Cardoso, Lobo & Magalhães
were all students of Manuel Mendes (c.1547-1605) at Évora
cathedral. Pedro de Escobar was famous in an earlier period, and only
recently identified as of Portuguese origin.
The present collection is highly recommended, regardless of price, as
an introduction to this repertory. — medieval.org
naxos.com
Naxos 8.553310
octubre de 1992
Kastelskirke, Copenhagen
Manuel CARDOSO (1566—1650)
01. Lamentatio [7:24]
02. Magnificat secundi toni [11:34]
Duarte LOBO (c. 1565—1646)
03. Audivi vocem de caelo [3:24]
04. Pater peccavi [2:37]
Filipe de MAGALHÃES (c. 1571—1652)
05. Vidi aquam [4:11]
Missa O Soberana luz
06. Kyrie [3:32]
07. Gloria [3:32]
08. Credo [5:01]
09. Sanctus [1:22]
10. Benedictus [1:43]
11. Agnus Dei [4:08]
12. Commissa mea pavesco [4:20]
Manuel da FONSECA (fl. 1540)
13. Beata viscera [4:37]
Bartolomeo TROSYLHO (c. 1500 —c. 1567)
14. Circumdederunt me [2:47]
Pedro de ESCOBAR (c. 1465—1535)
15. Clamabat autem mulier [3:09]
PORTUGUESE
POLYPHONY
Portugal was historically by no means isolated from the mainstream of
European culture, although the earlier periods of Portuguese polyphony
may be relatively little known. There were, nevertheless, monastic and
ecclesiastical connections with other parts of Europe, and, of course,
with Rome, while the proximity of Spain, most evident in the golden age
of Portuguese polyphony, ensured that Portugal was part of the wider
European tradition of polyphony, with an important fifteenth century
centre in the Royal Chapel, reflected also in the music of cathedrals
and choir-schools, notably, in the sixteenth century, at Évora.
Among the earlier of Portuguese composers to win a wider reputation,
particularly in Spain, was Pedro de Escobar (c. 1465—1535),
convincingly identified by Robert Stevenson with Pedro do Porto or
Pedro del Puerto, employed at the Spanish Royal Chapel of Queen
Isabella I and later in Seville. His motet Clamabat autem mulier
(But there cried out a woman) won considerable popularity, to be used
by Gil Vicente in his play Auto da Cananea in 1534, arranged
for solo vihuela by the Spanish composer Mudarra, and transported to
the New World, notably to Guatemala, where two unattributed manuscripts
of the work are found.
Bartolomeo Trosylho (c. 1500—c. 1567), his name variously spelt as
Trosilho or Truxillo, was a singer in the Royal Chapel of Dom
João III, becoming master of the chapel in 1548. Although the
heading of the manuscript containing Circumdederunt me (My
enemies have surrounded me) is pro defunctis trosylho (for the
dead, Trosylho), the text is in fact the Introit for Septuagesima
Sunday. Trosylho’s richly polyphonic setting is for four
voices.
Manuel da Fonseca (fl. 1540) is recorded as having been mestre da
capela at the Cathedral of Braga in 1544. Between 1542 and 1543 he
seems to have been mestre da capela to the king’s son
Dom Duarte and is chiefly known for his Liber Introitus, a copy
of which, dated 1615, still survives in Braga. Beata viscera Mariae
(Blessed be the womb of Mary) is not now an Introit in the Roman rite,
though the first lines are used as the Communion verse for Mass on
Feasts of the Blessed Virgin. It might be supposed that it was
originally an Introit for a votive mass to Our Lady, perhaps in the
Braga rite, which has now been discontinued following various
liturgical reforms. It is based on the relevant plainchant in the bass,
with the other three voices weaving a texture around its steady and
even progress.
