In the liner-notes for this disc Ivan Moody writes that "it
took longer in the Iberian peninsula than almost anywhere else
(...) for the love of Renaissance contrapuntal artifice to give
way to a completely Italianate secunda prattica".
This in itself isn't untrue, but also a little one-sided. First
of all, our picture of Portuguese music in the 17th and early
18th century is very incomplete, due to the earthquake which
hit Lisbon in 1755. It destroyed the archives of the royal court
which was a rich source of Portuguese music of the previous
centuries. Secondly, religious music tells only one part of
the story of Portuguese music. 'Baroque music' was certainly
written, but sacred music was generally more conservative than
secular works. That wasn't a Portuguese specialty, though: various
Italian composers wrote sacred music in a style which wasn't
fundamentally different from the music by Esteves which is performed
on this disc. Examples are Alesssandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
and later Giovanni Giorgi (?-1762).
Two things these composers have in common: they made use of
classical polyphony but at the same time incorporated elements
of baroque expression. On this disc that is particularly the
case in the Christmas Responsories. The Agnus Dei of the Missa
a 8 contains some dissonances. The second element is the
use of the technique of cori spezzati. This is mostly
associated with Venice, but music for double choir was also
frequently written in Rome and on the Iberian peninsula. This
was often applied to create an antiphonal effect in which one
choir imitates the motifs of the other. This effect is particularly
audible in the Christmas Responsories and the Gloria and Credo
from the Missa a 8.
Very little is known about Esteves. He was mestre de capela
of Lisbon Cathedral in the first half of the 18th century. It
is very likely that he studied in Rome, and this influenced
his style of composing. The duet for two voices and basso continuo
is very much in the style of the Italian sacred concerto. One
hundred compositions by Esteves are known, found in various
archives in Portugal. This suggests that his music was quite
popular. It is not known when Esteves died. It is assumed he
could have been one of the victims of the earthquake as his
name doesn't appear in the records of the Cathedral in the following
years.
The Christ Church Cathedral Choir delivers a beautiful reading
of Esteves' music. One could argue that, with its 34 voices,
it is too large. The number of trebles - 18 - makes it also
a bit top-heavy. That said, the solemn character of the mass
comes off very well, and expression in the Responsories is certainly
not absent. Several passages are scored for reduced forces,
in particular the verses. These are performed by solo voices
from the choir which is certainly right. The soloists do a fine
job, and that includes the two trebles Daniel Collins and Henry
Bennett. Among the others we find some well-known names, like
Andrew Carwood and Giles Underwood. Stephen Darlington makes
a distinction between the mass and the responsories: in the
latter the baroque style manifests itself more clearly than
in the mass, and that is reflected by the articulation and the
dynamic accents. The latter are clearly discernible, but never
exaggerated. All pieces have a basso continuo part, played at
two organs, one per choir. They should have been more clearly
audible.
The booklet includes the lyrics with an English translation.
Unfortunately the translation of Beata viscera Mariae
(Maria, according to the booklet) is wrong and is more
or less the same as that of Beata Dei genitrix. At the
service of those who have purchased this disc this is the correct
translation:
Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary,
that bore the son of the everlasting Father:
and blessed are the breasts which gave suck to Christ the Lord:
Who as on this day did vouchsave to be born of the Virgin for
the salvation of the world.
A holy day has dawned for us;
come, nations, come and worship the Lord.
It is a little blot on a fine production with delightful performances
of some treasures from the Portuguese musical heritage.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Please note that following Johan's suggestion Nimbus intend
to update the booklet in the future.
Andrew Carwood (tenor)*, Mike McCarthy (bass)* 
