Joly Braga Santos (1924–88) was one of the most important composers in twentieth-century Portugal. In his early works his fondness for modal harmony, absorbed from the Portuguese masters of the Renaissance, and his busy counterpoint combine to make him sound surprisingly close to such particularly English composers as Vaughan Williams and Moeran. Although his harmonic language became more astringent with time, it retained a burly sense of humour and a powerful charge of energy, often infused with the spirit of Portuguese folk-dance.

Artists

Leonor Braga Santos, Irene Lima, Eliot Lawson, Natalia Tchitch, Catherine Strynckx, Jill Lawson, Ricardo Lopes, Adriano Aguiar, Nuno Ivo Cruz, António Saiote, Carolino Carreira, Paulo Guerreiro, Pedro Monteiro, Jorge Almeida, António Quítalo, Vítor Faria, Jarrett Butler, Ilídio Massacote, Olga Prats, Luís Pacheco Cunha, Quarteto Lopes-Graça