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Portuguese Polyphony in The Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries - Albert T. Luper
Portuguese Polyphony in The Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries - Albert T. Luper
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PortuguesePolyphonyin the Sixteenthand
Early SeventeenthCenturies*
BY ALBERT T. LUPER
sible extant material within the coun- gal, yet sufficient evidence has come
try and extending even to material in to light to indicate a considerable
Spain and elsewhere. These activities amount of creative music activity
were climaxed with the Exposition of during several periods of the nation's
Early Portuguese Painting held in history, whence we may point out
I940 in connection with the festivi- the following as deserving of con-
ties commemorating the 8ooth an- sideration:
niversary of the founding of the
The Portuguese-Galicianpoet-singers of
kingdom in 1139 as well as the 3ooth I)
the 3th and I4th centuries, men-
anniversary of the liberation from the tioned above;
60 years of Spanish subjugation
2) The part-songs of the palace poets and
which ended in I640. At this exhibit of the Renaissance theater, of the
one could view the magnificent i5th- late I5th and early i6th centuries;
century polyptych altarpiece panels 3) The sacred vocal polyphony of the i6th
of St. Vincent by Nuno Gonqalves and 17th centuries;
and works by "Grao Vasco" Fer- 4) The keyboard music contemporary
nandes and many other masters, with that vocal polyphonic activity;
named and unnamed, of the 15th and 5) The semi-popular, semi-religious en-
semble vocal music of the vilancico
I6th centuries, ample evidence of the
existence of a flourishing native type, extending from the i6th
school of painters. through the i8th century;
6) Keyboard music of the i8th century;
As against the achievements in
7) Opera in the i8th and early Igth cen-
these areas, briefly outlined above, turies; and
what can Portugal present in the field 8) Music by composers of the present day.
of music that may be considered
worthy of standing alongside her ac- Virtually all these movements are
complishments in the other arts, and susceptible of further investigation
further, what has she produced that and study, some with greater suc-
may be. deserving of consideration cess than others, depending in large
and inclusion in the history of the measure on the body of source ma-
tonal art in Europe and the Western terial which is extant or which may
World? come to light through continued
While it is necessary that the pro- searches.
ductions of all periods and types of That phase to which I wish to di-
a nation's music, the good and the rect renewed attention in the present
bad, the ephemeral as well as the out- study is the sacred vocal polyphony
standing, be studied in order to written in Portugal during the i6th
understand its development and re- and 17th centuries and having its cli-
late it to the culture and the social, max of development in the first half
political, and economic life of the of the i7th century. The peak of this
region in its historical unfolding, this production came at a time when the
is a task primarily for the native main stream of creation in most other
scholar-a task of unearthing the parts of Europe had turned to newer
documents and sources, of evalua- methods, newer techniques, and
ting them and interpreting them so newer procedures of expression, and
as to place them in their proper re- perhaps one of the first reactions of
lationship with the known art of the historian to this fact will be that
other times and places. Progress in Portuguese 17th-century composers
this regard has been slow in Portu- just "missed the boat" in coming
PORTUGUESE POLYPHONY 95
upon the scene of activity too late from the Orient added to the power
to participate in its major develop- and prestige engendered by discov-
ment. However, instances of the eries, heroic feats, and territorial con-
overlapping of styles, old and new, quests in distant lands. This brilliant
between different regions and often period is reflected in the nation's
even in the same region, are too fre- achievements in the arts and letters.
quent and familiar to require ex- Yet even here we can perceive the
tended comment; and, as often hap- seeds of decline; those monarchs, in
pens in music as well as in the other failing to establish sound economic
arts and in literature, important de- policies for the nation, squandered
velopments in style and creation are her wealth, and this, coupled with the
impelled to culminate at times that unwise policy of intermarriages with
are in complete disregard of any ar- the Castilian royal family, left Portu-
bitrary temporal boundaries which gal in a position ripe for plunder. The
for convenience may be established. absentee rulership of the three suc-
In the present instance, while justifi- cessive kings, Philip II, III, and IV of
cation for the persistence of the i6th- Spain, made for a restricted political
century style of vocal polyphony and social atmosphere and exposed
well into the I7th century in Portu- Portugal to the preying of the ene-
gal may not be necessary, a partial mies of Spain, particularly the Dutch,
explanation of that fact may be dis- the French, and the English, who did
cerned in the social, intellectual, and not hesitate to take advantage of the
political life of the nation, which situation and wrest from an impotent
must have helped to determine the nation many of her hard-won pos-
direction that musical production sessions.
