Emergência de uma Cultura Sinfónica em Lisboa (1846-1911)

This thesis addresses the successive organization of symphony concerts in Lisbon between 1846 and 1911 and the complementary reception and dissemination of discourses that fostered the veneration of orchestral masterpieces by classical masters and modern and contemporary composers as a manifestation of erudite musical taste, to assert the emergence of a symphonic culture in Lisbon and the consequent transformations in Portuguese concert life. The affinities and idiosyncrasies that characterized the reception of symphonic music in the Lisbon musical scene are discussed: the works and composers performed in Lisbon during this period and others that have not premiered; the “survival” of old pieces for orchestra by Portuguese authors and the composition and premiere of new national symphonic works and the different programming trends initiated by foreign and Portuguese conductors. The tendency of
the notions and premises of “musical work”, of “veneration” and “non-trivialization” of symphonic monuments and of “sacralization of the musical text” in the elaboration of programs and in the adoption of specific concert typologies, as well as the influence of musical criticism discourses and intentions in the programming of symphonic concerts.
This thesis discusses the reception of the works of the masters and symphonists by critics and the public and assesses the degree of rectification of the musical taste of some fractions of Lisbon’s audiences. Through the study of the series of symphonic concerts, as well as other attempted initiatives, the constraints that dictated their consecutive failure are debated. Its promoters are identified (professionals and amateurs, connoisseurs and critics, orchestras, corporations, societies and other artistic institutions, government entities), as well as their relations in Lisbon's music scene.