On July 5, 1925, at the Men’s School of the Cerrado, several members of the resident community gathered for the purpose of forming a band in Santana, aimed at the musical practice of the inhabitants and especially of their children. Although the necessary payment of 400 escudos had, in spite of the fact that there had been some withdrawals, several inhabitants, they had paid for that subscription, using some of the meager and humble means at their disposal. The Banda Municipal de Santana (initially designated Fanfarra Recreio Santanense) was finally founded on April 4, 1926 by Crisóstomo Teixeira do Livramento († 1964), João Pinto Correia, João de Freitas Rocha, Vasco da Gama, Ernesto Maria Spínola, António Gomes João Marques de Jesus, Jacinto de Pereira, Manuel Marques (The Whale), João Marques da Silva (O Morgado) Alexandre Teixeira, João Gomes Granito, João Mendonça, Freitinhas and Alexandre Maria Spínola. Having acquired the second-hand musical instruments from the Funchal Philharmonic Artístico Funchalense – Banda Municipal do Funchal, the filarmónica Santanense began its activity with about 20 instrumentalists, performers of instruments of mouthpiece, saxophone and drums, adopting, very presumably, the constitution instrumental of the “Sax bands”.
The seminal activity of the Banda Municipal de Santana was mainly auspicious and endowed with remarkable artistic quality, having been awarded the 1st place in the Madeira Band Festival, held on November 22, 1931 in Funchal. Natural of the Azores, Crisostomo Teixeira do Livramento was the first director and regent of the institution, author of the Hymn of the Band and his first march. The artistic direction of the Banda Municipal de Santana was entrusted still to Manuel Nascimento de Sousa, Manuel Augusto Figueiredo, Américo Câmara Leme († 1960?), Among others. João Joaquim Fernandes, Joao Gabriel Teixeira Mendonça, Dr. João Auto Mendes, Dr. José Ferreira Prada, José Irineu Vieira Fernandes, José Manuel Balseiro de Sousa. In the mandate of José Carlos Rodrigues de Abreu, President of the Board of Directors of the institution since 1988, the institution was endowed with its own headquarters, inaugurated on September 11, 2000 by the then President of the Regional Government, Dr. Alberto João Jardim, still the title of Public Utility Institution on November 4 of that year. On the occasion of the commemorations of the 75 years of activity, in September 2001, the Banda Municipal de Santana also recognized its artistic work of superior social interest (according to the Patronage Statute). In July of that year, there had already been an exchange with the Sociedade Filarmónica Aurora Pedroguense, and it was presented at the VII Band Meeting of Pedrógão Pequeno. Concerning the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the Banda Municipal de Santana performed the European Anthem (the well-known excerpt from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, also called Hino da Alegria) on 25 March 2007. In representation of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, the Band was exhibited in London on May 2, 2010 (Madeira Day).
The filarmónica Santanense recorded in 2007 for the collection “As Melhores Bandas Filarmónicas da Região”, having in August of 2012 the CD “Saudação a Santana” was published. Under the artistic direction of Manuel Duarte da Silva Ferreira, the Banda Municipal de Santana reaffirmed and consolidated its pedagogical and artistic activity, constituting a music school that serves to take advantage of the free time of the community of Santana. Notable by the considerable number of young people, the Band is currently made up of 40 performers, dedicating themselves to the animation of religious and civic festivities and to the realization of several concerts by the Region.
Bibliography:
FRANCO, João Elias Domingues (2011); Bandas Filarmónicas Portuguesas, Vila Praia de Âncora: ANCORENSIS;
SARDINHA, Vítor e CAMACHO, Rui (2001); Rostos e Traços das Bandas Filarmónicas Madeirenses, Funchal: Direção Regional dos Assuntos Culturais e Associação Musical e Cultural Xarabanda;
http://www.bmsantana.pt/historia.php Consultado a 09 de Novembro de 2017;
Registo de Casamento de Crisóstomo Teixeira do Livramento e Matilde Adelina da Câmara Leme, C.R.C. Santana, 1926-09-11, Livro 1225, ff.45-45v., ARM online (consultado a 17 de Novembro de 2017).
[Registo de Casamento de Américo da Câmara Leme e Maria Ângela Teixeira, C.R.C. Santana, 1920-05-26, Livro 1218, ff.43-43v., ARM online (consultado a 17 de Novembro de 2017).