took at this time. On the one side is Thus deprived of any direct con-
the intellectual and religious atmos- tacts with the musical life of other
phere characterized by a fanatical parts of Europe, except Spain, it
zeal for the Cross displayed so fre- would seem as if the Portuguese com-
quently by the Iberian peoples. The poser, thrown upon his own re-
strictures of the Inquisition, coupled sources, turned inward and con-
with the control of education pass- tinued in the tradition of the i6th
ing into the hands of the Jesuits, the century, bringing to full flower the
champions of the Counter-Reforma- school of creative writing which had
tion, effectively stifled most liberal or failed to develop completely in that
humanistic tendencies during the last era.
part of the i6th century and beyond. We began this discussion by com-
On the other side is the circumstance menting upon the neglect that has
that during the 60 years from I580 been accorded to the arts of Portugal.
to 1640 Portugal was almost cut off This has been particularly true with
from the outside world, due to the regard to music. Most manuals of
passing of the throne into the hands music history fail entirely to men-
of the Spanish Hapsburgs. tion Portuguese music, or else dis-
The ascendancy of the Portuguese miss it with a brief sentence or two
nation, beginning before the middle added as an afterthought to a discus-
of the 15th century, reached its apex sion of the music of Spain. While we
under kings Manuel I (reg. 1495- cannot entirely absolve the general
152 ) and John III (reg. 152 -1557), music historian of this sin of omis-
when the material riches
----- pouring
------- ----- in sion, since he has failed in many in-
96 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
stances to take into account even the was passed by with little more than a
limited literature on the subject, the concert or two of music by compos-
principal blame must be laid on the ers of Portugal's "golden" period.4
Portuguese people themselves, who With such profound apathy being dis-
have for the most part been remiss played by the Portuguese themselves,
in their duty of rediscovering and it is not surprising that the foreign
preserving their musical heritage. It scholar has failed to concern himself
is certainly true that catastrophes, properly with the subject. What Por-
both natural and human, such as tuguese musical scholarship seems to
earthquakes, fires, wars, invasions, require more than anything else is a
pillaging of religious institutions, etc., person of the stature of a Pedrell or
have taken severe toll of the sources; an Angles to interest himself in the
yet lamentations to that effect fail to problem and to undertake a series of
excuse the continuing neglect of pre- studies and publication projects, and
cious and irreplaceable manuscripts, thus bring early Portuguese music
rare early printed works, and other out of the obscurity in which it is
documents which are rotting away buried.5
in dank and dusty chambers of met- So much for the negative side of
ropolitan and provincial churches and the problem. What is there of an af-
archives, with very little attempt be- firmative nature? A brief review of
ing made to preserve and record the available literature reveals the fol-
them for the present and for pos- lowing limited though worthwhile
terity. There is no complete edition studies and publications concerning
of the works of any Portuguese com- the period under discussion.
poser,1 no general "Denkmaler" The most complete general study
series of Portuguese music,2 no criti- on Portuguese music is Lambertini's
cal study by a Portuguese scholar,3 essay in the Lavignac Encyclopedie,6
and very few really thoroughgoing and this is in fact the only historical
monographs on different phases of treatment of any considerable length
Portuguese musical production. The devoted exclusively to Portuguese
rare opportunity that was presented music. Shorter and more cursory sec-
in the national festivities of 1940, tions on Portuguese music, musicians,
mentioned above, to do something
4There were, however, very properly, programs
concrete in this respect, on the order of works by present-day composers, especially
of what was done for Portuguese art, written for the occasion.
