popular genres. These includerock, with popular acts includingXutos & Pontapés,The Gift (alternative rock),Fingertips (pop rock),Blasted Mechanism (experimental electro-rock),Noctivagus (gothic rock) andWraygunn (rock, blues). Alsohip-hop, with acts such asBoss AC,Da Weasel, Ithaka,Mind Da Gap andSam the Kid. Acts such asMoonspell andHeavenwood (metal) andBuraka Som Sistema (electro/kuduro/breakbeat) have had significant international success. Other popular modern genres in Portugal includedance,house,kizomba,pimba,pop,reggae,ska andzouk.[1]
Portugal has had a history of receiving different musical influences from around the Mediterranean Sea, across Europe and former colonies.In the two centuries before the Christian era,Ancient Rome brought with it Greek influences; early Christians, who had their differing versions of church music arrived during the height of the Roman Empire; theVisigoths, a Romanized Germanic people, who took control of theIberian Peninsula following the fall of the Roman Empire; theMoors andJews in the Middle Ages. Hence, there have been more than two thousand years of internal and external influences and developments. Its genres range from classical to popular music. Portugal's music history includes musical history from the medievalGregorian chants throughCarlos Seixas' symphonies era to the composers of the modern era. The musical history of Portugal can be divided in different ways. Portuguese music encompasses musical production of theMiddle Ages,Renaissance,Baroque,Classical,Romantic and Modern eras, especially fromAngola withKizomba. Portugal has very good dancing clothes making Portuguese dancing famous.
Portuguese music gets its rich history from its privileged geographical location. These are evidenced in themusic history of Portugal, which despite its firm European roots, nevertheless reflects the intercontinental cultural interactions begun in the Portuguese discoveries.
A short list of past and present Portuguese musicians with important contributions must necessarily include the names of composersManuel Cardoso,Duarte Lobo,Filipe de Magalhães,Carlos Seixas,Pedro de Escobar,Diogo Dias Melgás,João Domingos Bomtempo,Marcos Portugal,José Vianna da Motta,Luís de Freitas Branco,António Fragoso,Joly Braga Santos,Fernando Lopes-Graça, andEmmanuel Nunes; organists such asAntónio Carreira andManuel Rodrigues Coelho; singersLuísa Todi,Elisabete Matos andJosé Carlos Xavier; pianistsMaria João Pires andSequeira Costa; violinistsElmar Oliveira andCarlos Damas; and cellists such asGuilhermina Suggia.
Fado is a musical style, which arose inLisbon as the music of the urban poor. Fado songs are typically lyrically harsh, accompanied by a wire-strung acoustic guitar or thePortuguese Guitar. It is usually sung by solo performers, with the singer resigned to sadness, poverty, and loneliness, but remaining dignified and firmly controlled. It is claimed that fado's origins are older, going back to the 15th century, when women cried with longing for their husbands that sailed to the never-ending seas.
Late in the 19th century, the city ofCoimbra developed a distinctive scene. Coimbra, a literary capital for the country, is now known for being more refined and majestic. The sound has been described as "the song of those who retain and cherish their illusions, not of those who have irretrievably lost them" byRodney Gallop in 1936. A related form is theguitarradas of the 1920s and 30s, best known forDr. Antonio Menano and a group of virtuoso musicians he formed, includingArtur Paredes andJosé Joaquim Cavalheiro.Student fado, performed by students atCoimbra University, has maintained a tradition since it was pioneered in the 1890s byAugusto Hilário.
Starting in 1939 with the career ofAmália Rodrigues, fado was an internationally popular genre. A singer and film actress, Rodrigues made numerous stylistic innovations that have made her probably the most influential fadista of all time.
A new generation of young musicians have contributed to the social and political revival of fado music, adapting and blending it with new trends. Contemporary fado musicians likeCarminho,Mariza,Mísia andCamané have introduced the music to a new public. The sensuality of Misia and other femalefadistas (fado singers) likeMaria Ana Bobone,Cuca Roseta,Cristina Branco,Ana Moura,Katia Guerreiro, and Mariza has walked the fine line between carrying on the tradition ofAmália Rodrigues and trying to bring in a new audience.Mísia andCarlos do Carmo are also well-known fado singers.Ricardo Ribeiro andMiguel Capucho are one of the best male fado singers of the new generation.
