❧ The so-called Good Friday procession organized by the Misericórdia of Évora in 1656, was in fact the procession of the Soledade. This procession seemed to be a strong Iberian devotion that commemorated the solitude of the Virgin Mary on Holy Saturday, and was part of a wider devotion practised on Good Friday. The so-called Good Friday procession organized by …
❧ Most of what we read regarding the musical activity in Évora Cathedral from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries is frequently focused on the careers and compositions of the institution’s most distinguished chapel masters. Indeed, this happens in many cases as a result of the amount and availability of documental sources regarding their activity. By contrast, when speaking about …
Manuel Botelho, a musician in 17th-century Évora ❧ read more »
❧ As is the case with many Portuguese composers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, those whose musical careers were mostly developed in ecclesiastical institutions of lesser importance, when compared to the great cathedrals and monastic and conventual houses, are frequently almost unknown with scarce information circulating besides a name, dates of birth and death (sometimes not even these dates …
The 17th century Portuguese composer Henrique de Faria ❧ read more »
❧ Processions imploring for rain (ad petendam pluviam) are a constant occurrence in the Early Modern World. During the extended periods of extreme drought Man turned to the divine forces to ensure his subsistence directly related to the cultivation of the fields and harvesting of cereals to make bread as well as other foods. Processions imploring for rain (ad petendam …
A procession imploring for rain in seventeenth century Évora ❧ read more »
❧ The composer Gregorio Allegri is best known for his Miserere and all the tradition around the Papal chapel during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Besides this wider-known composition, it is not an easy task to list other works by Allegri. The composer was born in Rome sometime during 1582. Together with his brother Domenico, he was a choirboy from …
The Missa Salvatorem exspectamus by Gregorio Allegri ❧ read more »
The entries and visits of kings to the cities were always moments of grandeur, consisting in the perfect moments for the commission of artworks as well as social gatherings and much activity among the ruling classes of the cities and villages visited. To write about this would be too extensive for this kind of text so, in order to keep …
A visit to the Convent of Calvário in Évora by King Philip III ❧ read more »
Most of the published studies about the history of music in the Portuguese city of Évora have begin chronologically in the first decades of the sixteenth century onwards. This period corresponded to the activity of the Spanish chapel master Mateus d’Aranda at Évora Cathedral. The successors of Aranda both as chapel masters, singers, and instrumentalists, throughout the sixteenth century have …
The Medieval Soundscape of Évora from a 17th-Century Perspective ❧ read more »
The city of Évora, Alentejo, Portugal, is known for its musical history regarding the great Portuguese masters of polyphony of the first half of the seventeenth century. Names like Fr. Manuel Cardoso, Duarte Lobo, Filipe de Magalhães are known throughout the world as leading figures with biographical and professional relations with Évora Cathedral.
In 1626 the Portuguese theorist Antonio Fernandes dedicated his Arte de Musica to his former master Duarte Lobo praising him as one of the most illustrious Portuguese masters. Duarte Lobo is included in the trio of Portuguese composers (the other two being Fr. Manuel Cardoso and Filipe de Magalhães) with an impressive body of music compositions during the Portuguese golden …
Most of the posts on the Cantum Mensurable blog have focused on sacred music, in particular Latin polyphony. The corpus of Portuguese music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is rich in para-liturgical and religious thematic music being the villancico in the centre of this interesting repertory. In the case of the villancicos, most authors are lesser known than the …
The villancico “Quem vio hum menino” by António Marques Lésbio ❧ read more »