Donation to the BNP of the personal papers of Luís de Freitas Branco and of Nuno Barreiros / Maria Helena de Freitas

[Maria Clara Assunção]

"On 23 September, at 15.30, will be held in the Council Chamber of the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal the donation of part of the papers of the composer Luis de Freitas Branco and of Nuno Barreiros / Maria Helena de Freitas, donated by the composer Alexandre Delgado.

"Luís de Freitas Branco (1890-1955) was born in Lisbon and studied music and literature with his uncle João de Freitas Branco. Revealing a precocious talent, he studied composition, first with Augusto Machado and Tomás Borba, then with Désiré Pâque and Luigi Mancinelli.

"Between 1910 and 1915 went abroad a few times, supplementing his training with Humperdinck in Berlin, and with Gabriel Grovlez in Paris. Some compositions dated from this period reflect the influence of the latest trends in European music, such as French Impressionism and Schoenberg atonality, including the Paraísos Artificiais symphonic poem inspired by the homonymous work of Baudelaire (1913), and Vathek: Symphonic Variations on a oriental theme (1914). He developed important educational efforts, collaborating with Viana da Mota in the reform of the Conservatório Nacional and was director between 1919 and 1924. This reform involved the adoption of measures such as sight-singing in the Solfège class, the creation of general culture classes and the inclusion of the class of Musicology, divided in Acoustics, Music History and Musical Aesthetics.

"As a composer, the next period is marked by some works of nationalistic character, which are examples the two suites of Alentejo, and neoclassical inspiration as the Renaissance Madrigals Camonianos.

'Author with important production, he wrote, among other titles, The Music in Portugal (1927), Life of Beethoven (1943) and D. João IV, Musician (published posthumously), Elements of Musicology (1922), Acoustics and Music History (1930) and the Harmony (1930). He also wrote music critic in journals such as Diário Ilustrado, Monarquia, Correio da Manhã, Diário de Notícias, Diário de Lisboa and O Século. In 1929 he founded the magazine Arte Musical, where he was director until 1948.

"Antonio Nuno Barreiros (1928-2001), musicógrafo, critical and radio professional, was born in Castendo (now Penalva do Castelo). He studies composition, instrumentation, aesthetics and history of music with Luis de Freitas Branco. In 1959, he joined as an assistant the former Emissora Nacional (national broadcast), occupying there successively the positions of director, chief industry of classical music, head of national programs and Director of Program 2. It was music critic of Diário Ilustrado, the Diário de Lisboa and the Jornal do Comércio, and a frequent contributor to other periodicals such as the Gazeta Musical, Vértice, Boletim da Juventude Musical Portuguesa, Diário de Notícias, O Século and Comércio do Porto. In addition to extensive written production, which also emphasizes the articles he wrote for the Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira, has given numerous conferences and lectures about music and portuguese musicians.

"Maria Helena de Freitas (1913-2004) pianist and a music critic, comented live concerts and opera performances. He kept on Emissora Nacional, later RDP, a program O Canto e os seus Intérpretes (Singing and it's Performers), issued from 1959 to 2000. Many people were brought by this program to the enjoyment of opera and to the knowledge of their most significant performers. Wrote in newspapers like A Voz, Diário Popular and Diário de Notícias.

"The documentation now donated to the BNP by composer Alexandre Delgado consists of manuscripts (autographs and copies) of works by Luis de Freitas Branco, as well as various documents and texts by and about the composer (programs, reviews and correspondence), gathered by the couple Nuno Barreiros / Maria Helena de Freitas, and also documents relating to Freitas Branco produced by these two music lovers.

"It should be noted that the BNP has integrated into its portuguese music archive, the papers of many great composers mentioned in this note, including Augusto Machado, Viana da Mota, Armando José Fernandes and Joly Braga Santos."