Traditionals

The word “traditional” is mostly used in music to refer to a plethora of practices, activities, genres and styles associated with rural settings and life. However, as Salwa Castelo-Branco points out, “the concept of tradition is based on dynamic views of music and culture”, and in that sense, a ‘tradition’ is a model of the past that cannot be separated from Today’s critical interpretations and appropriation of it.

In this respect, this category of songs features a wonderful selection of several numbers from the Portuguese Book of Folksong (“Cancioneiro Popular Português”) covering many regions of both Continental Portugal and the Portuguese islands of Madeira and the Azores, as well as a fabulous motley of themes.