Dulce Pontes
Encyclopedia
Dulce José Silva Pontes (born April 8, 1969) is a Portuguese
songwriter and singer who performs in many musical styles, including pop, folk and classical music. She is usually defined as a world music
artist. Her songs contributed to the 1990s revival of Portuguese urban folk music
called fado
.
, a large city in the District of Setúbal, not far from Lisbon
.So then she trained as a pianist, she became a singer after entering a competition in her hometown at age 18. She soon became an actress in Portuguese television
and theater. In 1991 she won the national music festival with her song "Lusitana Paixão
" (known in English
as "Tell Me"), which led her to represent Portugal
at the Eurovision Song Contest
, where she finished 8th, which to date is the fourth-best finish for a Portuguese performer in this contest).
"Canção do Mar" (Song of the Sea), one of her many international hits, was later recorded by Sarah Brightman
, under the name "Harem
", and became a #1 Dance & Crossover hit in the US for Brightman.
Pontes started her career as a mainstream pop artist, but over the years she has evolved to become a world music
singer. She blends traditional fado
with contemporary styles and searches out new forms of musical expression. She introduced musical traditions of the Iberian Peninsula
in her work, rediscovered many long forgotten popular tunes and found use for obsolete musical instruments. Her work is inspired and influenced not only by Iberian
musical tradition, but also Arabic, African
, Brazilian
and Bulgarian
sounds. She sings mostly in her native Portuguese
, as well as Spanish
, Galician
, Mirandese, Italian
, English
, Arabic and Greek
.
Dulce Pontes has collaborated with Cesária Évora
, Caetano Veloso
, Marisa Monte
, Carlos Núñez
, the Chieftains
, Kepa Junkera
, Eleftheria Arvanitaki
, George Dalaras
, Andrea Bocelli
(O Mar e Tu, duet sung by Pontes in Portuguese
and Bocelli in Neapolitan
, for his 1999 album Sogno
), and others. Her song "Canção do Mar" appeared on the soundtrack of Hollywood film Primal Fear
. A 30-second piece of that same song serves as the theme to the NBC police drama Southland
. Her album Focus is the fruit of a collaboration with Italian
composer Ennio Morricone
with whom she has also performed live.
In June 2006, Pontes prepared her double LP O Coração Tem Três Portas (The Heart Has Three Doors). It was recorded live without an audience in Convent of the Order of Christ
in Tomar
and St Mary Church in Óbidos. According to the artist, it is "her most personal and intimate album." It includes Portuguese folk music
, mostly fado. " It was released in December 2006.
In 2009, Pontes released Momentos, a double disc collection that includes songs from her 20 year career as well as several previously unreleased tracks. Currently, she is working on an album of all new songs which is titled Nudez.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
songwriter and singer who performs in many musical styles, including pop, folk and classical music. She is usually defined as a world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
artist. Her songs contributed to the 1990s revival of Portuguese urban folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
called fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
.
Biography
Pontes was born in 1969 in MontijoMontijo, Portugal
Montijo is a town in Montijo Municipality in Portugal.The town has a population of 25,719.-References:...
, a large city in the District of Setúbal, not far from Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
.So then she trained as a pianist, she became a singer after entering a competition in her hometown at age 18. She soon became an actress in Portuguese television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and theater. In 1991 she won the national music festival with her song "Lusitana Paixão
Lusitana Paixão
"Lusitana paixão" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, performed in Portuguese by Dulce.The song is a ballad, with Dulce singing about the fado music of her native country. She sings that on the surface, this is a style of very sad music, with a focus on "longing" and...
" (known in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as "Tell Me"), which led her to represent Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
at the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1991
The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 was the 36th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 4 May 1991 in Rome. Due to the Gulf War and mounting tensions in Yugoslavia, RAI decided to move the contest from Sanremo to Rome, which was perceived to be more secure....
, where she finished 8th, which to date is the fourth-best finish for a Portuguese performer in this contest).
"Canção do Mar" (Song of the Sea), one of her many international hits, was later recorded by Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
, under the name "Harem
Harem (song)
"Harem " was a single released by Classical cross-over artist Sarah Brightman on November 4, 2003 . This was the first single taken from her 2003 album of the same name. "Harem" ranked #1 on the Billboard dance/club charts. The original version of "Canção do Mar" was performed by Amália Rodrigues...
", and became a #1 Dance & Crossover hit in the US for Brightman.
