15:00
Mafra
31/10, 3:00 PM
Mafra Heritage
Auditorium, National Museum of Music
Felipe Barão, presentation
Nuno Mendes, violin
Luís Correia, bassoon
José Simões, violas
Mário Batalha, clarinet
Gualter Alegria, clay-pot percussion
Musician José Simões, a native of Mafra, has been collecting and researching long-forgotten music from the region. Prepare for an afternoon filled with discoveries, beginning at 3:00 PM with a lecture by ethnomusicologist Felipe Barão and culminating at 4:00 PM with the modern premiere of works by composers from Mafra. Since 1983, José Simões has served as organist of the Parish of Mafra, where he developed an extensive career as a composer until 2019. Alongside this work, he has devoted considerable effort to the study and promotion of traditional Portuguese violas. His primary focus has been the documentation and research of the Cancioneiro Mafrense (Mafra Songbook). In 2020, after several years studying Portuguese chordophones, he and Óscar Cardoso developed a tuning system for a new musical instrument aimed at highlighting the Mafra Songbook. The instrument accommodates the tunings of the viola beiroa, viola da terra, viola campaniça, viola de arame, and viola toeira, while incorporating additional bass strings. This research ultimately resulted in the creation of the guitarra saloia.
Concert promoted by the Mafra Municipal Council.
