IDAGIO | Capella Sanctæ Crucis: Zuguambé - harmonia nova #3 3149020930106

Featuring

Tiago Simas Freire
Kazuya Gunji
Capella Sanctæ Crucis
Anonymous
Agostinho da Cruz
Diego de Alvarado

Dom Jorge
Pedro de Cristo

Did you know?

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Album & Artwork

The album is part of the harmonia#nova series, which supports young artists by offering them technical, editorial, and promotional resources, and is a collaboration with partners like La Courroie, a former ramie mill now dedicated to music.

Performer Biography

Tiago Simas Freire, the director of Capella Sanctæ Crucis, holds three Master's degrees in architecture, recorder, and cornett, and is pursuing a doctorate on 17th-century Portuguese musical sources.

Historical Context

The music on this album comes from the Holy Cross Monastery of Coimbra, which was a significant political and cultural center in Portugal as early as the 12th century.

Recording & Production

This recording is dedicated solely to previously unpublished works found in the library of the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

Interpretation

The album's program is structured as an imaginary church service, combining Latin, vernacular, and instrumental pieces, framed by an invocation and a benediction.

Cultural Impact

The term 'língua de Preto' (Black speech), featured in some pieces, is a written representation of the Afro-Portuguese dialect popularized in 16th-century stage plays and 17th-century 'villancico' lyrics.

Compositional Technique

The music from the Coimbra manuscripts, known as 'cartapácios', features great formal freedom and a variety of vocal textures, from unaccompanied monody to polychoral writing.