Portuguese-American music

Portuguese-American music
Katherine Brucher

https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2087519
Published in print: 26 November 2013
Published online: 26 May 2010

Portuguese-American music encompasses musical traditions brought and adapted to the United States by
immigrants from continental Portugal and the Atlantic islands of the Azores and Madeira and their
descendents.

Portuguese-American music dates from the first Portuguese settlers who came to continental United
States and Hawaii (then the Sandwich Islands) during the 18th century. Immigration from Portugal
increased dramatically during the 19th century as men from the Azores, Madeira, and Cabo Verde (a former
Portuguese colony off the west coast of Africa) found work in the whaling industries of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, California, and Hawaii. These sailors introduced string instruments such as the cavaquinho
and guitarra – and genres such as fado maritimo (maritime fado). In Hawaii, the cavaquinho, a small
instrument with four strings, was adapted into local music, in which it was called the ukulele. When the
whaling industry declined on the East Coast in the late 19th century, Portuguese immigrants and their
descendents found work in the textile mills of southeastern New England. On the west coast, many
Portuguese left the whaling industry for agricultural work in California’s Central Valley. New immigrants
founded Portuguese social clubs that sponsor soccer teams, choruses, bands, and folklore ensembles.
These clubs continue to play a central role in community life today.

Immigration declined following 1921 quota restrictions and remained low until 1958 when refugees from
the Azorean island of Faial came to the USA after devastating volcanic eruptions. Following the US
Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, immigration from Portugal increased dramatically in
response to economic hardship, colonial wars, and an oppressive political regime. This influx of new
immigrants revitalized interest in Portuguese culture and language. Immigration slowed following
Portugal’s entry into the European Union in 1985, but diaspora communities continue to value music as
part of their cultural heritage.

Portuguese-American music reflects the transnational ties between diaspora communities in the United
States and Portugal itself. Fado, a popular song genre associated with Lisbon, is the most recognizable
Portuguese music. But much music making takes place during community celebrations associated with the
Roman Catholic church such as festas, or patron saint feasts like the Feast of the Holy Ghost, Christmas,
Epiphany, and Carnival. Social clubs support celebrations based, but expanding on, the traditions of their
home region in Portugal. For example, the Feast of Blessed Sacrament in New Bedford, Massachusetts,
transformed the traditions of a small village on Madeira into what is considered the largest Portuguese
feast in the world.

Feasts include religious music – a mass and procession with choral and band music by Portuguese and
Portuguese-American composers – and secular performances at concerts, community dinners, dances,
and parades. Bandas filarmónicas, civic wind bands, provide music for concerts, parades, and religious

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Portuguese-American music

processions. Ranchos folclóricos, folksong and dance ensembles accompanied by strings, percussion, and
vocalists, perform choreographed regional dances for concerts or expositions. Most feasts conclude with
an evening dance at which Portuguese-language rock bands or folk conjuntos perform. These groups’
musical styles range from the latest hits from the USA, Latin America, and Portugal to pimba, an
accordion-based dance music associated with working-class culture. In addition to feasts, “Carnival
dances” integrate musical skits, choreographed group dances, and guitar accompaniment for pre-Lenten
celebrations in Azorean communities throughout New England. Portugal Day (officially “The Day of
Camões, Portugal, and Portuguese Speaking Communities”), on 10 June, is celebrated by diaspora
communities worldwide with musical events that feature many kinds of Portuguese music.

The national government of Portugal, international broadcasts from Portugal Radio and Television (RTP)
stations, and non-governmental organizations such as the Camões Institute support efforts to maintain
Portuguese culture by promoting music traditions in diaspora communities.

Bibliography
and other resources

M.C. Hare: “Portuguese Folk-songs from Provincetown, Cape Cod, Mass,” MQ, 14 (1928), 35–53

L. Pap: The Portuguese Americans (Boston, MA, 1981)

Hispanic Division, Library of Congress: “The Portuguese in the United States” (1999) <http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/
portam/ <http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/portam/>>

K.D. Holton: Performing Folklore: Ranchos Folclóricos from Lisbon to Newark (Bloomington, IN, 2005)

Festa, dir. J. Sousa (Watertown, MA, 2006)

K. Brucher: “Viva Rhode Island, Viva Portugal! Performance and Tourism in Portuguese-American Bands,” Fashioning
Ethnic Culture: Portuguese-American Communities along the Eastern Seaboard, ed. K.D. Holton and A. Klimt
(Dartmouth, MA, 2009), 201–24

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Subscriber: University of North Carolina - Greensboro; date: 12 October 2023