Diogo Dias Melgás
Encyclopedia
Diogo Dias Melgás (Cuba (Portugal)
, 1638 - Évora
, 1700) was a Portuguese
composer
of polyphony
.
, Alentejo, on 14 April 1638. He was a choirboy
at the Colégio da Claustra in Évora in 1646. He took holy orders at the Cathedral of Évora, where he stayed the rest of his life, being a student of Manuel Rebelo, and holding the position of mestre de capela
for about 30 years. He died blind and extremely poor on 3 February 1700. He was the last of the great Portuguese polyphony masters, who began to flourish in Évora in the second half of the sixteenth century.
es, motet
s, gradual
s - are kept in the archives of the Cathedrals of Évora and Lisbon
, and were published in modern notation by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in 1978 (Opera Omnia, Portugaliae Musica XXXII).
Cuba (Portugal)
Cuba is a town and municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.1 km² and a total population of 4,775 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 4 parishes, and is located in the District of Beja....
, 1638 - Évora
Évora
Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
, 1700) was a Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
.
Life
Diogo Dias Melgás was born in CubaCuba (Portugal)
Cuba is a town and municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.1 km² and a total population of 4,775 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 4 parishes, and is located in the District of Beja....
, Alentejo, on 14 April 1638. He was a choirboy
Choirboy
A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble.As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" refers to someone who is considered honorable or conscientious.- History :The use of choirboys in Christian...
at the Colégio da Claustra in Évora in 1646. He took holy orders at the Cathedral of Évora, where he stayed the rest of his life, being a student of Manuel Rebelo, and holding the position of mestre de capela
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
for about 30 years. He died blind and extremely poor on 3 February 1700. He was the last of the great Portuguese polyphony masters, who began to flourish in Évora in the second half of the sixteenth century.
Work
A large part of Melgás's work is lost. The surviving works - massMass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
es, motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s, gradual
Gradual
The Gradual is a chant or hymn in the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In the Tridentine Mass it was and is sung after the reading or chanting of the Epistle and before the Alleluia, or, during penitential seasons, before the Tract. In the Mass of Paul VI...
s - are kept in the archives of the Cathedrals of Évora and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, and were published in modern notation by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in 1978 (Opera Omnia, Portugaliae Musica XXXII).
Recordings
- 1994, Music of the Portuguese Renaissance, Pro Cantione Antiqua, Hyperion CDA66715
- includes 14 works by Melgás
- 2004, A Golden Age of Portuguese Music, The SixteenThe SixteenThe Sixteen are a choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th century...
, CORO COR16020- includes 3 works by Melgás
- 2008, The Golden Age, The King's Singers, Signum Classics
- includes 2 works by Melgás