'The significant step taken by the Portuguese
1Manuel Joaquim has begun an edition of the Government in the field of art should be con-
works of Duarte Lobo, of which only one vol- tinued in the area of music, before the ravages
ume has so far been issued: Composifoes poli- of time and circumstance further deplete the
f6nicas de Duarte Lobo, transcritas em parti- national legacies of the tonal art. Unfortu-
tura por Manuel Joaquim. Tomo I: I6 "Mag- nately, the prospect does not appear favorable
nificat" a 4 vozes (Lisboa: Instituto para a for the early underwriting of such a project
Alta Cultura, 1945). by the Government, and neither are private
20ne volume of a projected series edited by resources apparently in a position to cope with
Julio Eduardo dos Santos appeared several the problem. Some other means must be found
years ago: A polifonia classica portuguesa, to deal with it. A possible solution may exist
Vol. I (Lisbon, 1937). There are numerous in a combination of the efforts of local inter-
errors in this edition, some of which can be ested elements with foreign scholarship and
corrected without difficulty, while for others philanthropic aid.
it will be necessary to have recourse to the ""Portugal," by Michel'angelo Lambertini, in
sources. Encyclopedie de la musique et dictionnaire du
'Mention is made below of the studies on Conservatoire, Part I, Vol. 4 (Paris, I920).
Portuguese keyboard music by Santiago Kast- Cf. also Lambertini's Bibliophilie musicale
ner, who is not a Portuguese citizen. (Lisbon, 1918).
PORTUGUESE POLYPHONY 97
theorists, etc., of this period may be the supplementary compilation of
found in the histories of music or Sousa Viterbo,23 and a recently pub-
other special studies by Freitas lished manuscript written in the i8th
Branco,7 Mitjana,8 Gilbert Chase,9 century by Mazza,24 as well as the
Soubies,l? Frotscher,l Soriano Fuer- few sketches contained in such works
tes,12Van der Straeten,13Menendez y as the dictionaries of Baker, Grove,
Pelayo,'4 and the Harvard Dictionary Fetis, and Riemann. Of the mono-
of Music, with briefer references in graphs written on more limited
studies by Ambros,l5 Leichtentritt,l6 phases of the subject we should name
Seiffert,17 Lang,'8 Einstein,19 Bukof- the essays by Manuel Joaquim,25
zer,20 and a few others. In the field Sampayo Ribeiro,26 and Sousa Vi-
of Portuguese musical biography we terbo,27the important but incomplete
have the old standbys, the biographi- catalogue of the music in the Library
cal dictionaries by Vasconcellos21 of the University of Coimbra,28and
and Vieira,22 to which can be added the bibliographical study by Bertino
7Luis de Freitas Branco, Elementos de scien- A. T. Judice and A. Arroyo (Lisbon, 90o9).
cias musicais, Vol. II: Histdria da musica (Ist 3[Francisco Marques de] Sousa Viterbo,
ed., Lisbon: Sassetti & Ca., 1923; 2nd ed., Subsidios para a historia da misica em Por-
Leipzig, n.d.); also A musica em Portugal tugal (Coimbra, 1932). Consists largely of ex-
[Exposicao Portuguesa em Sivilha] (Lisbon, tracts from miscellaneous records and archives.
1929). 24Jose Mazza, Diciondrio biografico de miisicos
8Rafael Mitjana, "La Musique en Espagne," portugueses, corn prefdcio e notas do P. Jose
in the Lavignac Encyclopedie ..., Part I, Vol. Augusto Alegria. Extraido da revista "Oci-
4 (Paris, 1920). dente." (Lisbon, 1944-45). From a manuscript
9The Music of Spain (New York, 1941), Chap- in the ftvora Public Library. Especially val-
ter 18: "The Music of Portugal," by Albert T. uable for the editorial notes.