Pontes started her career as a mainstream pop artist, but over the years she has evolved to become a world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
singer. She blends traditional fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
with contemporary styles and searches out new forms of musical expression. She introduced musical traditions of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
in her work, rediscovered many long forgotten popular tunes and found use for obsolete musical instruments. Her work is inspired and influenced not only by Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
musical tradition, but also Arabic, African
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
, Brazilian
Music of Brazil
The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, zouk-lambada, lambada, choro, bossa nova, frevo, maracatu, MPB, sertanejo,...
and Bulgarian
Music of Bulgaria
The music of Bulgaria refers to all forms of music associated with Bulgaria like classical, folk, popular music, etc. Bulgarian music is part of the Balkan tradition, which stretches across Southeastern Europe, and has its own distinctive sound...
sounds. She sings mostly in her native Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, as well as Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Galician
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
, Mirandese, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Arabic and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
.
Dulce Pontes has collaborated with Cesária Évora
Cesária Évora
Cesária Évora is a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "barefoot diva" for performing without shoes, Évora is perhaps the best internationally known practitioner of "morna."-Early life:...
, Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, Marisa Monte
Marisa Monte
Marisa de Azevedo Monte is a Brazilian popular singer. As of 2011, she has sold 10 million albums worldwide.- Biography :...
, Carlos Núñez
Carlos Núñez
Carlos Núñez is a Galician musician who plays the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe.-Life and career:Nuñez was born in 1971 in Vigo, Galicia, Spain. He began playing the bagpipes when he was eight years old. In his early teens, he was invited to play with the Festival Orchestra of the...
, the Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, Kepa Junkera
Kepa Junkera
Kepa Junkera is a Basque musician and composer. A master of the trikitixa, the diatonic accordion, he has recorded more than 10 albums...
, Eleftheria Arvanitaki
Eleftheria Arvanitaki
Eleftheria Arvanitaki is a Greek folk singer. She originates from the island of Icaria...
, George Dalaras
George Dalaras
George Dalaras , also possibly spelled as Yorgos or Giorgos Dalaras, is a Greek singer. He is of international fame and has recently been selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. He was born in Nea Kokinia, Piraeus. His father was Loukas Daralas, a singer of rebetiko.-Early...
, Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
(O Mar e Tu, duet sung by Pontes in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Bocelli in Neapolitan
Neapolitan language
Neapolitan is the language of the city and region of Naples , and Campania. On October 14, 2008 a law by the Region of Campania stated that the Neapolitan language had to be protected....
, for his 1999 album Sogno
Sogno
Sogno is the fifth studio album by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, released on April 6, 1999. In 1999, Bocelli was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys, which marked the first time a classical artist had been nominated in the category in 38 years...
), and others. Her song "Canção do Mar" appeared on the soundtrack of Hollywood film Primal Fear
Primal Fear (film)
Primal Fear is a 1996 American crime drama thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit and starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. The film tells the story of a defense attorney, Martin Vail , who defends an altar boy, Aaron Stampler , charged with the murder of a Catholic archbishop. The movie is an...
. A 30-second piece of that same song serves as the theme to the NBC police drama Southland
Southland (TV series)
Southland is an American drama series created by writer Ann Biderman and produced by Warner Bros. Television. It premiered on NBC on April 9, 2009...
. Her album Focus is the fruit of a collaboration with Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
composer Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
with whom she has also performed live.
In June 2006, Pontes prepared her double LP O Coração Tem Três Portas (The Heart Has Three Doors). It was recorded live without an audience in Convent of the Order of Christ
Convent of the Order of Christ
The Convent of the Order of Christ is a religious building and Roman Catholic building in Tomar, Portugal, originally a Templar stronghold built in the 12th century...
in Tomar
Tomar
Tomar Municipality has a total area of 351.0 km² and a total population of 43,007 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 16 parishes, and is located in Santarém District...
and St Mary Church in Óbidos. According to the artist, it is "her most personal and intimate album." It includes Portuguese folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, mostly fado. " It was released in December 2006.
In 2009, Pontes released Momentos, a double disc collection that includes songs from her 20 year career as well as several previously unreleased tracks. Currently, she is working on an album of all new songs which is titled Nudez.
Discography
- Lusitana (1992)
- Lágrimas (1993) (Tears)
- Brisa do Coração (1995) (Breeze of the heart) - album live recorded during a concert held May 6, 1995 in PortoPortoPorto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
- Caminhos (1996) (Paths)
- O Primeiro Canto (1999) (The first chant/song)
- Best Of (2002)
- Focus (2003)
- O Coração Tem Três Portas (2006) (The heart has three doors) - including a DVD, recorded live in a convent and church
- Momentos (2009) (Moments)