Wednesday, October 24, 9.30 pm
Church of São Martinho
Europe’s musical treasure – Works from the library of D. João IV
Cornetas & Sacabuxas de Lisboa
João Vaz, organ
In the history of Portugal, King John IV is celebrated as the Restorer of Independence, an accomplishment much feted, but whose glory belongs principally to the conspirators of 1 December 1640. However, the importance of the monarch in the history of music is his exclusively. Born as John of Braganza on 19 March 1604, his cultural personality flourished in the highly learned environment of the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa. He early developed a very particular interest in music and became an active composer, a rigorous writer of treatises and an avid collector, to the point of creating what would have been at the time the largest musical library in Europe: the Real Livraria de Música (Royal Library of Music). It brought together innumerable works, in all genres and languages, in all styles and for all kinds of groups, from the four corners of the continent. With the ascent to the throne of the Most Serene Duke of Braganza, His Majesty moved to Lisbon and his enormous library followed, destiny reserving for it its destruction in the catastrophe of 1 November 1755, ironically, part of the catalogue survived, printed in Lisbon in 1649 and vast in itself, through which we can today merely dream of these lost musical riches.
The diversity of origins of the works contained in the Royal Library of Music is well demonstrated in the care taken over its acquisition and King John IV’s interest in musical activity in Europe. In addition to many works originating in Venice, such as the Symphoniae Sacrae and the Canzoni per Sonare, by Gabrieli, the Primo libro de Canzoni Francese a 4 & alcune Suonate by Viadana, and the Sonate da chiesa e da camera by Marini (1597, 1608, 1624 and 1655, respectively), the Pavans, Galliards, Almains and other short Aeirs, were published in London (1599), the Ludi Musici by Scheidt in Hamburgo (1621) and, of course, the Flores de Música by Coelho, printed in Lisbon (1620).
Illustrating this rich diversity in the European 17th century, and in parallel paying homage to the lost library of King John IV, the ensemble “Cornets and Sackbuts of Lisbon” present in their inaugural concert an eclectic European programme of instrumental music using as a reference the catalogue of the library of the music-loving King. With Italian, French German, British and Portuguese works, we run the gamut of specifically instrumental musical variety which in the 17th century was disseminated through various cultural centres. Music being the living history of mankind, we hope with this programme to relive the sonic experience of these instrumental works which once filled with the eclectic shelves of the largest musical library in Europe.
Tiago Simas Freire
Anthony Holborne (1545-1602)
¬ Pavan «Paradizo»
(Pavans, Galliards, Almains and other short Aeirs, 1599)
Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1557-1612)
¬ Canzon prima «La spiritata»
(Canzoni per Sonare, 1608)
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
¬ Bergamasca *
(Fiori Musicali, 1635)
Ludovico Grossi da Viadana
(c. 1560-1627)
¬ Canzon francesein risposta
(Per sonar nel’organo li cento concerti ecclesiastici, 1602)
Samuel Scheidt (1587-1654)
¬ Canzon «Cornetto»
(Ludi Musici, 1621)
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
(1562-1621)
¬ Il ballo del Granduca *
Nicolò Corradini (1585-1646)
¬ Suonata «La Golferama» a doi cornetti in risposta
(Primo libro de canzoni francese a 4 & alcune suonate, 1624)
Manuel Rodrigues Coelho (c. 1555-1635)
¬ Ave maris stella sobre o canto chão do tiple em mínimas
¬ Outra Ave maris stella sobre o canto chão do tenor de semibreves
¬ Kirios de 1º tom (5 verses) *
(Flores de música, 1620)
Diogo Alvarado (c. 1570-1643)
¬ 6º tom por Dsolre
(Ms. Biblioteca da Universidade de Coimbra, s.n.)
