Manuel de Tavares • Parce mihi Domine

Manuel de Tavares was an early-seventeenth century composer, who was born in Portalegre. He held the post of maestro di capillain several Spanish cathedrals like Baeza, Murcia, Las Palmas and Cuenca (there is an brief text in Portuguese about this composer here).

Although a quite known composer in his time, the music of Manuel de Tavares was almost completely forgoten from the modern editions – mostly the Portugaliae Musica series which only features one work – probably due to the sources being extant outside Portugal (Spain and Mexico).

The only work that knows a modern edition is the striking 7-part motet (SSAATTB) Parce mihi Domine, that was publish at Antologia de Polifonia Portuguesa in the colection Portugaliae Musica, edited by Robert Stevenson. I am currently preparing a new edition of this work, with some changes (mainly in pitch) to be easily performed. The following video of this work was recorded live by Hispanoflamenca, in a concert that featured other new recordings of Portuguese polyphony.