Filipe de Magalhães (c. 1571–1652) was a Portuguese

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

Life

Filipe de Magalhães was born in Azeitão,

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 ...

, around 1571. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora in southern Portugal with

Manuel Mendes Manuel Mendes (or Manoel Mendes; c. 1547 – 24 September 1605) was a Portuguese composer and teacher of the Renaissance. While his music remains obscure, he was important as the teacher of several of the composers of the golden age of Portu ...

; there he was a colleague of the equally renowned polyphonists

Duarte Lobo Duarte Lobo (c. 1565 – 24 September 1646; Latinized as ''Eduardus Lupus'') was a Portuguese composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. He was one of the most famous Portuguese composers of the time, together with Filipe de Magalhãe ...

and Manuel Cardoso. He was apparently considered by his master Manuel Mendes as his favourite student; the latter left his own manuscripts to Magalhães, in the hope that these would be eventually published. In 1589 Magalhães replaced Manuel Mendes as ''mestre do Claustro da Sé''. Later, he went to Lisbon to become a member of the ''Capela Real'' (Royal Chapel's) choir and then ''mestre de Capela da Misericórdia''. On the 27th of March 1623 he was appointed '' Mestre da Capela Real'', a position he held until 1641. While at Évora, he was the teacher of Estêvão Lopes Morago,

Estêvão de Brito Estêvão de Brito (c. 15701641) was a Portuguese composer of polyphony. Life Estêvão de Brito was born in Serpa, Portugal. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora with Filipe de Magalhães. In January 1597 he was already ''mestre de cape ...

and Manuel Correia, who carried on with the music school of the Cathedral of Évora in the 16th and 17th centuries. He died in

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 ...

Musical work

Magalhães dedicated himself to the composition of sacred polyphonic works for the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

. Most of them were published in collections such as the ''Missarum Liber'', which was dedicated to

Philip II of Portugal Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...

, and the ''Cantica Beatissima Virgines'', published in Lisbon in 1639. He also wrote a book of

plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...

, ''Cantus Ecclesiasticus'', which was published in five different editions (the first ones in Lisbon in 1614 and in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in 1642, and the last one in 1724). The catalogue of the Music Library of King

John IV of Portugal ''Dom (honorific), Dom'' John IV (; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), also known by the Portuguese as John the Restorer (), was the List of Portuguese monarchs, King of Portugal from 1640 until his death in 1656. He Portuguese Restoration War, ...

also mentions one 8-voice Mass, 6-voice Lamentations for

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...

, one 7-voice

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

villancico The ''villancico'' ( Spanish, ) or vilancete ( Portuguese, ) was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. Important composers of villancicos were Juan del Encina, P ...

'' and five 5- and 6-voice

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s. All these works are believed to have been lost during the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...

Source

*Évora Distrito Digital
Duarte Lobo e Filipe de Magalhães
(in Portuguese)

External links

* * 1570s births 1652 deaths Portuguese Baroque composers Renaissance composers 16th-century Portuguese composers 17th-century Portuguese composers Mestres da Capela Real People from Setúbal 17th-century Portuguese classical composers Portuguese male classical composers 17th-century male musicians {{Portugal-composer-stub