Eustache du Caurroy (1549-1609)
¬ Fantaisie a 5 sur «Une jeune fillette»
(Fantasies en III, IV, V et VI parties, 1610)
Jean Titelouze (c. 1563-1633)
¬ Magnificat du premier ton
(3 verses) *
(Le Magnificat [...], 1626)
Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1557-1612)
¬ Canzon in echo
(Symphoniae sacrae, 1597)
Biagio Marini (1594-1663)
¬ Passacaglia a 4
(Sonate da chiesa e da camera, 1655)
Participants
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After a number of years working together in various Portuguese orchestras on projects featuring repertoire of the 17th century (namely, the Casa da Música Baroque Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra and the Ludovice Ensemble), we decided to create in Portugal a group dedicated to our common human and musical past. Thus, over lunch between two rehearsals, were born the Cornets and Sackbuts of Lisbon, a collective dedicated to reanimating these wind instruments in Portugal – instruments which are today rare, but which, being a single family, were formerly a symbol of ceremonial majesty. After study at famous European centres of historically informed performance (Basle, Lyon, Geneva) and participation in innumerable master-classes, each of us devotes a good part of his career to the research and practice of repertories from the 16th and 17th centuries. As the Cornets and Sackbuts of Lisbon, we aim principally to share and disseminate those instruments which have given us their name. |
Cornetas & Sacabuxas de Lisboa
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Born in Lisbon, João Vaz graduated in organ from the Higher School of Music in Lisbon, studying with Antoine Sibertin-Blanc, and from the Higher Conservatoire of Aragon, in Zaragoza, where he studies with José Luis González Uriol, on a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation. He has a doctorate in music and musicology from the University of Évora, where his thesis, on Portuguese organ music from the end of the ancien regime was supervised by Rui Vieira Nery. He has been extremely active internationally, both as a performer and as a teacher on organ courses, and as a jury member in competitions. He has made more than ten solo recordings, significant among them those made on historical Portuguese organs. As performer and musicologist he has paid particular attention to Portuguese sacred music, founding in 2006 the ensemble Capella Patriarchal, which he directs. His work in transcribing and editing, which he has been published in Portugal and Spain, covers works preserved in various Portuguese libraries and archives. He currently teaches organ at the Higher School of Music in Lisbon. He is artistic director of the Madeira Organ Festival and of the concert series featuring the six organs of the Basilica of the National Palace of Mafra (for the restoration of which he was a permanent consultant) and of the historical organ of the Church of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, of which he became titular organist in 1997. |
João VazNotes about the organ
Church of São Martinho, Funchal
The oldest documental reference it has been possible to find concerning the existence of a pipe organ at the parish church of São Martinho goes back to 1806. According to a record set down by the treasurer of the Confraria de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Fraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary), an organist was contracted in 1806 to tune the organ, and there are other later records referring to maintenance work.
In the record of expenditure for the year 1862, to be found in the Accounts Book (1834-1877), the vicar José Rodrigues de Almada noted down the sum of 200,000 réis for payment of the new organ, specifying that 150,000 réis were contributed by the Benefice of the church; 40,000 réis was credited from the amount paid for the old organ and 10,000 réis was donated, thus making up the real price of the instrument.
From this source it has proved impossible to determine the conditions for its transport, or where it was acquired. What is certain is that in 1863 the organ was already in this church, for that year Father João G. de Noronha was contracted to tune the said instrument, receiving 2,000 réis for his work.
With the transfer of the parish to the newly consecrated church in 1918, the organ was then taken there, where it continued to function until 1934. According to the records found in the Accounts Book (1877-1954), the organ underwent successive maintenance works, the most expensive being in 1879 (a payment of 38,000 réis to Nuno Rodrigues) and, especially, in 1916, because it was very out of tune and had a number of technical problems.
As an instrument to accompany and enhance divine worship, the organ of the church of São Martinho will have participated in various solemnities, and in the year 1917 there is a record in the Accounts Book of receipt of 10.700 réis “arising from the contribution of the organ to the festivities”.
Manual (GG, AA, C-f´´´)
Stop Diapason Bass (GG-b)
Stop Diapason Treble (c´-f´´´)
Principal
Flute
Dulciana