Description
Duration: ca. 75′ | Pages: 128 Master/108 Choir | Year: 17th century/2025
We are very proud to present, in collaboration with Scherzo Editions, the first volumes of Choral Music of the 17th century as part of the series Portuguese Musical Heritage.
The compositions presented in these initial volumes are housed in the Musical Archive held by the Fundação Casa de Bragança at Vila Viçosa. The original manuscripts from which these compositions are drawn were copied in the first half of the 18th century in large choir book format. The compositions presented in these first four volumes are alternatim settings of vespers psalms, magnificats and hymns (motets). The polyphonic sections use white mensural notation without barlines (for a discussion of barlines added to certain manuscripts see the preface to volumes 3 and 4). They are for four vocal parts, generally with the designations of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Basso. Black note notation is used for the chants.
The following editorial practices have been observed:
– original time signatures have generally been kept but all note values have been halved;
– barlines and the resulting necessary ties have been added when they don’t exist in the original manuscript;
– clefs have been modernized where necessary;
– accidentals found in the original manuscript are presented in front of the note, courtesy accidentals are listed in parentheses in front of the note, and editorial accidentals are placed above the note;
– text missing from the original manuscript has been added in capital letters;
– for ease of performance, chant selections not included in the original manuscript have been added using the appropriate psalm tone.
The editors wish to acknowledge the assistance and expertise of the staff at the Fundação Casa de Bragança at Vila Viçosa, and the founder and owner of Scherzo Editions, João Vidinha, for his willingness to take on this project.
Brett Scott
Gonçalo d’Alcântara Lourenço
VOLUME 1 – Anonymous
PATREM CANAMUS INCLYTUM
JESU DULCIS
PRAECLARA CUSTOS VIRGINUM
JAM SOL RECEDIT
This first volume is a collection of alternatim hymns (motets) appropriate for vespers services, either for general use or for specific feast days. The hymn Jesu dulcis memoria is found in the choirbook labeled A-011 in the Musical Archives at the Fundação Casa de Bragança at Vila Viçosa, created in 1738 and containing 31 anonymous hymns. The remaining hymns are found in the choirbook labeled A-012, believed to have been created between 1730 and 1750, and containing psalm settings, magnificat settings, and hymn settings.
It is clear that the two anonymous hymns Jam sol recedit and Praeclara custos are related. The two possibilities are one was derived from the other, or they were both generated from an earlier composition. There is common music between these two motets, and in the case of Jam sol recedit, the final text stanza of Praeclara custos is erroneously substituted for the proper text. For this final stanza, the editors have included both the text as it appears in the manuscript and the appropriate text in brackets for the Jam sol recedit hymn.
VOLUME 2 – Anonymous
MAGNIFICAT 1
MAGNIFICAT 2
MAGNIFICAT 3
The three alternatim magnificat settings found in the volume are found in the choirbook labeled A-012, believed to have been created between 1730 and 1750, and containing psalm settings, magnificat settings, and hymn settings. The first of these settings is for high voices, labeled in the editions as Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, and Tenor, although the tenor part could possibly be sung as an alto part. The remaining two settings are for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices.
VOLUME 3 – Francisco Barbosa/António Ramos da Rocha
IN CONVERTENDO (Barbosa)
CONFITEBOR (Rocha)
CREDIDI PROPTER (Rocha)
BEATI OMNES (Rocha)
This volume contains four alternatim vesper psalm settings found in the choirbook labeled A-013, believed to have been created between 1730 and 1750. These psalms are attributed to Barbosa and Rocha, possibly referring to the composers Francisco Barbosa (died 1622) and António Ramos da Rocha (died 1669), associated with the Cathedral in the city of Setúbal. All of the psalm settings in A-013 have modern barlines, perhaps a later editorial addition when the choirbook was created.
VOLUME 4 – António Ramos da Rocha
BEATUS VIR
DIXIT DOMINUS
LAUDATE PUERI
LAUDATE DOMINUM
This volume contains four alternatim vesper psalm settings found in the choirbook labeled A-013, believed to have been created between 1730 and 1750. These psalms are labeled as composed by Rocha, a possible attribution to António Ramos da Rocha (died 1669), associated with the Cathedral in the city of Setúbal. All of the psalm settings in A-013 have modern barlines, perhaps a later editorial addition when the choirbook was created.
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