Constança Capdeville (16 March 19374 February 1992) was a Portuguese pianist, percussionist, music educator and composer.

Early years

Constança Capdeville was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and lived in the village of Caxias as a child. She came from an artistic family and in her youth was exposed to creative geniuses including

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

. She wrote piano compositions at an early age, and studied piano and composition at the Lisbon Conservatorio Nacional, where she received a diploma in

Higher Education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

in Music. After completing her studies in Barcelona, Capdeville settled in Portugal in 1951. She pursued further studies in piano with Varela Cid and musical composition with Jorge Croner de Vasconcellos. She then specialized her education in music to the study of ancient music (

paleography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

/transcribing,

organology Organology (; ) is the science of musical instruments and their classifications. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and musical instrument classi ...

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance music, Renaissance, Baroque music, Baroque and Classical period (music), Classical eras. Historically, it was most ...

and

performance practice Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...

) with Macário Santiago Kastner.

Biography

After completing her musical studies, Capdeville taught music at the National Conservatory and the New University of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. She was a member of the Portuguese Council of Music and the Catalan Composers Association of Barcelona. She won the Portuguese Medal of Cultural Merit in 1990, and the Insignia of the Order of Santiago da Espada posthumously in 1992. Capdeville was a prolific composer. By 1969 she had begun to have her works commissioned by the

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

for its orchestra. She produced approximately 100 pieces for orchestra, chamber ensembles and a variety of soloists using different instruments. She also composed music for films and plays, ballet/dance and 'dramatized' staged performances. From early on, her music revealed close ties to the

dramatic arts Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been c ...

and to the imagery of the human condition evoked though sound and

Mise en scène Mise or Miše may refer to: * Mise (mythology), a deity addressed in the ''Orphic Hymns'' * Ante Miše (born 1967), Croatian footballer * Jerolim Miše (1890–1970), Croatian painter, teacher, and art critic * MISE, an abbreviation for Mean integ ...

. Capdeville's compositions were laden with multiple artistic perception. During her life, she was a close artistic and personal friend of music genius

Jorge Peixinho Jorge Manuel Marques Peixinho Rosado (born 20 January 1940 — 30 June 1995) was a Portuguese composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career Born in Montijo, Portugal, Peixinho studied composition and piano at the Conservatory of Lisbon from ...

who had himself been a towering influence upon the contemporary

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

of the latter half of the 20th century. Capdeville was also a talented percussionist, but as a musician her main instrument was the piano. Besides the conservatory, she taught at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa and at the '' Academia de Musica de Santa Cecilia'' in Lisbon. She also taught in the Musicology department of the 'Universidade Nova de Lisboa' (

New University of Lisbon NOVA University Lisbon (, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital city, earning its name as the " ...

) 's Faculty of Humanities ( UNL- FCSH ). In this position, she taught a number of students who went on to prominence in music and composition and went on to receive prestigious national and international awards. These students include

Eurico Carrapatoso Eurico Carrapatoso Ordem do Infante D. Henrique, ComIH (born February 15, 1962, in Mirandela) is a Portuguese composer. Awards and honors 2021 - DSCH - Schostakovich Ensemble Prize, with his ''Pour la fin, pour mon Commencement'', for clarinet, vi ...

, among others. Capdeville died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

February 4, 1992, at the age of 55 in her hometown of Caxias.

Works

Capdeville composed about a hundred works, including orchestral music, theater works and film soundtracks. Selected works include: *''Diferenças Sobre um Intervalo'' (1967) for orchestra *''Libera me'' (1979) for ensemble (choir, piano, percussion, tape and lights) *''Cerro Maior'' (dir. Luís Filipe Rocha, 1980) film music *''Don't Juan'' (1985), anti-opera, musical theatre *''Di lontan fa specchio il mare – Joly Braga Santos, In memoriam'' (1989) for ensemble *''Solo de Violino'' (dir. Monique Rutler, 1990) film music *''Take 91'' (1991), musical theatre *''"Que mon chant ne soît plus d'oiseau,"'' (1991) for orchestra

Groups and ensembles

*''Convivium Musicum'', ensemble *''ColecViva'', musical theatre *''Opus Sic'', music for films and performances *''Palavras por dentro'', theatrical

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capdeville, Constanca 1937 births 1992 deaths Musicians from Barcelona 20th-century Portuguese classical composers Portuguese music educators Portuguese women classical composers Portuguese women composers Portuguese composers Portuguese women music educators Portuguese percussionists Women percussionists Portuguese pianists Portuguese women pianists 20th-century women composers