Luper. 2"Notas s6bre a musica na Se de Elvas," and
"Albert Soubies, Histoire de la musique: Por- "Documentos para a hist6ria da muisica na Se
tugal (Paris, 1898). de Elvas," in Jornal de Elvas (1928); Ndtulas
"Gotthold Frotscher, Geschichte des Orgel- s6bre a musica na Se de Viseu (Viseu: Pub-
spiels und der Orgelkomposition (Berlin- licaroes da Junta de Provincia da Beira Alta,
Sch6neberg, 1936). 1944; offprint from Beira Alta, Vols. 1-3,
'2Mariano Soriano Fuertes, Historia de la ml- 1942-44); "A prop6sito dos livros de poli-
sica espaiola desde la venida de los fenicios fonia existentes no Paco Ducal de Vila Vicosa
hasta el ano de 1850, 4 vols. (Madrid, I855- (Portugal)," in Anuario musical (Barcelona),
59). Vol. 2 (I947), pp. 69-80. Cf. also the introduc-
l"Edmond Van der Straeten, La Musique au.r tions to Joaquim's editions of the Elvas Can-
Pays-Bas avant le XIXe siecle, 8 vols. (Brus- cioneiro (footnote 34, infra) and Vol. I of the
sels, 1867-1888). See especially Vols. 7 and 8. works of Duarte Lobo (footnote I, supra).
'M. Menendez y Pelayo, Historia de las ideas 2Mario de Sampayo Ribeiro, Damido de Goes
esteticas en Espaia, 3rd ed. (Madrid, igio). na Livraria Real da Musica (Lisbon, 1935);
"August W. Ambros, Geschichte der Musik, A musica em Coimbra (Coimbra, 1939); Os
3rd ed., Vol. 3 (Leipzig, I893). manuscritos musicais nos. 6 e I2 da Biblioteca
"Hugo Leichtentritt, Geschichte der Motette Geral da Universidade de Coimbra (Coimbra,
(Leipzig, 90o8). I94I).
1Max Seiffert, Geschichte der Klaviermusik, 2"Sousa Viterbo, Arte e artistas em Portugal
Vol. I (Leipzig, 1899). (Lisbon, 1892); Mestres da capela real nos
"Paul H. Lang, Music in Western Civilization reinados de D. Jodo II e D. Manuel (Lisbon,
(New York, I947). 906 ?) ; Os mestres da capela real nos reinados
"Alfred Einstein, Music in the Romantic Era de D. Jod III e D. Sebastido (Lisbon, 1907);
(New York, 1947). Mestres da capela real desde o dominio filipino
"Manfred F. Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque inclusivk ate D. Jose I (Lisbon, 1918 ?). These
Era (New York, 1947). are articles written for various periodicals,
2"Joaquim de Vasconcellos, Os musicos portu- and reprinted separately by the author. Much
guezes, 2 vols. (Porto, 1870). of the material consists of extracts from chan-
2Ernesto Vieira, Diccionario biographico de cellery records and other archives.
musicos portuguezes, 2 vols. (Lisbon, I900). 2Inventdrio de ineditos e impressos musicais
This work is somewhat more reliable than that (Subsidios para um catalogo) (Coimbra: Pub-
of Vasconcellos. Cf. also Vieira's "A muisica licacoes da Biblioteca da Universidade, Fasc.
em Portugal," in Notas sobre Portugal, ed. by I, I937).
98 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Daciano Rocha da Silva Guimaraes.28a special journals the results of his re-
Of exceptional worth are the studies searches and discoveries, including
on Portuguese and Spanish keyboard motets by Estevao Lopes Morago,38
music by Santiago Kastner,29a critic, and especially the Elvas Cancion-
harpsichordist, and writer of British eiro34 containing pieces in the style
citizenship who for many years has of the Spanish Cancionero de Palacio.
