Vasco Martins

Biography

Self-taught, he began his studies in 1974. He was a member of the band Colá in 1976, but then went to Portugal where he studied with Fernando Lopes Graça and later to France to pursue his musical education with Henri-Claude Fantapié. In 1979 he recorded his first LP. He returned to Cape Verde, and it is there that he has created most of his work as a composer and instrumentist, but also as musicologist and producer, he organized and founded the Baía das Gatas Music Festival along with his friends in 1984, the first music festival in the nation. He released more albums including Quinto Mundo (1989), Eternal Cycle (1995), Memórias Atlânticas (Memories from the Atlantic) (1998) and Lunário Perpétio (2001). He released 4 Sinfonias in August 2007 which is related to his first four symphonies he made. His album Lua água clara (Clear Moon Water), a CD was recorded in Paris in 2008. He later made Li Sin which was released in June 2010, one of his singles were first heard on Praia FM, nearly two years later in January 2012, he released Azuris, the Latin name for Blue His recent album released was Twelve Moons released in Spring 2014

Other works

Vasco Martins is the first Capeverdean to ever perform symphonies, the first one was related to the Spring Equinox, the second symphony started in 1998 and completed in 2002 and titled Erupção (Eruption), one of them the last eruption at the time which was on Fogo, it was revised in 2004. The third one was titled Arquipélaco magnético, the Magnetic Archipelago, the fourth one was titled Buda Dharma (Buddha Dharma) made in 2001. The fifth one was set in the Eastern parts and divided into six parts, the first four were the directions, the other two were in space titled nadir and zenith. The sixth one was set in his family's island's tallest summit Monte Verde which was also Pandion halieatus. The seventh one was Alba, the eighth was titled A Procura da Luz (The Search for Light) and the ninth one was for Orchestra which was performed with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Martins also made works related to instrumentals including 4 Notes on the City of Mindelo using a solo clarinet. He also performed chamber music, piano works including Piano Azul (Blue Piano) in 1998, guitar works including the Subtle Desert and electro music.

In 2008 he performed the opera play titled Crioulo (Creole), it premiered at Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) in Lisbon on March 27, 2009, he was componist and performed the cantata "Lágrimas na Paraise".

He also made three poems including Universo da Ilha ('Island Universe) in 1986, Navegam os olhares com o voo do pássaro, in 1989 and Run Shan in 2008.

Interviews

He was interviewed on October 10, 1997 with FM Stéreo and later with the major newspaper A Semana on April 23, 2005

Musical styles

In the Cape Verdean musical panorama, Vasco Martins may be considered unique. A composer who refuses to be labeled, he may be considered a classical musician because of his incursions into symphonic orchestra music, but he may also be considered as a new age musician because of his instrumental compositions, mostly using synthesizers, but in both cases, always inspired by traditional Cape Verdean music.

Symphonies

Instrumental music

Other works

Albums

Chamber music

Piano works

Guitar works

Electronic music

Literary works

Poems