Portuguese music

[Christopher]

About 20 years ago I was listening to BBC Radio 3 and they played a beautiful piece of religious choral music. I am guessing it was renaissance or early baroque era, and they announced the composer's name as something like Teshera (maybe spelt something like Texeira?).  There hasn't been much mention of Portuguese composers on this site. Does anyone have any knowledge, and might they even begin to suggest who my mystery composer is?

[Christo]

Sounds like António Teixeira (1707-c1759). Not that unknown a composer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Teixeira
The piece could be his Te Deum (c1734) that I have in a beautiful performance by The Sixteen, but there are many performances available: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_i_1?rh=k%3Aantonio+teixeira%2Ci%3Apopular&keywords=antonio+teixeira&ie=UTF8&qid=1334950202

[Alan Howe]

Just a gentle reminder: this site is not the place for discussions of music from this era.

[Christo]

And that case: why not try another Portuguese composer, Joly Braga Santos? He's not very unsung anymore, but still.

[Dundonnell]

And that case: why not try another Portuguese composer, Joly Braga Santos? He's not very unsung anymore, but still.

Hear, hear

[Christo]

Just saying. 

[Dundonnell]

In addition to Joly Braga Santos, Naxos has been recording a good deal of Luis de Freitas Branco(1890-1955) and I have just listened to their latest release: the Symphony by Fernando Lopes-Graca(1908-93) written in 1944.

Freitas Branco and Lopes-Graco are both of older generations to Braga Santos but the music is similarly attractive, often infused with Portugese folk melody  and a nice comibation of romanticism and neo-classical idioms.

[Christo]

Err, Fernando Lopes-Graça. 

[Dundonnell]

Err, Fernando Lopes-Graça. 

Indeed   Thank you, Christo

[Christo]

Freitas Branco and Lopes-Graco

[jerfilm]

I stumbled across this site while serfing YouTube.   There is some very interesting music here from composers that were not mentioned above, as well as some that were......

http://www.youtube.com/user/teluriarte/videos?view=0

Happy listening.  I really like the Cello Sonata by Branco......

[Richard Moss]

Does João Domingos Bomtempo (1775 – 1842) qualify? He was a Portuguese classical pianist, composer and pedagogue and wrote some pleasant piano concertos and symphonies (plus other works).

Richard

[petershott@btinternet.com]

I'm not aware of any reason why Bomtempo shouldn't 'qualify'. I, for one, don't know too much about Portuguese music in this period, and Symphonies 1 and 2 (on Naxos) I found interesting, though perhaps not hugely memorable. Rather better is a Requiem Mass on Berlin Classics - in my view at least!

[mikehopf]

No mention of Vianna da Mota whose excellent symphony and piano concerto are well worth a listen!

[Gauk]

Some years ago I found a nice music shop in Sintra,  and was able to pick up recordings of Bontempo, da Mota and Freitas Branco on Portuguese labels.