Traditional Music and Dances of Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada, as in the rest of the Azores, has a vast repertoire that represents the identity and history of its people: from traditional music groups to brass bands and Holy Spirit musicians.

There are more than two dozen folklore groups and the same amount of ‘repentistas’ (impromptu singers who satirize daily life in their singing) in the county.

Additionally, traditional music is constantly present and always marked by the homesickness of those who emigrated, by the sea, by the feeling of being an islander and by the catastrophes that, from time to time, devastate our islands.

These themes are quite unique, among which we can find as one of its most emblematic examples, Ilhas de Bruma [Islands of Mist] whose lyrics is a faithful representation of the true islander feeling, and has also, since the 1990s, been Ponta Delgada’s unofficial anthem.

City of Ponta Delgada

Music: João Gregório, José Carlos Ferreira, Moreira, Sérgio Ávila
Lyrics: Adelaide Gomes, João Gregório, José Carlos Ferreira, Sérgio Ávila

Azorean Anthem

The music of this anthem was composed by Joaquim Lima, a famous musician and director who used to live in the village of Rabo de Peixe when of the struggles for autonomy and the Movement for the Autonomy of the Azores during the decade of 1890. The anthem was first introduced to an audience by the Progresso do Norte brass band of Rabo de Peixe on the 3rd of February, 1894 (it was then called Popular Anthem of the Azorean Autonomy).

The lyrics are a creation of Azorean poetess Natália Correia and speak of the pride of being born on these islands, of the spirit of a people who have faced many adversities and remain united and resolute, of the glory of the past giving inspiration for triumph in the future.