resided and worked in Lisbon, with Joaquim has embarked also on an edi-
frequent excursions into neighboring tion of the complete works of Duarte
Spain. Lobo, of which only one volume has
Examples or collections of the ac- so far appeared, issued in 1945.s5
tual music of this period are more While this summary virtually ex-
difficult to encounter. A bare half- hausts the list of available86publica-
dozen motets by Damiao de Goes, tions of sacred vocal polyphony, ad-
Duarte Lobo, Manuel Cardoso, and ditional reference should be made to
King John IV were printed in Eu- Santiago Kastner's editions of old
rope during the i9th century either Portuguese keyboard music, espe-
in collections of miscellaneous sacred cially the selections from the Flores
works or as examples in histories of de Musica (1620) by Manuel Rod-
music.30 The first two decades of rigues Coelho.37
the present century brought forth
scarcely anything further. It was not Let us inquire now into the origins
until I923, when Freitas of the Portuguese school of polyph-
Branco
brought out the first edition of his ony.
music history and reproduced there'3 The earliest documents containing
excerpts from masses by Duarte music which so far have appeared in
Lobo and Filipe de Magalhaes, that Portugal are several fragments of
most present-day Portuguese musi- plainsong manuscripts, parts of mis-
cians saw for the first time the scores sals or other liturgical books, with
of any of the music produced by the chants notated in Aquitanian
their ancestors of this period. In 1937
"In supplement to N6tulas s6bre a musica na
Julio Eduardo dos Santos issued an SE de Viseu (cf. footnote 25).
32 of music
anthology by composers of 0" cancioneiro musical e poetico da Biblioteca
the 17th century, the first volume of Piblia Hortensia, cor pr6logo, transcrigdo e
a projected series, but with the lapse notas de Manuel Joaquim. Obra subsidiada pelo
Instituto para a Alta Cultura (Coimbra, 1940).
of more than a decade this has as yet For a list of music common to the Elvas
had no sequel. Meanwhile Manuel Cancioneiro and the Cancionero de palacio see
also Higinio Angles, La musica en la corte de
Joaquim, a bandmaster in the Por- los reyes catdlicos. I: Polifonia religiosa
tuguese Army, had become interested (Madrid, 1941), pp. 127-128, and ibid., II:
in old Portuguese music, and began Polifonia profana, "Cancionero musical de
palacio," Part I (Barcelona, 1947).
to publish in provincial and other 3See footnote i.
"I have not yet been able to see the transcrip-
28*Primeiro esboco duma bibliografia musical tions of music from Santa Cruz de Coimbra
portuguesa (Porto, 1947). which were published in a short-lived publica-
"Kastner's chief works are Musica hispinica tion, Musica sacra (Coimbra, 1927-28), ed.
(Lisbon, 1936), and Contribuci6n al estudio de by P. Jose Eduardo da Silva Matos, except for
la mzisica espanola y portuguesa (Lisbon, three pieces reprinted in the Santos anthology
I94I). (cf. footnote 2).
"See under the composers mentioned, infra. "Cravistas portugueses-Old Portuguese Key-
"*Freitas Branco, op. cit. (ist ed., I923), pp. board Music (Mainz: Schott, 1935), and P.
I I-III, II4-I 9. Manuel Rodrigues Coelho, 5 Tentos (Mainz
*2See footnote 2. & Leipzig: Schott, 1936).
PORTUGUESE POLYPHONY 99
neumes, and dating apparently from a book on the art of hunting40 which
about the i th to the I3th century.38 he wrote late in the I4th or early in
No manuscript has been found con- the z5th century, speaks about the
taining polyphonic music dating comparative virtues and defects of
from before the i5th century. Yet several forms of diversion, such as
for at least two reasons there is a chess playing, jousting, music mak-
good probability that the early prac- ing, dancing, etc. But the highest
tice of polyphony was known, even form of sport, he says, is hunting,
if it did not take firm root and estab- since it puts into play all the facul-
lish a local tradition. In the first place, ties of man; and after describing its
the proximity of northern Portugal many pleasures and excitements, the
to the shrine of Santiago de Com- king goes on to state that ". . . we
postela in Galicia admits of the pos- can very well say that not even
sibility that the see of Braga and its Guillaume de Machaut made such
suffragan churches, which main- beautiful concordance of melody
1
tained close relationships with Com- ... as do the dogs when they run."
