Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

—
552 SONG
played an important part in Troubadour life
in Portugal ; and the last was Gil Vicente
(1470-1536), at once poet, actor, musician, and
composer. His works, which give interesting
information about the various customs and
forms of song of his time,i are written partly
in Portuguese and partly in Castilian. Interspersed
in his pieces are vilhaneetes, cangonetas,
cantigas, romances, cangoes pastoris, cantigas de
ber(;o, cantigas maritimas, etc. ; and in his
enselladas songs with Latin and French words
also occur, such as the chanson,
'
Ay de la
noble ville de Paris.'
The vilhaneetes or mlhwncicos, avios, and loos
were similar to the Spanish in character ; semisacred,
popular, and yet a form which learned
musicians adopted and elaborated, such as Fr.
Francisco de Santiago, Gabriel Diaz, and many
contrapuntists from Duarte Lobo's celebrated
school, as, for instance, Felipe de Magalhaes
and Lesbio. The earliest vilha/ndcos we hear
of were those by Juan del Fncina ^ and Gil
Vicente 3 in the late 15 th century, and the last
by the Abbot Luis Calisto da Costa e Feria in
1723.*
The old Pagan festivals and the mediaeval
Christian festivals blended in Portugal as elsewhere,
and heritages from those times are the
Maias and Janeiras songs. These festival songs
are still sung on certain days of the year ; the
principal ones are O SSo ' Joao,' sung on St.
'
John the Baptist's Day (Midsummer) ; As
Janeiras,' sung at the New Year ; and ' Os Eels,'
sung at the Epiphany.*
Various forms of songs are given in the works
of the poets of the Renaissance, Ribeiro, Juan
del Encina, Gil Vicente, Si de Miranda, and
Camoens, and these were clearly intended to be
sung, as the accompanying instruments and the
manner of singing them are frequently recorded.*
Many are identical with the Troubadour forms,
for example the serranhilha and soldo, which
answer to the pastoralla and aoula. We read
also of the endeixas or funeral songs ; the
celeumas sung in chorus by sailors or workmen ;^
the descantes which are always 8 -syllabled and
have estribilhos (refrains), and the sonetos. And
among the dance-songs the xacara (a gipsy song)
and the ckula which is similar to it, the capiiva
or mourisca and the jvdenga. The fwo latter
naturally disappeared with the expulsion of the
Moors and Jews.'
It is difBcult to trace the music of the abovementioned
songs. Still no one can deny the
antiquity of many of the cwnMgas and cangSes
still sung among the peasants in the country
districts of Portugal ; and here, unlike Spain,
the dance -songs are not more prevalent than
other kinds. In some the oriental element
is still evident ;
there is a careless ease, tinged
with melancholy about them, which is the secret
of their charm. They are generally sung by
one voice without any accompaniment ; and
to the ears of foreigners have the sound of
recitatives, as the rhythm is often wholly
obscured by the singer. ^ The following little
song, which the women sing whilst reaping,
always inventing new verses, is a fair example :
Ex. 1.
Foi me acci-fa
ao For-to San - to As ce - a-ras ama . re-laa
And on the plains the shepherds and labourers
may be heard any evening chanting in a minor
key, with a pointless, halting measure and
vague rhythm cantigas which are purely Moorish
in character, w In the province of Minho it is
quite common to hear one peasant in his harsh,
guttural Eastern voice challenge another to sing
one or more verses against him. The curious
custom for the men and women to sing in
fourths and fifths still exists in the southern
province of Alemtejo. This example, wholly
Moorish in character, was heard on a popular
feast-day in the little town of S. Thiago do
Cacem in 1897 " :—
Ex. 2,
Sibandeira.
r^
1 It is said that Erasmus learnt Portuguese simply to be able to
, read Gil Vicente's Tvorka. Several volumes of various editions are
in the British Museum.
2 It is doubtful whether Juan del Encina is Spanish or Portuguese.
SOU Vicente was among the iirst to write
'
autoi, religious pieces
resflmbllng In their nature the miracle -plays common all over
Europe at the time. . . . Most of these are Christmas pieces, and
the dramatists often took advantage of the story of the shepherds
to introduce the elements of what may be called pastoral comedy.'
nutory of Portugal, by Morse Stephens.
4 Vasconcellos, ii. 191.
5 As Janeiras and Os ' ' ' Rels are especially sung on the respective
'
eves of the New Year and of the Epiphany. The minstrels go from
door to door in the evening, singing the praises of the inmates of
the house, and accompanying their songs with metal triangles,
bells, etc. They are generally rewarded by the master of the house
with money, sausages, or dried Hgs. But if they get nothing they
sing :—
* Esta casa cheira a bren
Aqui mora algum Juden."
(This house smells of tar ; some Jew Uvea here) ; or else—
'
Esta casa cheira a unto
Aqui mora algum defunto.'
(This house smells of ointment ; there is a dead body in it).
s Gil Vicente speaks of 'the pleasing way the atmetoB were
sung with guitar accompaniment.' See Th. Braga's Siatoria da
LUteratura PoHugueza, vol. viii. p. 228.
7 See Camolins, Lusiads, 11. 15.
Si-=P^EP^fl=
Although the words cantiga and ccm^ao are
used indiscriminately for all kinds of songs,
the so-called Oantiges das ruas are a special
form, and chiefly sung in the towns by blind
beggars. Many of the tunes are very old,
8 See Portuffteslsdhe Musik, Mendel's 3Iiis. Con. Lex. p. 499 et seq.
(Platon von Waxel).
a Nob. S, 7, and 11 of J. A. Ribas's collectlou give aom© idea of this
kind of song, but they are spoilt by their accompaniment.
"> It is curious that in tJie mountainous pai-ts of Portugal no
Arab music is heard. The voices also nre sweeter.
11 SontbyD.AugustdMachado (Director of the Lisbon Conservatoire)
to A, Hammerich. Studien uber islAndifcke Musik, Sanvmelb&nde,
I.M.G. 1899. p. 341.