Sunday, 19 October, 6.00 p.m. 
Church Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe (Porto da Cruz) 

Monday 20 October, 9.30, p.m. 
Church of São Pedro 

Marco Brescia, organ 
Rosana Orsini, soprano 

The musical activity developed in the city of Oporto in the second half of the 18th century little resembled that in vogue at the same time in the capital of the Kingdom. Music of religious character was amply and richly cultivated in the convents within its walls, as well as at the Cathedral. Amongst the composers active in the city there stands out the figure of António da Silva Leite (Oporto, 1759-1833), the most significant composer from Oporto during the transition from the 18th to the 19th century. Silva Leite was, in all probability, a disciple of Girolamo Sertori, a famous musician from Parma, who was chapel master at the Cathedral and composed prolifically to commissions from the convents of the city, especially those of São Bento da Avé-Maria and Santa Clara. Better known for his famous Estudo da guitarra (Oporto, 1796) and for his modinhas, his sacred vocal output – forgotten, on spite of its evident technical and artistic quality – shows the clear influence of Italian opera, making frequent use of two organs and an omnipresent vocal virtuosity, characteristic of religious music that was technically demanding, of great beauty, expression and singularity. Of Francisco de São Boaventura (Oporto, fl.1773–1802), little is known. A Carmelite brother, it is possible that he was a pupil of Sertori, and he was certainly in contact with Silva Leite and commissioned by the Clarist and Benedictine sisters in Oporto. Particularly important in his musical output are his vocal works with obbligato organ accompaniment and the solo organ works, very vocal in character. Melchor López (Hueva 1759 – Santiago de Compostela, 1822) was a pupil of the famous José Lidón (Béjar, 1748 – Madrid, 1827), the first organist and later choir director of the most famous Spanish musical establishment, the Capilla Real de Madrid, to which was connected the Colegio de Niños Cantores de Su Majestad, which López would leave in 1784 to take up the direction of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. His organ works are preserved in the Libro de órgano de Melchor López, a highly important anthology that includes both works by his teacher Lidón and the great organist of the Royal Chapel in Madrid José de Nebra, which were the most important influences on his exceptional output, of notable virtuosity, in which the Spanish contrapuntal tradition, in spite of the Italian influence also to be detected, is to the forefront. Ramón Carnicer (Tárrega, 1789 – Madrid, 1855) was one of the best known figures on the Spanish operatic stage in the first half of the 19th century. An assiduous spectator at the Teatre de la Santa Creu in Barcelona, Carnicer examined in detail how many Italian operatic scores were arriving in the Catalan capital. The Napoleonic invasion led him to emigrate to Menorca, where he was received by the Franciscan friars, in whose convent he gave a number of organ recitals in order to gather funds for the mahonés cenobium, whence come his Sis sonates per orgue o fortepiano, entirely operatic music transposed for the organ. Resident in Madrid from 1827, Carnicer was in charge, together with Saverio Mercadante, of the Italian opera company tat performed in the coliseos del Principe e de Santa Cruz, conducting the first performance of Rossini’s Stabat Mater.

Marco Aurélio Brescia

Melchor López (1759-1822)
Entrada
7.o Intento

António da Silva Leite (1759-1833)
Lesson 8 for Good Friday, solo and organ

Frei Francisco de São Boaventura (fl. 1773-1802)
Two Toccatas in G major

António da Silva Leite
Ad sacrum sanctum panem

José Lidón (1752-1827)
Cantabile para órgano al alzar en la Misa

António da Silva Leite
Calenda do Patriarca S. Francisco

Ramón Carnicer (1789-1855)
Sonata VI (Sonates de Menorca)

António da Silva Leite
Ária Latina

Participants

Notes about the Organ

Church Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe, Porto da Cruz

This instrument was built in the 19th century by the English firm Flight & Robson of London (op. 101). It is an organ technically identical to that of the Parish Church of São Vicente and is situated in the choir gallery. We were unable to consult documentation about this instrument, and the circumstances and date of its acquisition are unknown. It was restored by Dinarte Machado in 2004-2005.

Manual (G, AA, C, D-f’’’)
Open Diapason 8’
Stop Diapason 8’
Principal 4’
Fifteenth
Sesquialtra & Cornet

Church of São Pedro, Funchal

The organ of the church of São Pedro was obtained in England from the firm Flight & Robson in the 19th century. We have no documentation relating to its construction but we may place it as before 1878, when the firm was bought by Gray & Davison. We know equally little of the exact date of the installation of the instrument in the church, but in two inventories (1838, 1841) there is reference to an organ “of which much use is made” placed in the choir gallery, which point to the present instrument (AHDF Inventário: 3). In the course of the 20th century, the organ underwent various repairs, as a result of which, among other things, the pitch and tuning were altered, without, however, causing any significant damage to the original state of the instrument.
In August 1904, in the course of a campaign to make improvements to the choir gallery of the church, the Benefice took advantage of the opportunity to have the organ repaired, the restoration being undertaken by Alfredo Saturnino Lino. We know that the work to the organ, as to all the rest, took a short time, for in a note signed 6 August 1904, the builder stated that the work "should be finished by the middle of the present month" (AHDF Documentos). The works actually finished on 25 August; all told, the work to the choir gallery and organ cost 150,000 réis, to which the District General Council contributed the sum of 50,000 réis, given over entirely to the repairs to the organ. Apparently, this work was a one-off intervention, for only two years later, the newspaper Heraldo da Madeira, on 15 November 1906, reported that the organ of the church of São Pedro was once more under repair. In 2006 a full restoration was undertaken by Dinarte Machado.

Manual (GG, AA, C, D-f’’’)
Diapason 8’
Principal 8’ (c-f’’’)
Principal 4’
Flauta 4’
Piphar 2’
Cornet