Joly Braga Santos: Complete Chamber Music, Volume One

Joly Braga Santos (1924–88) was one of the most important composers in twentieth-century Portugal. In his early works his fondness for modal harmony, absorbed from the Portuguese masters of the Renaissance, and his busy counterpoint combine to make him sound surprisingly close to such particularly English composers as Vaughan Williams and Moeran. Although his harmonic language became more astringent with time, it retained a burly sense of humor and a powerful charge of energy. In these recordings Portugal’s premier string quartet is joined in the Braga Santos Sextet by the composer’s daughter on viola. This is the first release in a series of three which will present – for the first time ever – Braga Santos’ complete chamber music.