postela, may have employed poly- Doubtless King John would have
phonic types such as those encoun- been more intrigued with an Italian
tered in the Codex Calixtinus.39In the caccia, yet this allusion to Machaut
second place, the great activity is important in demonstrating the dif-
throughout Portugal of the Benedic- fusion of the French musical art into
tine monks and later of the Cluniac Lusitanian territory at least as early
and Cistercian orders, through whom as the beginning of the i5th century.
close and frequent contacts were A further reference to the works of
maintained with Burgundy and other Machaut occurs in a famous letter42
sections of France, allows us to con- written (ca. i449) to the grandson
jecture that the art of polyphony as of John I, the Constable D. Pedro, by
practiced in France and Northeast- the Marquis of Santillana, a signifi-
ern Spain in the I2th to I4th cen- cant figure in Spanish letters, politics,
turies may have produced some and arms.
echoes in the abbeys and churches As Portugal's star rose in the firma-
of the western side of the Iberian ment, her overseas expansion was ac-
Peninsula. companied by an increase in com-
As we reach the end of the i4th mercial and political relations with
century, however, there is definite other countries, particularly those in
evidence that the art of Guillaume Northern Europe, and more espe-
de Machaut was known in Portugal, cially Flanders and Burgundy. This
for King John I (reg. 1385-1433), in activity resulted in exchanges of a
cultural and artistic nature, occa-
8Cf. Freitas Branco, A musica em Portugal sioned in part by intermarriages be-
(Lisbon, 1929), pp. 6-7; Freitas Branco, Ele- tween the royal and noble families.
mentos...,Vol. II, 2nd ed. (x931 ?), pp. 27ff;
M. Joaquim, Ndtulas s6bre a musica na Se de 4'Livro da montaria (manuscript first published
Viseu, pp. 68ff; and Sampayo Ribeiro, A by F.M. Maria Esteves, Coimbra, 1918).
misica cm Coimbra, pp. 7-8. 4The relevant passage is quoted in Rodrigues
'8The National Library at Lisbon possesses Lapa, op. cit., pp. 248f, and by F. Ludwig in
one of the copies of this famous manuscript, in Guillaume de Machaut, Musikalische Werke.,
Latin with a Spanish translation (M. Rodri- Bd. II, pp. 32* and 70* (Leipzig, 1928).
gues Lapa, LiCoes de literatura portuguesa. 42Prohemio e carta . . . al Condestable de Por-
lpoca medieval, 2nd ed., Coimbra, 1943, p. tugal. It is reproduced in several modern edi-
86). tions, in Spanish and in English translation.
I00 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
In 1426, still in the reign of John I, between the style of the Burgundian
there were Portuguese musicians at chanson and that of the secular vocal
the court of Philip the Good, and music written and composed by the
two years later this Duke of Bur- palace poets and musicians of the late
gundy sent an embassy to the Por- 15th and early i6th centuries in Por-
tuguese court to seek the hand of tugal and Spain-a connection read-
the Infanta Isabella. Included in the ily identifiable, for instance, in the
retinue of this mission were musi- cadential formulas employed in many
cians and artists, such as the famous of the pieces of the Elvas Cancion-
Fleming Jan van Eyck, Philip's court eiro published by Manuel Joaquim.
