The Music of Madeira reflects its cultural heritage, this can be seen in the local

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

music, which in Madeira is widespread and mainly uses local musical instruments such as the

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

, rajão, brinquinho and cavaquinho, which are used in traditional folkloric dances like the ''bailinho da Madeira''.

History

Emigrants from Madeira also influenced the creation of new musical instruments. In the 1880s, the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

was created, based on two small guitar-like instruments of Madeiran origin, the cavaquinho and the rajão. The ukulele was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

immigrants from Madeira and Cape Verde. Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele makers. Two weeks after they disembarked from the '' SS Ravenscrag'' in late August 1879, the ''Hawaiian Gazette'' reported that "Madeira Islanders recently arrived here, have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts."

Famous musicians

Ana da Silva Ana da Silva is a musician, best known as a founding member of post-punk rock band the Raincoats. Career Born in Madeira island of Portugal, she grew up without television and little access to popular culture. She had exposure to music throu ...

Elisa Silva Maria Elisa Silva (born 7 May 1999), known simply as Elisa, is a Portuguese singer from Ponta do Sol, Madeira. She won Festival da Canção 2020 and would have represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 held in Rotterdam, Nether ...

- winner of Festival da Canção 2020 with the song "

Medo de Sentir "Medo de sentir" (; English: "Afraid of feeling", literally "Fear of feeling") is a song performed by Portuguese singer Elisa Silva and written by Portuguese singer-songwriter Marta Carvalho. It would have represented Portugal in the Eurovision ...

". *

Luís Jardim Luís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim (born 4 July 1950) is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn. Family Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim (former president of the ...

* Ruben Aguiar * Maximiano de Sousa *

Pedro Camacho Pedro Macedo Camacho is a Portuguese composer of classical music as well as film and video game scores. He is known for his Requiem to Inês de Castro, his score for ''Star Citizen'' and for his contribution to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Bi ...

Vânia Fernandes Vânia Sofia Olim Marote de Ribeiro Fernandes (born 25 September 1985) is a Portuguese singer from Funchal, Madeira (Portugal). Known for her powerful stage presence, as well as her prominent and versatile voice, Fernandes has participated in sev ...

– represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

with the song " Senhora do Mar (Negras Águas)".

References

{{Music of Africa Madeiran culture Portuguese music