The Portuguese composer Frederico De Freitas’ works were distinguished by charming and melodic scores tinged with the folkloric strains of his homeland. This recording, which surveys Freitas’s output for violin, includes two works that stand at opposite ends of his career: the Berceuse from 1922 and the Dança do Palhaço (“Dance of the Clown”) from 1964. From his early post-Romantic leanings to a gradual incorporation of decidedly modern influences of polyphony and tonality, De Freitas’ contrapuntal gifts are a discovery and performed by the Portuguese violinist Carlos Damas along with frequent collaborator Jill Lawson on piano and Jian Hong on cello. With detailed liner notes by English scholar of Portuguese music Ivan Moody, also a critic for Gramophone.