painter, who was sent along to exe- These compositions, written in three
cute the future Duchess' portrait. or four voices to sentimental love
Similar exchanges continued to oc- lyrics in either Castilian or Portu-
cur, and with increasing frequency guese, are largely homophonic in na-
we find in court archives and other ture, and may be considered some-
records references to foreign musi- what the counterparts of the Italian
cians who went to Portugal to prac- frottola of the same approximate
tice their art, as well as to Portu- period, though with a peculiarly Por-
guese who made contacts in other tuguese quality of sad resignation and
countries. The added impetus given nostalgic sentiment, reminiscent of
to the performance of music both in the productions of the Portuguese
the churches and in the chapels of troubadours. They represent the
the nobility and royal family is at- repertory of the aristocratic amateur
tested by the ever longer lists of or talented dilettante, appropriate to
names of secular musicians (chara- their use in palace and court, rather
melas, menestreis) as well as of than the erudite work of the profes-
church singers encountered in the sional composer-although even this
records as we approach the i6th class of musician probably did not at
century. King Afonso V, whose times disdain to contribute works in
reign encompassed the middle half the simpler idiom, particularly if by
of the i th century, maintained a that means he might achieve royal
sizeable chapel choir and had in his preferment or other material advan-
employ instrumental musicians and tage. The first third of the i6th cen-
other secular performers for the en- tury is the period also of the early
tertainment of his court.43 Portuguese Renaissance theater and
From this period comes the earliest of its most genial representative, Gil
document containing polyphonic Vicente (ca. 1465-1536?). Although
music which has so far been found writing for the court, Vicente man-
in Portugal. This is a manuscript 4 aged to draw inspiration, situations,
of uncertain origin, dated around and characterizations from the com-
I450, containing the three-part Bur-
mon walks of life, particularly the
gundian chanson "Le servitor," be- peasantry of his native province of
lieved to have been composed by Du- Beira.45In his aztos, farces, comedies,
fay. In reality, there is a close affinity and tragi-comedies he manages to
"See Sousa Viterbo, Subsidios. ., and Vieira, employ music with great frequency,
Diccionario biographico . . ., passim. 1Beira is thought to be Vicente's birthplace.
4Ms. 714 in the Biblioteca Piiblica Municipal For a discussion of the life and works of
do Porto. See Petrucci, Harmonoice Musices Vicente see Aubrey F. G. Bell, Gil Vicente
Odhecaton A, ed. by Helen Hewitt (Cam- (Oxford, 1921) and the same author's Por-
bridge, 1942), pp. 12, 120, I45-I47, 294-295. tuguese Literature (Oxford, 1922).
PORTUGUESE POLYPHONY IOI
publication of this work and that of eral period. With regard to the first
the second book of masses of 1639 of these factors, it can be accepted
shows an even greater development in the present instance that the in-
in the creative powers of the com- dividual's reputation in his own time,
poser, wherein he progresses from among persons who were under-
what seems at times a pale and arid standing of the art, is a fairly good
dryness to a freer and more full- indication of his worth, particularly
bodied expressiveness, but without when we encounter his music in a
any perceptible change in the basic varied number of worthwhile collec-
style, which remained true to the tions. The instances of composers
techniques and tenets of the great who may have been equally good,
Italian, Flemish, and Spanish poly- but who were neglected in their own
phonists of the period following the time, either because they were too
Council of Trent. The work of progressive in relation to the main
Duarte Lobo is without doubt of the trends of the times (or sometimes
highest importance in its own setting the reverse), or because circum-
and time. We cannot subscribe, how- stances were less favorable to their
ever, to some of the nationalistically work becoming as well known as
inspired but exaggerated statements that of their more fortunate brethren,
made about his music, such as that of are not infrequent. The possibility is
Freitas Branco, when he says that always present, therefore, that a man
". . . his work is distinguished by the of genius or superior talent may be
intensity of expression, greater than discovered. The second factor is
that which we find in Palestrina him- somewhat allied to the first, for the
self."70 Even among his own coun- economic situation of an individual
trymen there are a few who consider in a particular time and place, as well
other composers such as Cardoso the as the favor he may enjoy with a
equal or superior of Lobo. Such is publisher or patron, will often be re-
the case with Sampayo Ribeiro, who flected in the amount of his music
has directed performances of the mu- that he may succeed in having pub-
sic of these men, and who places lished. The third factor is much the
Magalhaes ahead of Lobo. weakest element, and the one which
While it is generally conceded that has been least explored in the pres-
the three chief composers formed in ent case, for all too few examples of
the Alentejan school are Duarte the music, not only of the secondary
Lobo, Manuel Cardoso, and Felipe de figures of the school but also of the
Magalhaes,71 this estimate is made composers considered in the top
partly on the basis of the profes- rank, have been scored and issued in
sional reputations which they en- modern editions. No comprehensive
joyed among their contemporaries, evaluation will be possible until this
also partly because of the quantity task has begun and a larger selection
of their published work, and in much of works has been made available for
lesser degree as a result of judgments study.
formed after studying their composi- Many other composers were
tions in comparison with those of formed in the ?vora and Lisbon
other composers of the same gen- schools during the I7th century.