It was included in theUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2011.[2]
Recent events have helped keep Portuguese regional folk (rancho folclórico) traditions alive, most especially including the worldwideroots revival of the 1960s and 70s.
Cante Alentejano, from theAlentejo region, was included in theUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2014.[3]
The people of theAzores islands maintain some distinct musical traditions, such as the traditionally fiddle-drivenchamarrita dance.
Music in Madeira is widespread and mainly uses local musical instruments such as theMachete,rajao,Brinquinho andCavaquinho, which are used in traditionalFolklore dances like theBailinho da Madeira. One of the island's most celebrated folklorists wasMaria Ascensão (1926–2001).[4] Famous performers of contemporary music includeMax,Luís Jardim andVânia Fernandes.
Trás-os-Montes' musical heritage is closely related to thetraditional music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias. Traditionalbagpipes (gaita-de-fole transmontana),a cappella vocals and a uniquemusical scale with equal semitones have kept alive a vital tradition. (Miranda de I Douro), some artists such as Galamdum Galundaina sing inMirandese language. Also, the Pauliteiros folk dance is popular. Some residents sing in both Portuguese and Mirandese.
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Folk/traditional music acts include:Dazkarieh, Cornalusa, Gaitúlia, Strella do Dia, Fausto, Notas e Voltas,Roberto Leal, Ronda dos Quatro Caminhos,Terra a Terra,Tonicha,Cândida Branca Flor, Óióai,Janita Salomé, Uxukalhus, Frei Fado D'el Rei, Gaiteiros de Lisboa, Roncos do Diabo, Dâna,Luís Peixoto,Dulce Pontes, Sangre Cavallum,Teresa Salgueiro,Vitorino and Xaile.
Famous artists and bands included in the past areJosé Afonso,Fausto Bordalo Dias,José Mário Branco,Manuel Freire,Cândida Branca Flor,Tonicha,Paco Bandeira,Clã,Paulo de Carvalho,José Cid,Linda de Suza,Madalena Iglésias,António Variações,Duo Ouro Negro,Roberto Leal (singer),Peste & Sida andOrnatos Violeta. Nowadays some of the most popular acts areVirgem Suta, HMB,Aurea,Amor Electro,GNR,Xutos & Pontapés,The Gift,David Fonseca,Diogo Piçarra,Os Quatro e Meia andCapitão Fausto. Portugal has beenparticipating in theEurovision Song Contest since 1964; its best result before 2017 was the 6th place achieved byLucia Moniz's folk inspired song "O meu coração não tem cor" in 1996, penned by Pedro Vaz Osorio.Portugal gained no further Top 10 place untilSalvador Sobral's first place in the2017 contest with the songAmar Pelos Dois, which gained a record 758 points.
In 2019,contemporary folk singer-songwriterAna Mariano from Aveiro was featured on the compilationNovos Talentos FNAC 2019 (New Talents ofFnac 2019) with herFolk-pop debut single "Ordinary View", (written and performed in theEnglish language.)[5] In February 2020, she released her debut e.p. Everything I Touch which included the songs, "Insomnia" and "Plastic Wings" (featuring Ithaka), among others.[6][7]
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In electronica,Underground Sound of Lisbon with their 1994 progressive house remix of the 1992Spoken word songSo Get Up byIthaka Darin Pappas (lyrics/vocals), was a musical project that brought international attention to Portuguese DJs, namelyRui da Silva (the only Portuguese musician to reach #1 on the UK charts),DJ Vibe andPete tha Zouk.[8]
Some other important names in the genre areBuraka Som Sistema,Branko,Conan Osiris,Micro Audio Waves andKURA, with this last one being the highest-ranked Portuguese of all time on the annual'sTop 100 Dj's byDj Mag. In Porto, the hometown of numerous talents such as Nuno Forte, Drum n' Bass styles are immensely popular, and the city has hosted various important international names in the genre such asNoisia,The Panacea and Black Sun Empire. Also, in thePsychedelic Trance genre there is a worldwide famous project:Paranormal Attack.
