Freitas (Branco), Frederico (Guedes) de

Freitas (Branco), Frederico (Guedes) de, Portuguese conductor and composer; b. Lisbon, Nov. 15, 1902; d. there, Jan. 12, 1980. He studied piano with Aroldo Silva, composition with A.E. da Costa Ferreira, musicology with Luis de Freitas Branco, and violin at the National Cons, in Lisbon (1919–24). He won the National Composition prize (1926). He conducted the Lisbon Emissora National Orch. (from 1934), the Lisbon Choral Soc. (1940–47), the Oporto Sym. Orch. (1949–53), and the Orquesta de Concierto (from 1955). In his Violin Sonata (1923) he made the first known use of linear polyphony by a Portuguese composer.

Works

DRAMATIC Opera : O eremita (1952); A igreja do mar, radio opera (1957; Lisbon, Feb. 5, 1960); Don Joao e a mascara, radio opera (1960). B a l l e t : Muro do derrete (1940); A dança da Menina Tonta (1941); Imagens da terra e do mar (1943); Nazaré (1948). ORCH.: A lenda dos bailarins, symphonic poem (1926); Quarteto concertante for 2 Violins, 2 Cellos, and String Orch. (1945); Flute Concerto (1954); Suite Medieval (1958); Os Jeróimos, sym. (1962). CHAMBER: Nocturno for Cello and Piano (1926); Violin Sonata (1946); String Quartet (1946); Wind Quintet (1950); 3 Pegas sem importancia for Violin and Piano (1959). KEYBOARD : Piano : Dança (1923); Ingenuidades (1924); Sonata (1944); Ciranda (1944); 6 Pieces (1946); Bagatelles (1953); Variations (1954). Organ : Sonata (1963). VOCAL: Missa solene for 4 Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1940); As sete palavras de Nossa Senhora, cantata (1946); songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire