A Língua Portuguesa no Canto Lírico: Contexto histórico e relações entre técnica e fonética

The starting point of this research was a prejudice, widespread among the community of singers, both Portuguese and foreign, that Portuguese is a difficult language to sing.

We decided to try to understand the origin of this prejudice and if it would make any sense in scientific terms.

Taking as a starting point Gustavo Romanoff Salvini, a composer and singing teacher of the 19th Century, who was a pioneer in approaching the issue of singing in Portuguese, both musically and scientifically, we looked at the relationship between singing and Portuguese phonetics, through four chapters.

Each chapter attempts to answer a question: 1 – From where does the prejudice of singing in Portuguese come from?

2 - How does the vocal tract work?

3 - How is the Portuguese language from the point of view of articulation ?

4 – How does singing in Portuguese work in acoustic terms?

Finally, using the technology and the modern knowledge of phonetics and vocal techniques of the 20th and 21th century, we identified some potentially difficult sounds for singing in Portuguese, and suggest strategies to overcome them.

The result is a guide on how to sing in good Portuguese, and with a beautiful sound.


The author Tânia Valente has PhD in Music and Musicology, branch of Interpretation from the Évora University.

She divides her carrier as a singer with the activity of teacher at the Music School of the National Conservatory of Lisbon and the activity of University Researcher.

She began her musical studies at the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon.

She holds a degree in Modern Languages and Literatures: English and German Studies from the Faculty of Letters - University of Lisbon and in Singing by the Superior School of Music in Lisbon.

Her research interests include the areas of Vocal Science, Singing Pedagogy and relationships between Music and Literature.

In addition to performing regularly in recitals, she is a member of the Gulbenkian Choir.