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18th-CENTURY MUSIC FROM THE IBERIAN COURTS
José António Carlos de Seixas (1704-1742), a renowned Portuguese composer and organist, moved to Lisbon in 1720, where he taught church organ. There he met Domenico Scarlatti, who had traveled from Rome to Lisbon in 1719 at the invitation of King John V the Magnanimous. It is said that when the king’s son arranged for Scarlatti to give organ lessons to Seixas, Scarlatti replied that it was Seixas who should be giving him lessons. In 1738, Seixas was knighted by John V of Portugal. Seixas was greatly influenced by the German Empfindsamer Stil (literally “sensitive style”).
The presence, influence, and testimony of Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) in Portugal contributed greatly to the “Italianization” of Portuguese musical life in the 18th century and therefore certainly deserves our attention. Of his more than 550 sonatas and essercizi, only eight are not for solo harpsichord, but for a melodic instrument (unspecified) and basso continuo. Today, they have been identified in his catalog by musicologist R. Kirkpatrick as “K” with the numbers 73, 77, 78, 81, and 89-91, and in this concert, K.81 and K.89 will be presented with the flute as soloist. His stay in Portugal, although brief, was important for the cultural environment of the time, before his departure for the Spanish court, where he would become director of the Royal Chapel in Madrid.
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), a prominent Italian composer and cellist, spent a significant part of his life in Spain serving at the court of Madrid. He was attached to the court of Infante Don Luis Antonio, the younger brother of King Charles III of Spain, from 1770 until the Infante’s exile in 1785 due to his marriage to a commoner. Even after the Infante’s exile, Boccherini remained in Spain, living in a castle in the Sierra de Madrid, and continued to compose, deeply inspired by the city. His work was strongly influenced by the Gallant style.
IBERIAN ENSEMBLE:
Alexandre Andrade, transverse baroque flute
David Cruz, baroque cello
Ivan Oliveira, theorbo / baroque guitar