Tiago Matias releases the album “Shadows”

After “Cifras de Viola” (2022), one of the four nominees in the category of best classical/classical music album at the Vodafone Play Awards in 2022, “Sospiro” (2023), “Fantasia” (2024) and “Cordovil” (2024), “Sombras” is published by Arte das Musas, and is financed by the General Directorate of Arts / Ministry of Culture.

The album is composed of the complete works for viola (baroque guitar) by António Marques Lésbio (1639-1709), one of the most famous Portuguese baroque composers of his time. This is the first recording of this repertoire in the world, which was dispersed among three eighteenth-century Portuguese manuscripts with music for baroque guitar. After transcription and arrangement from facsimiles, the corpus of 14 works was recorded and is now released on CD (Arte das Musas). The book with the scores is published by Ava Editions.

To date, 19 works by Lésbio are known, mainly vilancicos and tonos, all of them of great quality and very representative of the musical production of the 17th and 18th centuries in Portugal. António Marques Lésbio was born in Lisbon in 1639. His connection to the Portuguese court and its musical institutions was constant throughout his life. At the age of nine, he was admitted among the young men of the Royal Chapel, and became a musician of the Royal Chamber a few years later, still during the reign of D. João IV.

Fruit of a long investigation

In 1668, under King Pedro II, he was appointed master of the musicians of the Royal Chamber. From 1679 onwards, his life became intrinsically linked to the Royal Chapel, where he held various positions, including singer, master of the choirboys of the Royal Chapel (1679), clerk of accounts (1680) and librarian of the Royal Library of Music (1692). In 1698, at the age of 59, he was appointed Master of the Royal Chapel, a position he held until his death in 1709.

The 14 works for viola (Baroque guitar) now transcribed and recorded for the first time in modern times come from three eighteenth-century Portuguese codices with music for the instrument. Most of this corpus is part of the Cifras de Viola, Musical Manuscript 97 of the General Library of the University of Coimbra. In the Livro de Guitarra do Conde do Redondo, a later manuscript, the Fantezia is identified in the 8th tone. In a third manuscript, kept by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, is the Fantesia by Ant.[onio] Marques, a player at the Capella Real, who originated the

research into the composer, which resulted in this album and book, which are being presented on tour.

After “Cifras de Viola” (2022), one of the four nominees in the category of best classical/classical music album at the Vodafone Play Awards in 2022, “Sospiro” (2023), “Fantasia” (2024) and “Cordovil” (2024), “Sombras” is published by Arte das Musas, and is financed by the General Directorate of Arts / Ministry of Culture.

The album is composed of the complete works for viola (baroque guitar) by António Marques Lésbio (1639-1709), one of the most famous Portuguese baroque composers of his time. This is the first recording of this repertoire in the world, which was dispersed among three eighteenth-century Portuguese manuscripts with music for baroque guitar. After transcription and arrangement from facsimiles, the corpus of 14 works was recorded and is now released on CD (Arte das Musas). The book with the scores is published by Ava Editions.

To date, 19 works by Lésbio are known, mainly vilancicos and tonos, all of them of great quality and very representative of the musical production of the 17th and 18th centuries in Portugal. António Marques Lésbio was born in Lisbon in 1639. His connection to the Portuguese court and its musical institutions was constant throughout his life. At the age of nine, he was admitted among the young men of the Royal Chapel, and became a musician of the Royal Chamber a few years later, still during the reign of D. João IV.

Fruit of a long investigation

In 1668, under King Pedro II, he was appointed master of the musicians of the Royal Chamber. From 1679 onwards, his life became intrinsically linked to the Royal Chapel, where he held various positions, including singer, master of the choirboys of the Royal Chapel (1679), clerk of accounts (1680) and librarian of the Royal Library of Music (1692). In 1698, at the age of 59, he was appointed Master of the Royal Chapel, a position he held until his death in 1709.

The 14 works for viola (Baroque guitar) now transcribed and recorded for the first time in modern times come from three eighteenth-century Portuguese codices with music for the instrument. Most of this corpus is part of the Cifras de Viola, Musical Manuscript 97 of the General Library of the University of Coimbra. In the Livro de Guitarra do Conde do Redondo, a later manuscript, the Fantezia is identified in the 8th tone. In a third manuscript, kept by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, is the Fantesia by Ant.[onio] Marques, a player at the Capella Real, who originated the

research into the composer, which resulted in this album and book, which are being presented on tour.

After “Cifras de Viola” (2022), one of the four nominees in the category of best classical/classical music album at the Vodafone Play Awards in 2022, “Sospiro” (2023), “Fantasia” (2024) and “Cordovil” (2024), “Sombras” is published by Arte das Musas, and is financed by the General Directorate of Arts / Ministry of Culture.

The album is composed of the complete works for viola (baroque guitar) by António Marques Lésbio (1639-1709), one of the most famous Portuguese baroque composers of his time. This is the first recording of this repertoire in the world, which was dispersed among three eighteenth-century Portuguese manuscripts with music for baroque guitar. After transcription and arrangement from facsimiles, the corpus of 14 works was recorded and is now released on CD (Arte das Musas). The book with the scores is published by Ava Editions.

To date, 19 works by Lésbio are known, mainly vilancicos and tonos, all of them of great quality and very representative of the musical production of the 17th and 18th centuries in Portugal. António Marques Lésbio was born in Lisbon in 1639. His connection to the Portuguese court and its musical institutions was constant throughout his life. At the age of nine, he was admitted among the young men of the Royal Chapel, and became a musician of the Royal Chamber a few years later, still during the reign of D. João IV.

Fruit of a long investigation

In 1668, under King Pedro II, he was appointed master of the musicians of the Royal Chamber. From 1679 onwards, his life became intrinsically linked to the Royal Chapel, where he held various positions, including singer, master of the choirboys of the Royal Chapel (1679), clerk of accounts (1680) and librarian of the Royal Library of Music (1692). In 1698, at the age of 59, he was appointed Master of the Royal Chapel, a position he held until his death in 1709.

The 14 works for viola (Baroque guitar) now transcribed and recorded for the first time in modern times come from three eighteenth-century Portuguese codices with music for the instrument. Most of this corpus is part of the Cifras de Viola, Musical Manuscript 97 of the General Library of the University of Coimbra. In the Livro de Guitarra do Conde do Redondo, a later manuscript, the Fantezia is identified in the 8th tone. In a third manuscript, kept by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, is the Fantesia by Ant.[onio] Marques, a player at the Capella Real, who originated the

research into the composer, which resulted in this album and book, which are being presented on tour.