In February 2020, internationally recognized DJ-producer-musician,Armando Mendes, from northern Portugal releasedParallel Universe on cd and a double-vinyl 12" set for Turquoise Records (one of the only full-length albums by any Portuguese electronic artist), collaborating with several worldwide vocalists/lyricists.[9][10]
Portuguese music has a striving experimental underground music scene since the '80s, with some exponents attaining international attention. Notable groups and musicians in this genre areOsso Exótico,Ocaso Épico,Telectu,Carlos Zíngaro,Pedro INF,Favela Discos,If Lucy Fell andLife Theory.
The biggest exponent of heavy metal music in Portugal are the bandsMoonspell,Ava Inferi,Ramp,Heavenwood,Corpus Christii,Reaktor,W.C. Noise,Tarantula andAttick Demons, which have achieved international recognition, and have signed record deals with some of the most important international Heavy Metal Labels such asCentury Media andNapalm Records forMoonspell,Massacre Records andListenable Records forHeavenwood,Season of Mist forAva Inferi,Pure Steel Records forAttick Demons,Candlelight Records forCorpus Christii,Nuclear Blast Records forReaktor andAFM Records forTarantula.
Heavy metal made by Portuguese bands is sold in all major records / music shops in all European countries such asFinland,Germany, theNetherlands,Italy,France,Poland andTurkey.Moonspell,Heavenwood andAttick Demons achieved markets such as East Europe / Russia, Asia, North, and South America, furthermore Attick Demons achieved recognition in Japan by being the only Portuguese heavy metal band to have a Japanese release to date, through a Japanese label.[citation needed]
Others bands likeMiss Lava,Holocausto Canibal,Thirdsphere,Sirius, Sacred Sin,Factory of Dreams,Decayed,Filli Nigratium Infernallium,Morte Incandescente,Gwydion,Switchtense,Grog,Bizarra Locomotiva,Thee Orakle, More Than a Thousand andOratory also achieved some international recognition.
Hip hop began in Portugal in the early 1990s. The first artist to sign a major record deal wasGeneral D withEMI Records. Other important artists from theHip hop tuga genre include;Sam the Kid, Slow J, Papillon,Da Weasel, Dealema,Valete,Regula,Boss AC, Mind the Gap, Bob Da Rage Sense, Dillaz.
People such asMário Barreiros,Mário Laginha,Carlos Barretto,Carlos Bica,João Paulo Esteves da Silva,António Pinho Vargas and the singerMaria João have long and noteworthy careers in the field, despite experimenting, sometimes with notable success, other genres of music, and a more recent generation is following their footsteps, notable the pianistBernardo Sassetti,Júlio Resende,Carlos Bica,João Paulo, and the singersSalvador Sobral,João Barradas,Jacinta,Vânia Fernandes andLuísa Sobral.
Although it is an Iberian country, Portugal never had clear influences from Latin America, though Portuguese musical traditions have had an influence on Latin American music, particularly in Brazil and through instruments such as thecavaquinho and its descendent instruments like thecuatro. Nonetheless, theLatin music industry sometimes includes music sung in Portuguese from Portugal.[11][12] This style came to the country in the 1990s, following a Spanish and world trend. Examples of Latin music singers in Portuguese areAna Malhoa and Mil i Maria. TheLatin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the organization responsible for theLatin Grammy Awards, encompasses music from Portugal and has voting members who live in the country.[13][14]Carlos do Carmo became the first Portuguese artist to win a Latin Grammy award upon receiving theLifetime Achievement Award.[15]
Pimba music is the Portuguese version of the euroSchlager or theBalkanTurbo-Folk. It is named after the 1995 hitPimba Pimba, byEmanuel.[16] Some of its biggest names are Emanuel, Ágata, Suzana, Micaela, Ruth Marlene andQuim Barreiros. This genre mixes traditional sounds withaccordion, Latin beats and funny or religious (mainlykitch) lyrics.
During theEstado Novo authoritarian 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 persecuted by the political police, some of them being arrested or exiled, such asJosé Afonso,Paulo de Carvalho,José Mário Branco,Sérgio Godinho,Adriano Correia de Oliveira,Manuel Freire, Pedro Barroso,Fausto,Vitorino,Júlio Pereira and some others. Their music was (and remains) mostly based on Portuguese folk music and elements of European-style singer-songwriter genres.
