Daddi,Joao / Lourengo,Sofia - Portuguese Piano Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Guitart Quartet - Gismontiana [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/10/2012

Chamber music played a substantial role in the renewal of Portuguese music that took place during the 20th century. Freitas Branco's kaleidoscopic Trio has an experimental feel, brimming with his typical rhythmic fluidity and sweeping melodic style, while Frederico de Freitas's Preludio, coral e fuga is both colorful and technically impressive. Braga Santos's infectious lyricism is evident in his Trio, and the origins of Delgado's Trio Camoniano as a sequence of songs connects the worlds of classical music and fado. Volume 1 of Trio Pangea's 'superbly played' (MusicWeb International) Portuguese Piano Trios can be heard on Naxos as well.

Fernando Lopes-Graca's importance to 20th-century Portuguese music cannot be overestimated. His study of native songs and traditions has been compared to that of Bartok, and the soulful melodies of the Três cancoes corais are an early example of his highly effective integration of folk style into rigorous historically established forms. From the reverence and purity of the Christmas Cantata songs to the harmonic density of the Três liricas castelhanas de Camoes, the powerful and often deeply moving combination of Lopes-Graca's use of classical structure alongside his country's musical heritage finds it's zenith in his writing for voices.