Joly Braga Santos - Chamber Music, Vol. 1 (Quarteto Lopes-Graça)

Information

Composer: Joly Braga Santos

• (01) String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 4
• (05) String Quartet No. 2, Op. 27
• (08) String Sextet, Op. 65

Quarteto Lopes-Graça

Luís Pacheco Cunha & Maria José Laginha, violins

Isabel Pimentel, viola

Catherine Strynckx, cello

Leonor Braga Santos, viola & Irene Lima, cello (8-10)

Date: 2020

Label: Toccata

https://toccataclassics.com/product/joly-braga-santos-complete-chamber-music-volume-one/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

Joly Braga Santos (1924 88) was one of the most important Portuguese composers of the 20th century and it is excellent that this fine recording, with international distribution, has appeared. The three works included cover a wide chronological range: the String Quartet No 1 is from 1945, No 2 from 1957 and the Sextet from 1986. All three have been previously recorded, but on discs that were only ever properly available in Portugal and are now long out of print.

Braga Santos’s early work is often compared to music by Vaughan Williams and Walton, and it would be idle to deny the resemblance; it employs modality and demonstrates a notable gift for counterpoint. Indeed, Vaughan Williams is certain to come to mind on beginning to listen to the first and third movements in particular of the Quartet No 1, but there is also a Bartókian grit that becomes more evident as the work progresses and is especially evident in the fiery fourth movement, Allegro molto energico ed appassionato. The work’s overall duration is just over 36 minutes, and for a 21-year-old composer it is a major statement indeed.

The Quartet No 2 is still more reminiscent of Bartók (though one would never actually mistake the Portuguese for the Hungarian – Braga Santos’s very personal kind of lyricism alone would ensure that), and it is cyclical in structure. It is also much more contained than the First Quartet, lasting just over 20 minutes. For me, the cherry on the cake is the Sextet, in which the composer’s modal lyricism has been enriched by new harmonic thinking and employment of chromaticism: this was a process that began in the 1960s, and this is certainly one of his most impressive works in his renewed style. It is a haunting, brooding work, making full use of the rich sound world of the string sextet. All three works are superbly performed, with energy and true passion. The booklet includes a biographical note by the composer’s eldest daughter, Piedade Braga Santos, and an excellent analytical essay by Bernardo Mariano. I look forward to future volumes with keen anticipation.

-- Ivan Moody, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Jan/Braga_Santos_chamber_TOCC0207.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joly Braga Santos (May 14, 1924 – July 18, 1988) was a Portuguese composer and conductor. He studied violin and composition at the National Conservatoire of Lisbon, and was a disciple of Luís de Freitas Branco. After the Second World War, he was able to go abroad, having studied conducting with Hermann Scherchen and Antonino Votto, and composition with Virgilio Mortari. Braga Santos was considered the leading Portuguese composer of the 20th century. He wrote six symphonies, three operas, chamber music for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles, film scores, and several choral works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joly_Braga_Santos

***

The Quarteto Lopes-Graça, made up of musicians that are teachers of the Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa, was formed in 2005 in order to create a reference ensemble specialized in chamber music training. With the support of the Portugal Ministry of Culture, the quartet has performed concerts in various parts of the country, as well as tours in Brazil, Peru and Argentina. The ensemble often performs and records works by Portuguese composers, such as Vianna da Motta, Freitas Branco, Braga Santos, Lopes-Graça and more recent works by Antonio Victorino d'Almeida and Amílcar Vasques Dias.
http://musicamera.pt/agenciamento/ensembles/quarteto-lopes-graca/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!