Singing the land. A Portuguese choral ode to Alentejo

The multipart singing of the rural Southern region of Portugal, called cante alentejano, is proudly performed by amateur choral groups that intone two short simple poems, first the cantiga and then the moda, standing side by side and slightly undulating.Their chanting is a means to reinvigorate the sense of belonging to their land and a way to bound social ties among communities of Alentejo. Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco has a deep ethnomusicological knowledge of the different musical traditions of Portugal, and contributed with the anthropologist  Paulo Lima to create the conditions of the inclusion in 2014 of this form of singing in the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.Here she explains what cante alentejano is and what it represents in the frame of cultural and social life of Portugal.About Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco is Professor Emerita of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University of Lisbon (FCSH-UNL) and president Emerita of the Instituto de Etnomusicologia-Centro de Estudos em Música e Dança (INET-md), a research unit that she founded in 1995 and directed up to 2020.She was elected President of the International Council for Traditional Music (2013 - 2021). She earned a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology in 1980 at Columbia University. Her academic career was launched at New York University where she was a tenure-track Assistant Professor from 1979 to 1981, founded and directed an MA program in urban ethnomusicology.She was Associate Professor at the newly founded Musicology Department at NOVA-FCSH, completed her habilitation in 1986 and won a full professorship in 1988, the first in musicology in Portugal. She chaired the Musicology Department during its foundational and consolidation phases (1983-1988; 1995-1997).She was visiting professor at Columbia University, Princeton University; Tinker Professor at Chicago University, Overseas Visiting Scholar at St. John's College, Cambridge University and Gulbenkian Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She carried out field research in Portugal, Egypt and Oman resulting in publications on: cultural politics, musical nationalism, music heritage, music media, music and conflict, and institutional and disciplinary histories. More information and the list of publications are available here.Episode's musical sources listO Alentejo em LisboaModas e Cantigas do Alentejo. Grupo Coral Alentejano. Amadora AURPIF. Ideal voice CD s.d.Bairro Alentejano Grupo Coral 1° de Maio do Bairro Alentejano: O Ninho. Sociedede Recreativa e Cultural do Povo, Bairro Alentejano, CD 2007Hino do MineiroAljustrel Tradiçao Musical. Grupo Coral do Sindicato Mineiro de Aljustrel, CNM, CD 2002 Os Ganhões de Castro VerdeAlentejo, Alentejo Grupo Coral e Etnográfico Os Camponeses de Piashttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfWykIA1MQ0 http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpB20kmRi4zgMxyyJL3QrmgPARIS, 27-NOV-2014 (na Sede da UNESCO). Declaração do júri da UNESCO, integrando o CANTE ALENTEJANO na lista representativa do PATRIMÓNIO CULTURAL IMATERIAL DA HUMANIDADE. (Registo vídeo da MODA - Associação do Cante Alentejano, edição de José Colaço) https://youtu.be/r69KHaXCLGs?feature=sharedCefeira Linda CefeiraTerra - Os Ganhões de Castro Verde, Antologia: 1972 -2006. Polifonias AlentejanasMeus Lirio roxoLirio Roxo: cançao Alentejana. Rancho Coral de Serpa. The Gramophone Company EQ 354 OPC 14  1949? Ao romper da bela aurora Grupo Coral Os Cefeiros de Cuba: Alma do Poco CD 2005Fui colher MarcelaModas dos mastros - Grupo Coral e Etnografico As Camponesas de Castro Verde, Cortiçol – Cooperativa de Informaçao e Cultura, CRL, CD, 1997 Lá vai Serpa, lá vai Moura Cantes de Aldeia Nova - Rancho dos Cantadores de Aldeia Nova de São Bento CD 2001 Lá vai Serpa, lá vai Moura Cançao do Alentenjo. Edmundo Bettencourt. Columbia 8121 1928 Cefeira Celina da Piedade. Gravaçao inedita cedida por Celina da Piedade 2015 Venho da ilha dos vidros Viola Campaniça: Ilha dos vidros. Grupo de Violas Campaniças. Associaçao Cante Alentejano: Os Cardadores 2006 Toda a bela noite que eu ando  Castro Verde tem uma minha: Grupo e Coral Etnografico “Os Carapinhas” de Castro Verde. Cortiçol – Cooperativa de Informação e Cultura. CRL. CD 1997. Que inveja tens tu das rosas   Antonio Zambujo. Por meu cante. Ocarina OCA 008. 2004.All the music works short examples here above listed are included in the collection CANTES. Cante Alentejano Património Cultural da Humanidade (4 Books and CDs), A Bela e o Monstro. Edições / Público Comunicação Social SA, 2018. Coordination, texts and musical selection by Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco and Paulo Lima   DisclaimerMediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.