Edition of Francisco José Perdigão’s motets for Advent

The edition of Portuguese composer Francisco José Perdigão’s motets for Advent has been published. Francisco José Perdigão was born sometime in mid-eighteenth century and died in 1833. He was active both as dean of the choirboys school, master of the Claustra and chapel master at Évora Cathedral in the last decades of the eighteenth century, being one of the most represented composers in the Cathedral musical archive. His works were mostly in stile concertato, following the Portuguese aesthetics trends of the time. However, about a half a dozen works were set in stile antico, as motets and masses, imitating the polyphonic style of seventeenth-century masters such as Fr. Manuel Cardoso or Diogo Dias Melgaz whose music he made copies for use in the Cathedral during his time as chapel master.

The cycle of motets for the sundays of Advent comprised three works, for the First, Second and Fourth (excluding the laetare Sunday), and are set for the classic texture of SATB. They are preserved in the choirbook Códice n.º 10 of the Cathedral’s musical archive. The edition of these works is available for purchase at Sheet Music Plus