It was not until the beginning of the seventeenth century that the work
of Portuguese polyphonic composers began to be known more widely. The
most famous three, Duarte Lobo (c. 1565—1646), Manuel Cardoso
(1566—1650), and Filipe de Magalhães (c. 1571—1652) were all
pupils of Manuel Mendes (c. 1547—1605) at Évora, an important
cathedral and university city in eastern Portugal. All three also
became very successful musicians after moving to the capital, Lisbon.
The youngest of the group, Filipe Magalhães, was reputedly the
favourite pupil of Mendes, whom he succeeded at Évora. He later
moved to Lisbon, where he was choirmaster at the Misericórdia
and master of music in the Royal Chapel. He is regarded as being a
highly accomplished composer, capable of an unparalleled smoothness of
polyphonic style and elegance of vocal line. This can be heard in his
four-part Vidi aquam (I beheld the water), a piece to be sung
during the procession and sprinkling of holy water at the beginning of
Mass in Paschal time, and in his six-part Commissa mea pavesco
(I tremble at my sins), a verse from the third responsory at Matins in
the Office for the Dead.
The Mass O Soberana luz (O sovereign light), its title a
possible reference to King Philip IV of Spain, was included in the Liber
Missarum of Magalhães, published by Craesbeck in 1636. This
publication begins with the setting of Vidi aquam and ends with
Commissa mea pavesco. Although the first four notes of the tenor
part in several movements of the Mass are identical with the plainsong
Mass Cum jubilo, for feasts of the Blessed Virgin, the rest of
the line is different. It is more probable that this is a parody Mass,
derived from another composition, since the opening tenor theme is
always presented with two descending lines in upper parts, often in
thirds. These materials are variously treated, sometimes with
contrasting material, but they can be clearly heard in the openings of
the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei.
Another feature of this Mass is the continued use of contrast between
sections which use longer notes and those where the rhythms are much
faster and livelier. This would point to a source, perhaps a lost
villancico, where there might have been this kind of contrast, possibly
between the copla (stanza) and the estribillo (refrain).
Duarte Lobo became mestre da capela at the Cathedral in Lisbon.
Testimony to the wider popularity of his music may be seen in the
publication of his music by Plantin in Antwerp, his Christmas
Responsories in the Opuscula of 1602, followed by a book of
sixteen Magnificats in 1605 and books of Masses in 1621 and
1639. Both Audivi vocem de caelo, (I heard a voice from
Heaven), a six-voice setting of a verse and response for Lauds from the
Office for the Dead, and Pater Peccavi (Father I have sinned)
were included in the 1621 volume. Lobo remained the only one of the
Évora composers to have his music printed by Plantin.
Frei Manuel Cardoso was born in Fronteira in 1566 and professed as a
Carmelite friar in Lisbon in 1589. In 1605 he too completed a book of Magnificats
and began a long period of correspondence with Plantin with a view to
having this published in Antwerp, The fee demanded by Plantin, however,
was too high and instead he gave the work to Peter Craesbeck, a former
apprentice of Plantin, a printer now established in Lisbon. The book
was eventually printed and published in 1613. Cardoso had connections
with the Portuguese and Spanish royal families, with the future King
Dom João IV possibly his pupil and later certainly his patron.
One of the features of Cardoso’s style is his consistent use
of augmented chords, particularly in four-part writing. Most scholars
see this as an absorption of Baroque harmonic practice into sixteenth
century style. Two early instances can be heard in the six-part Magnificat
Secundi Toni at the words (salu)ta(ri meo). Although the
final Sicut erat (As it was in the beginning) has no instances
of a full augmented chord, every other movement has at least one, and
there are no fewer than nine in the four-part Esurientes (He
has filled the hungry).
In 1648, Craesbeck printed Cardoso’s Livro de Varios
Motetes, consisting mainly of pieces for the Holy Week liturgy. The
Lamentatio on the present recording is the second Lesson for
Matins (1st Nocturn) on Maundy Thursday. Cardoso’s setting for
six voices uses only the Vau and Zain verses, omitting
those given as Heth and Teth. The work concludes with Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum (Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
turn to thy Lord).