Chamber music played a substantial role in the renewal of Portuguese music that took place during the 20th century. Freitas Branco’s kaleidoscopic Trio has an experimental feel, brimming with his typical rhythmic fluidity and sweeping melodic style, while Frederico de Freitas’s Preludio, coral e fuga is both colorful and technically impressive. Braga Santos’s infectious lyricism is evident in his Trio, and the origins of Delgado’s Trio Camoniano as a sequence of songs connects the worlds of classical music and fado. Volume 1 of Trio Pangea’s ‘superbly played’ (MusicWeb International) Portuguese Piano Trios can be heard on Naxos as well.
One of Portugal´s leading classical musicians, Bruno Monteiro is herald by Opus Klassiek as a “top violinist” and by Musical Opinion as an “admirable artist”.
One of Portugal´s leading classical musicians, Bruno Monteiro is herald by Opus Klassiek as a “top violinist” and by Musical Opinion as an “admirable artist”.
One of Portugal´s leading classical musicians, Bruno Monteiro is herald by Opus Klassiek as a “top violinist” and by Musical Opinion as an “admirable artist”.
There has not been much of a symphonic tradition in Portugal, but this century has thrown up two symphonists of some significance – Luis de Freitas Branco (brother of the conductor Pedro), who is absent from the catalogues, and, more importantly, his pupil Joly Braga Santos, whose own protege Alvaro Cassuto is opening our eyes and ears to his stature. His First and Fifth Symphonies (Marco Polo, 7/98) came as something of a revelation: here again we have one work from each of his two contrasting compositional periods.
Hearty thanks to Marco Polo for finding another lost gem. Braga Santos (1924-1988) was born in Portugal and, through his teacher, Luis de Freitas Branco, inherited a fondness for music that mixed elements of Modernism with Portuguese Renaissance polyphony. Yet Vaughan Williams is the greatest influence in Braga Santos's music. Braga Santos, like Vaughan Williams, hunted down and extensively used folk melodies, folk songs, and anonymous sacred compositions for church services.