Fernando Lopes-Graça and Amílcar Vasques-Dias are linked in their musical reflections on Portuguese identity, but at widely differing points in that country’s history. Lopes-Graça transformed traditional songs into poetic and hard-edged statements, helping to create a ‘national collective spirit’ that would not be bowed by dictatorship. Vasques-Dias’s approach to folk culture is based on more personal feelings and emotions, recalling the countryside of his childhood and its landscapes today.

Joana Gama (b. 1983) is a Portuguese pianist who has participated in multiple projects, both as a soloist and within collaborations, not only in classical music, but also in the fields of cinema, dance, theatre, and experimental music. This recording is the outcome of years dedicated to the research and performance of Portuguese music. In 2017, Gama defended her doctoral thesis Performance Studies on Portuguese Contemporary Music for Piano: the particular case of evocative music of elements of the Portuguese culture at the University of Évora, supported by a scholarship from the Portuguese government.