Culture and censorshipsinger and composerproducer of “Cantigas do Maio”political prisoner (1962)exile in France (1963–1974)
Born
25 May 1942, Porto
Died
19 November 2019
A singer, composer and producer. Arrested by the PIDE in 1962, he deserted from the colonial war and spent eleven years in exile in France, where he produced José Afonso’s “Cantigas do Maio” (Songs of May). He returned on 30 April 1974 and was welcomed at the airport with “Grândola”.
The son of primary school teachers, he was born in Porto on 25 May 1942 and studied music at the Parnaso school. In 1958 he became involved in the campaign of Humberto Delgado and, in 1961, he joined the Portuguese Communist Party and the academic struggles of Lisbon and Coimbra.1 In April 1962 he was arrested by the PIDE and held in the Aljube and in Caxias; he was released in September.1
Determined not to go to the colonial war, he deserted in 1963, against the party’s wishes, and went into exile in France.12 In Paris he lived through May 1968, sang at emigrants’ gatherings and met Sérgio Godinho and José Afonso; he made his first record, Seis Cantigas de Amigo (Six Songs of a Friend), in 1969.1 On 10 November 1970 he sang at the Mutualité, in Paris, at the concert “La Chanson de Combat Portugaise”.4 He produced José Afonso’s Cantigas do Maio (Songs of May) and in 1971 released Mudam-se os Tempos, Mudam-se as Vontades (Times Change, Wills Change).12
He returned on 30 April 1974, with Luís Cília. RTP filmed him at Portela airport hugging his mother, his wife and his friends and singing “Grândola” in chorus with José Afonso, Adriano Correia de Oliveira, José Jorge Letria and Ary dos Santos.5 He was one of the founders of the Cultural Action Collective, later the Cultural Action Group (GAC) – Vozes na Luta, linked to the UDP, and worked with the Comuna theatre group and with the Teatro do Mundo.1 In 1980 he sang at the Coliseu, at the 10th anniversary of the CGTP-IN trade union confederation, and in April 1982 RTP filmed him in the Aula Magna of the Rectorate, rehearsing the presentation of the record Ser Solidário (Being in Solidarity).67
He died on 19 November 2019.1 His wake was held at A Voz do Operário, where former members of the GAC sang “A cantiga é uma arma” (The song is a weapon), and the funeral set off from there for the Alto de São João cemetery.8 The Assembly of the Republic paid tribute to him as an “artist, singer and composer, who was also an anti-fascist political fighter”.3
From the archives
José Mário Branco’s testimony, recorded by the Aljube Museum on 16 May 2019, six months before he died. Going by the museum’s keywords, he talks about the Aljube prison, the PIDE and the interrogations, the students, the colonial war, exile and May 1968.
Original page Licença padrão do YouTube — embed permitido pelo canal oficial do Museu do Aljube
Museu do Aljube Resistência e Liberdade, on YouTube. The player only connects to that site when you press “Watch”.
In other archives
These can only be viewed on each archive’s own website.
A protest singer, persecuted by the censors and imprisoned by the PIDE/DGS in 1973. His “Grândola, Vila Morena” (Grândola, swarthy town), sung in chorus at the Coliseu in March 1974, was a month later the second signal of 25 April.
A singer of the Coimbra generation that made song a weapon against the Estado Novo (“New State”). His “Trova do Vento que Passa” (Ballad of the Passing Wind), with a poem by Manuel Alegre, became a student and anti-fascist anthem. He was at the Coliseu in March 1974 and at the airport to welcome the exiles.
A singer and composer born in Huambo, Angola. He deserted in 1964 and went into exile in Paris, where he sang against the colonial war and composed “Avante Camarada” (Forward, Comrade). He returned on 30 April 1974, with José Mário Branco.
A poet, composer, singer and actor. He left Portugal at the age of 20 so as not to go to the colonial war, and lived in exile in Geneva, Paris, Amsterdam, Brazil and Vancouver. His first record, “Os Sobreviventes” (The Survivors), recorded in France, was banned by the censors.
A priest and singer. At the São Domingos vigil, as 1968 turned into 1969, he sang Sophia de Mello Breyner’s “Cantata da Paz” (Cantata of Peace). Barred from being a priest, from teaching and from singing in public, he left for France in 1971 and took part in the recording of “Cantigas do Maio” (Songs of May).
A communist leader, he was one of the eight prisoners who escaped from Caxias in Salazar’s armoured car, in 1961. Arrested in 1959 and again in 1965, he withstood PIDE torture without talking.
Notes on the sources2
Whether José Mário Branco and Luís Cília came on the same plane as Álvaro Cunhal, on 30 April 1974, as several biographies say: the RTP report shows the arrival at the airport, but does not say so.
The year of “Ser Solidário”: the Aljube Museum says the record came out in 1980; RTP says the songs were a show conceived in November 1980, and it filmed the preparations for the presentation of the record in April 1982.
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