José Afonso began performing in the 1950s; he was a popular roots-based musician that led the Portugueseroots revival. With artists likeSérgio Godinho andLuís Cília, Afonso helped formnova canção music, which, after the 1974 revolution, gained socially-aware lyrics and becamecanto livre. The biggest names in canto livre wereBanda do Casaco andBrigada Víctor Jara, groups that seriously studied and were influenced by Portuguese regional music. The poet-singer-songwriter was also a significant contributor to the modern romance genre, can be compared toLeonard Cohen.
After theCarnation 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 other were a constant presence in these songs lyrics, often written by well-known poets likeJosé Barata-Moura,Manuel Alegre orAry dos Santos.
More underground but very prominent are Portuguesereggae andska. Unregarding some2 Tone and reggae-influenced singles in the late 70s by bands like Roquivários or early 80s mod outfitTáxi, it was only in the early 1990s when the first Portuguese roots reggae band,Kussondulola reached the mainstream public.
Best known Portuguese reggae singers includeRichie Campbell,Mercado Negro,Prince Wadada andFreddy Locks, while some of the more famous bands of these types includeTerrakota,Primitive Reason, Sativa, One Sun Tribe, One Love Family, Arsha,Three and a Quarter,Purocracy,Chapa Dux andSouls of Fire. This music is popular among young people, with its main roots based in Lisbon and the surrounding areas.
Earlier ska bands in Portugal included Despe&Siga and Contratempos, whileThe Ratazanas can be considered the best known PortugueseEarly reggae andRocksteady band. They recorded for German labelGrover Records and toured throughout Europe on their own right as well as backing Jamaican singers likeSusan Cadogan. Skarmiento, Skalibans, and Skamioneta do Lixo are other Portuguese ska bands.
Portuguese rock was born in the 1980s, with acts likeRui Veloso andJorge Palma.Examples of popular Portuguese rock bands, having a long history, areXutos & Pontapés andUHF who have been playing for over 30 years and are known widely throughout Portugal, as well asMão Morta, a unique and controversial Portuguese band with decades-long activity. Well known solo singers includeRui Veloso,Jorge Palma, andPedro Abrunhosa.Clã (pop rock),Grupo Novo Rock (pop rock and rock),Fingertips, (pop rock),Blasted Mechanism (electro-rock and dub/reggae fusion),Suspiria Franklyn (punk-rock/new wave),Linda Martini (post/noise rock),peixe : aviao (post-rock),Ornatos Violeta (indie rock),A Book in the Shelf (grunge rock),Dream Circus (grunge rock), Decreto 77, (punk rock), orMazgani (alternative), are other important acts.[citation needed]
The indie and alternative rock movements are also popular in Portugal. Some indie and alternative bands and artists from Portugal areOs Pontos Negros,Memória de Peixe,Linda Martini,The Glockenwise,Capitão Fausto,Frankie Chavez,Stereoboy,Quelle Dead Gazelle,B Fachada,Noiserv,Golden Slumbers (band) as well as the Luso-Brazilian groupBanda do Mar.
The highest exponents of this kind of music inPortugal areTony Carreira andMarco Paulo (both, and even other performers, have a certain level of overlap with thePimba genre, even partial or just in certain songs).
There are several popular musicians of Portuguese descent. Luso-francofonic artists includeLinda de Suza (Portuguese born and later an immigrant in France) andMarie Myriam, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977.Nelly Furtado reflected some of her Portuguese origins, especially in lesser-known songs in her first albums (songs like "Scared" sung by Furtado in English and Portuguese, "Nas Horas do Dia" and "Força"). Portugal-bornNuno Bettencourt's heritage is also reflected in the title ofExtreme's 2008 albumSaudades de Rock.Steve Perry, former lead singer of rock groupJourney is American of Portuguese ancestry, as isAerosmith'sJoe Perry (both their original paternal family names being Pereira). The lead singer fromJamiroquai,Jay Kay has Portuguese descent through his father.Ana da Silva, a founding member of the cultpost-punk bandThe Raincoats is also of Portuguese origin. AlsoMia Rose, which has collaborations with Portuguese artists and even songs in the Portuguese language, was a juror atThe Voice Portugal. Others includeKaty Perry,Shawn Mendes,Mishlawi andDEV andCarlos Melo.
