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Artist
Joly Braga Santos
12+ albums
composercontemporary classicalAllportuguesePortugal
about
José Manuel Joly Braga Santos was born in Lisbon in 1924 and died in this city in 1988, at the peak of his musical creativity. Having studied violin and composition at the National Conservatoire of Lisbon, he became a disciple of Luís de Freitas Branco (1890-1955), the leading Portuguese composer of the preceding generation. After the Second World War, he was able to go abroad, having studied conducting with Hermann Sherchen and Antonino Votto, and composition with Virgilio Mortari. Although he composed only six symphonies, he was undoubtedly the leading Portuguese symphonist of the 20th century and, in a way, of all time. Apart from an innate sense of orchestration, his musical language is based on a strong musical architecture as well as drama, with long melodic phrases and a natural instinct for structural development. It reaches a perfect formal coherence. In his own words, he wanted “to contribute toward a Latin symphonism and to react against the predominant tendency, of the generation that preceded me, to reject monumentalism in music”. In his first works, the composer showed a modal tendency motivated by the desire to establish a connection between contemporary music and the golden age of Portuguese music: the Renaissance. We also find a melodic outline of the oldest folk songs of his country. Although he was not particularly interested in the Portuguese folklore, studying and composing at the country home of his mentor, in the rural south of Portugal - the Alentejo
top songs
1
String Quartet No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 4: IV. Allegro molto energico e appassionato
2342Symphony No. 4, Op. 16: Lento
1633Piano Concerto, Op. 52: II. Largo
1454Concerto For Strings In D Minor, Op. 17: I. Largamente Maestoso - Allegro
1105Symphony No. 4, Op. 16: Andante
726Melodia for Cello & Piano
707Pastoral
688Symphony No. 4, Op. 16: Allegro Tranquillo
639Allegro ben marcato, ma non troppo
5110Symphony No. 2, Op. 13: I. Largo - Allegro Energico Ed Appassionato
49albums
Joly Braga Santos: Complete Chamber Music, Vol. 1
Braga Santos: Orchestral Works
BRAGA SANTOS: Symphony No. 4 / Symphonic Variations
BRAGA SANTOS: Sinfonietta for Strings / Violin Concerto
BRAGA SANTOS: Symphony No. 2 / Encruzilhada
Braga Santos: Alfama
BRAGA SANTOS: Cello Concerto / Divertimentos Nos. 1 and 2
BRAGA SANTOS: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5
Joly Braga Santos: Complete Chamber Music, Vol. 3
Braga Santos: Symphonies Nos. 3 And 6
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Symphony No. 4; Symphonic Variations
BRAGA SANTOS: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 6