7"FreitasBranco, op. cit. (2nd ed.), p. 55. Some practiced their art in the Alen-
'To these names of composers of vocal music
should be added that of the keyboard writer, tejo and in other localities of Portu-
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho, mentioned earlier. gal, while others went farther afield
I IO JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
to posts in other parts of the Penin- ing even to foreign countries for his
sula and even in Italy. In the direct personnel if these were not readily
line of the tvora tradition the last available near Vila ViSosa or in Por-
composer to receive acclaim was tugal. Among the directors of music
Diogo Dias Melgaz (or Melga9o), who worked there in the first years
who was born in 1638 and died in of the I7th century are Ant6nio Pin-
1700, thus bringing to a close this heiro (d. ]vora I617), a pupil of
century so fertile in notable com- the Spaniard Francisco Guerrero, and
posers. In Melgaz' music, more than an unknown Englishman, Robert
in that of any other composer whose Torgh or Tornar [Turner?], who
works are available for study, there was brought from Italy to be the
is a breaking away from the tradi- master of the chapel and the music
tional style of the i6th century, par- teacher to the duke's young son, the
ticularly in the matter of the rhyth- then Duke of Barcelos, who was later
mic treatment of the text and in the to attain greater eminence as the in-
employment of unprepared seventh strument through whom Portugal re-
chords and suspension dissonances.72 gained her independence when he
In the discussion of the Alentejo was proclaimed King John IV in
school mention has been made of the i64o. One of the future king's study
centers at Evora, Elvas, and Port- companions was Joao Lourengo Re-
alegre. Another locality, Vila Vigosa, belo (ca. 161o- 661) who continued
should be included for its production to devolop as a musician and com-
of music, which though not entirely poser, becoming master of the ducal
unrelated to the activity at the other chapel. John IV signally honored
cities, proceeded somewhat more in- Rebelo in many ways, defraying the
dependently. Vila Viqosa was the cost of publishing a volume of his
seat of the ducal House of Braganga, compositions in Italy73 and dedica-
whose head had been since the i5th ting to Rebelo one of his own works
century the greatest, richest, and of music criticism. Upon his acces-
most powerful peer of the realm. In sion to the throne John took Rebelo
keeping with the importance of the to Lisbon and made him the master
ducal establishment and of the duke's of the Royal Chapel.
position in the life of the nation, a While the school and chapel at
fine chapel was established on the Vila ViSosa continued to produce
palace grounds, where toward the singers and composers even as late as
end of the i6th century, simultane- the end of the i8th century, includ-
ously with the rise of the school of ing Portugal's most famed opera
polyphony in tvora, an elaborate composer, Marcos Portugal (I762-
program of music was instituted for 1830), the most interesting figure
the services of the chapel. The music- connected with that establishment is
loving seventh duke, D. Theodosio, King John IV himself (1604-1656),
maintained a choir and grammar who must be counted with Henry V,
school for boys, and hired the best Frederick the Great, and others
singers, teachers, chapel masters, and among the most musical sovereigns
instrumentalists he could find, send- 7Psalmi tur Vesperarum, tur Completarum.
Item Magnificat, Lamentationes, et Miserere.
72Works in manuscript are in the tfvora Ca- Romae, Typis Mauritii et Amadaei Belmon-
thedral and possibly in Lisbon. Three motets tiarum, I657. Written for sixteen voices with
are included in the Santos collection (cf. foot- an instrumental bass part. A copy of this item
note 2). is reported to be in the Vatican Library.
PORTUGUESE POLYPHONY III