Estêvão de Brito
Encyclopedia
Estêvão de Brito was a Portuguese
composer
of polyphony
.
, Portugal
. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora
with Filipe de Magalhães
. On January 1597 he was already mestre de capela of the Cathedral of Badajoz
(Spain
), where he stayed until 1613. In that year, he went to the cathedral of Málaga
and succeeded Francisco Vásquez bearing the same office as Cristóbal de Morales
, precisely 50 years before. He stayed in Málaga until his death in 1641.
s and cançonetas, most of them for the Christian feasts of Christmas
and Corpus Christi
. Unfortunately, these works were lost. However, the most relevant in de Brito's work are the liturgic
pieces: 4-, 5-, 6-, and 8-voice mass
es, motet
s, psalms, and hymn
s.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
.
Life
Estêvão de Brito was born in SerpaSerpa
Serpa is a municipality in Portugal, in Alentejo Region, with a total area of 1104.0 km² and a total population of 16,178 inhabitants. The Guadiana River flows close to the town of Serpa....
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora
Évora
Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
with Filipe de Magalhães
Filipe de Magalhães
Filipe de Magalhães was a Portuguese composer of sacred polyphony.-Life:Filipe de Magalhães was born in Azeitão, Portugal, in 1571. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora with Manuel Mendes where he was a colleague of the equally renowned polyphonists Duarte Lobo and Manuel Cardoso...
. On January 1597 he was already mestre de capela of the Cathedral of Badajoz
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....
(Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
), where he stayed until 1613. In that year, he went to the cathedral of Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
and succeeded Francisco Vásquez bearing the same office as Cristóbal de Morales
Cristóbal de Morales
Cristóbal de Morales was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Victoria.- Life :...
, precisely 50 years before. He stayed in Málaga until his death in 1641.
Work
It is known that de Brito has composed numberless villancicoVillancico
The villancico was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. With the decline in popularity of the villancicos in the 20th century, the term became reduced to mean merely "Christmas carol"...
s and cançonetas, most of them for the Christian feasts of Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
. Unfortunately, these works were lost. However, the most relevant in de Brito's work are the liturgic
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
pieces: 4-, 5-, 6-, and 8-voice mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
es, motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, psalms, and hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s.
Recordings
- 1993, Portuguese Renaissance Music, Voces Angelicae, Teldec Classics International 4509-93690-2
- includes 5 works by de Brito.