Lisbon Under Ashes: Rediscovered Portuguese Music

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1755 was a somber milestone in Portugal’s history. An earthquake, followed by a tsunami, destroyed the city of Lisbon, taking thousands of lives with them. Among the many victims of these events was Portugal’s musical heritage. The entire music collections kept mainly in one of the wings of the Royal Palace were lost. Luckily, Portuguese music manuscripts from before 1755 are still preserved in other archives. This is the material used for this release. The program is representative of the different facets of the relatively scarce evidence of Portuguese music that survived the catastrophic loss of 1755: music in Portuguese, music by a Portuguese composer, music from the Portuguese colony, Spanish music in Portugal, and Portuguese popular music. The program of this recording revives these precious pearls of great importance, offering the public a rare opportunity to enjoy 16th -century “Portuguese songs” in a performance full of wit and vivacity.