Searching for the origins of the Portuguese waltzes

Searching for the Origins of the Portuguese Waltzes is a collection of narratives depicting a six-year quest to discover the roots of a piece of traditional music played in St.

John’s, Newfoundland: the Portuguese Waltzes. Through interviews, research, and observations, author Richard Simas explores the relationship between Portuguese bacalhoeiros (cod fishermen) and the population of St.

John’s during the recent cod-fishing era (approximately 1950 to 1980).

Memory, and its varying interpretation among different communities, is a major underlying theme.

Above all, though, this is a book about music, shared, invented, and improvised, underscoring the power of melody to capture and conserve emotional memory across the Atlantic.