Luogo e data di registrazione		Auditorium der Gulbenkian-Stiftung, Lisbona (Portogallo): - 16-24 giugno 1970 | (Carvalho) - 19-21 giugno 1970 | (Seixas, Teixeira, Almeida)
	Original Editions		- Archiv Produktion | 2708 022 | 2 LP | (p) 1971 | ANA | (Carvalho) - Archiv Produktion | 2533 068 | 1 LP | (p) 1971 | ANA | (Seixas, Teixeira, Almeida)
	Edizione "Codex"		Archiv Produktion "Codex" | 453 182-2 | durata 68' 46" · 67' 31" | LC 0113 | 2 CD | (p) 1996 | ADD | stereo
	Executive Producer		Dr. Gerd Ploebsch (Te Deum), Hans Tutz
	Recording Producer		Dr. Gerd Ploebsch
	Tonmeister (Balance Engineer)		Hansjoachim Reiser
	Recording Engineer		Gernot Westhäuser
	Cover		El Greco, "The Dream of Philip II" (detail), Madrid, Escorial
	Art Direction		Fred Münzmaier
	Note		Original-Image-Bit-Processing - Added presence and brilliance, greater spatial definition

ORIGINAL EDITIONS 2 LP - 2708 022 - (p) 1971 1 LP - 2533 068 - (p) 1971

Treasures from Archiv Produktion’s Catalogue A rare and valuable collection of documents is the pride of any library or archive. CODEX, Archiv Produktion’s new series, presents rare documents in sound from 50 years of pioneering recording. These recordings have been digitally remastered using original-image bit-processing technology and can now be appreciated in all the richness of their original sound-image. They range from the serene counterpoint of a Machaut, the intensely spiritual polyphony of a Victoria, to the imposing state-music of a Handel. For the artists on Archiv Produktion recordings, a constant aim has been to rediscover the musical pulse of past times and to recreate the spirit of past ages. In this sense each performance here - whether by Pro Musica Antiqua of Brussels in the 1950s, the Regensburg Domchor in the 1960s, or Kenneth Gilbert and Trevor Pinnock in the 1970s - made a vital contribution to the revival of Early Music in our time. CODEX highlights recordings that were unique in their day, many of them first recordings ever of this rare and remarkable repertoire, now appearing for the first time on CD. A special aspect of the history of performance in our century can now be revisited, as great moments from Archiv Produktion’s recording history are restored and experienced afresh. Dr. Peter Czornyi Director, Archiv Produktion CARVALHO: TE DEUM | Almeida - Teixeira - Seixas: Motets When opera was introduced into portugal at the beginning of the 18th century it led to a decline in sacred polyphonic music and an increase in instrumental music, just as had occured in other parts of Europe. The Portuguese Baroque and Rococo generated new forms of musical expression, new ideas and new patterns - all conditioned by the cultural, geographical, social and political situation of the country. Following the current international fashion at the time, music became Italianate in its form and theatrical appeal; even sacred compositions adhered to this manner, thus reflecting the course of the Italian tradition. All the influences, however, were not able to efface the original character of a native musical expression, wich can still be traced in ceertain melodic idioms and in the particular harmonic qualities of much 18th-century Portuguese music. João de Sousa Carvalho was born in Estremoz (Alentejo) on 22 February, 1745, and died in Alentejo in 1798. He began studying music in the Colégio dos Santos Reis in Vila Viçosa, and showed so much talent that at the age of 16 he set off for Italy, sent by the Seminário Patriarchal of Lisbon. On 15 January 1761 he began his studies in the Sant'Onofrio in Naples, where Carlo Cotumacci was his teacher. On his return to Portugal in 1767, Carvalho was appointed professor of counterpoint in the Seminário Patriarchal, where he later served as mestre (1769-73) amd mestre de capela (1773-98). Quite apart from his work as a composer, Carvalho was a distinguished teacher. Among his pupils were António Leal Moreira, Marcos Portugal and Domingos Bomtempo. Carvalho’s vast production includes 14 operas that were written and performed between 1769 and 1789. He also wrote two masses and fice psalm settings