Marcos Soares Pereira (? –1655), was a Portuguese composer and ''

mestre da Capela Real Mestre da Capela Real (''Master of the Royal Chapel'') was the Portuguese term used to designate the person who was in charge of all musical details related with the churches and chapels of the Kings of Portugal. On 27 of March 1623 Filipe de Maga ...

''. He was the brother of the famous Portuguese composer

João Lourenço Rebelo João Lourenço Rebelo, or João Soares Rebelo (1610 – 16 November 1661) was the only Portuguese composer to adopt the Venetian polychoral style.Paul van Nevel, ''João Lourenço Rebelo and the Portuguese Polyphony of the first half of the seve ...

Life

Marcos Soares Pereira was born in Caminha most probably at the end of the 16th century, as the son of João Soares Pereira and Maria Lourenço Rebelo. Little is known about his musical studies and when or where he was ordained priest. In 1624 Pereira was admitted as chaplain-singer at the

Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa The Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa ( pt, Paço Ducal de Vila Viçosa) is a royal palace in Portugal, located in the civil parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, in the municipality of Vila Viçosa, in the Alentejo, situated about 150 km (93 m ...

, the ancestral seat of the

Dukes of Braganza The title Duke of Braganza ( pt, Duque de Bragança) in the House of Braganza is one of the most important titles in the peerage of Portugal. Starting in 1640, when the House of Braganza acceded to the throne of Portugal, the male heir of the Po ...

, the most important title in the peerage of Portugal in the middle of the 17th century. In 1629 Pereira replaced Robert Turner (c. 1578-1629) as ''mestre de capela''. After the overthrow of the

Philippine Dynasty The Philippine dynasty ( pt, dinastia filipina), also known as the House of Habsburg in Portugal, was the third royal house of Portugal. It was named after the three Habsburg Spanish kings, all named Philip (; , ), who ruled Portugal between 1 ...

on 1 December 1640, which had ruled Portugal since

1580 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * January 31 – Portuguese succession crisis of 1580: The death of Henry, King of Portugal, with no direct heirs, leads to conflict between his potential successors, including King Philip II of ...

, João, Duke of Braganza became king and the ducal chapel moved from

Vila Viçosa Vila Viçosa () is a town and a municipality in the District of Évora, Alentejo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,319, in an area of 194.86 km². The municipal holiday is August 16. Parishes Administratively, the municipality is d ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. In 1641, after the retirement of

Filipe de Magalhães Filipe de Magalhães (c. 1571–1652) was a Portuguese composer of sacred polyphony. Life Filipe de Magalhães was born in Azeitão, Portugal, in 1571. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora with Manuel Mendes where he was a colleague of ...

, Marcos Soares Pereira was appointed ''

'', a position he held until his death in 1655.

Musical work

None of Pereira’s musical work survived to the present day, most likely due to the Lisbon earthquake of November 1, 1755, with the destruction of the Music Royal Library. Nevertheless, the library catalog partially survived and there we can find the entry for fifty-eight of Pereira’s compositions, fifty-four ''vilancicos'' and four psalms, ''Confitebor'', ''Beatus Vir'', ''Laudate Pueri'' and ''Laudate Dominum''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Marcos Soares 1655 deaths Portuguese Baroque composers Mestres da Capela Real Year of birth unknown 17th-century classical composers Portuguese male classical composers People from Caminha 17th-century male musicians