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José Manuel Joly Braga Santos Was Born In Lisbon In 1924 And Died In This City In 1988 At The Peak Of His Musical Creativity. Having Studied Violin And Composition At The National Conservatoire Of Lisbon He Became A Disciple Of Luís De Freitas Branco 1890-1955 The Leading Portuguese Composer Of The Preceding Generation. After The Second World War He Was Able To Go Abroad Having Studied Conducting With Hermann Sherchen And Antonino Votto And Composition With Virgilio Mortari. Although He Composed Only Six Symphonies He Was Undoubtedly The Leading Portuguese Symphonist Of The 20th Century And In A Way Of All Time. Apart From An Innate Sense Of Orchestration His Musical Language Is Based On A Strong Musical Architecture As Well As Drama With Long Melodic Phrases And A Natural Instinct For Structural Development. It Reaches A Perfect Formal Coherence. In His Own Words He Wanted “to Contribute Toward A Latin Symphonism And To React Against The Predominant Tendency Of The Generation That Preceded Me To Reject Monumentalism In Music”. In His First Works The Composer Showed A Modal Tendency Motivated By The Desire To Establish A Connection Between Contemporary Music And The Golden Age Of Portuguese Music The Renaissance. We Also Find A Melodic Outline Of The Oldest Folk Songs Of His Country. Although He Was Not Particularly Interested In The Portuguese Folklore Studying And Composing At The Country Home Of His Mentor In The Rural South Of Portugal - The Alentejo - He Naturally Accepted The Influence Of The Very Old Local Folklore That He Considered "of Mesmerizing Originality And Grandeur". The First Four Symphonies Which Followed Each Other Quite Rapidly Between The Age Of 22 And 27 Were Immediately Performed By The Portuguese Radio Symphony Orchestra In Lisbon And Met With Great Success. The Conductor And Founder Of The Portuguese Radio Symphony Orchestra Was The Great Portuguese Conductor Pedro De Freitas Branco A Friend Of Maurice Ravel Manuel De Falla And Former Director Of The Orchestre Lamoureux. Pedro De Freitas Branco Early Recognised His Brother’s Pupil’s Talent And Launched Joly Braga Santos International Career During The Fifties Conducting Several International Premieres Of His Works Around Europe. Other Works Of This Period Are The Concerto For Strings Variations On An Alentejo Theme And Three Symphonic Overtures. Most Of The Works Were Recorded From The Seventies Onwards By The Portuguese Label Strauss SP And More Recently By The Naxos / Marco Polo Label. Following Closely The Works Of Post-War European Composers His Style Became From 1960 Onwards More Chromatic. The Period Of Travel And The Time He Devoted To Conducting Provided Him With What He Described As A Useful Period Of Rest Decisive For The Evolution Of His Musical Style Toward Increased Chromaticism And Less Traditional Form. To This Period Belong The Works Three Symphonic Sketches Sinfonietta The Requiem His 5th And 6th Symphonies And Divertimento No. 2. Joly Braga Santos Also Wrote Three Operas Chamber Music For A Wide Variety Of Instruments And Ensembles Film Scores And Several Choral Works Based On Poems From The Great Classical And Modern Portuguese And Spanish Poets Such As Camões Antero De Quental Teixeira De Pascoaes Fernando Pessoa Garcilaso De La Vega António Machado And Rosalía De Castro. Joly Braga Santos Lectured Composition At The National Conservatoire Of Lisbon Were He Introduced The Chair Of Musical Analysis. He Was Also Director Of The Oporto Symphony Orchestra And One Of The Founders Of The Portuguese Musical Youth. As A Critic And Journalist He Produced A Vast Range Of Work For Several Portuguese And Foreign Newspapers And Journals. He Died On July 18 1988 In Lisbon Of A Stroke. read less