for mixed choir and organ, a Credo (1767) and three settings of the Te Deum (1769, 1789 and 1792 respectively). In addition, he composed mani "toccatas" for the harpsichord. The Te Deum of 1792, recordded here, is for five soloists, double choir and orchestra. It has 16 sections, together with an overture. It was presumably composed for a ceremony in 1792 in the Royal Chapel Nossa Senhora da Ajuda in Lisbon part of a liturgical service sung before the blessing. This Te Deum is unusual in that it begins and ends with motets, O salutaris hostia and Tantum ergo, respectively. In liturgical practice the Te Deum originally took the form of a recitative with a choral  melody for one voice sung in alternating  parts; later on individual verses were arranged with several voices for these alternating pairs. Carvalho’s Te Deum conforms with the latter practice. An ambitious work, the 1792 Te Deum is the composer's musical testament, for it includes, in a developed and heightened form, all the characteristics of his writing, his style and his musical language. It is spectacular in its manner and theatrical in its expression; and yet it is a sincere act of faith, deeply religious. From the very start of the overture for two orchestras, we can appreciate the great originality and the ability of this composer. The the two orchestras alternate, contrast with or complement each other; presented in various instrumental and soloistic blocks, they take on a dialoguing role in the various sections that form the structure of the work, The magnificent texture of the “Fiat Misericordia”, which comes near the end, surely marks the summit of Carvalho's art.. FRANCISCO ANTÓNIO DE ALMEIDA was one of the most important of Portugual’s Baroque composers. As a recipient of a royal stipend from King João V, he studied for some years in Rome (c. 1720-26), where, apart from other works, he gave the first performances of his oratorios Il pmtimento di Davidde (1722) and Giuditta (1726). As maestro of the Lisbon Patriarchal Cathedral he wrote numerous sacred vocal works, for soloists, chorus and organ, including a mass for eight voices, an eight-voice Veni Sancte Spiritus with organ, a Good Friday Lamentation, the Mirerere, a litany, St. Anthony matins, and a number of beautiful motets, such as the Beatus wir and O quam suavis on this recording. The American scholar Robert Stevenson has written of them that “both testify to Almeida’s genius at catching in soaring contrapuntal lines the expressive qualities of the text”. Of equal importance to Almeida is ANTÓNIO TEIXEIRA. He too studied for some years in Rome (c. 1717-28), also the beneficiary of a royal grant from João V. After his return to Lisbon he worked as diocesan examiner in plainchant and was a chaplain singer in the Lisbon Patriarchal Cathedral. Little of Teixeira’s extensive œuvre is known today. It included a 20-voice Te Deum (1734), seven operas, psalm settings, Lamentations and motets with and without instruments. Teixeira’s expressive abilities are well illustrated in the motet Gaudete, astra, for soprano and tenor, two violins and continuo in which, despite an evident tendency towards the Italian style, personal lyrical elements are unmistakable, both in the melodic lines and in the colourful harmony. CARLOS DE SEIXAS, a contemporary of Almeida and Teixeira, was, together with them, the creator of Baroque music in Portugal. The son of the cathedral organist in Coimbra, he moved to Lisbon in 1720 and obtained the coveted position of organist at the royal chapel, which he held for the rest of his life. The greater part of his surviving output consists of music for keyboard, but he also wrote some orchestral works and sacred music. Only a few motets survive today; there is now no trace of his ten masses with orchestra, or the Te Deum for four choirs, mentioned in 18th-century dictionaries. Much was probably destroyed in the earthquake of 1755. In the responsory Ardebat Vincentius Seixas proves himself to be a master of contrapuntal and vocal technique, with a strong sense of rhythm. (Based on note: by Filipe de Sousa, 1971)