Sounding the Trumpet at Dawn: The Role of Music and Sound in Outdoor Events and Ceremony at the Court of the Dukes of Braganza in the 16th Century

One of the richest cultural and musical centres in Renaissance Portugal was the court and palace of the Dukes of Braganza in Vila Viçosa. Documentation in the form of chronicles and other contemporary and historical accounts enable us to piece together rich and at once highly colourful soundscapes that entice back to an historical world where distinct ‘stage sets’ complete with details of choreography can be imagined or reconstructed both visually and aurally. From the solo trumpeter at dawn playing his aubade outside the duke’s apartments, to the slave musicians with their shawms, trumpets and drums, in procession or positioned in their splendid livery sporting the duke’s regalia ready to sound their symbolic fanfares, and to other costumed musicians and dancers in the palace square on especially important occasions, the court and town at Vila Viçosa became one of the most vibrant theatrical backdrops for the second most powerful court in 16th-century Portugal. On important festal occasions and state visits, including especially that of the king, João III, music was used both as salutation and ceremonial, and as entertainment and accompaniment to dancing and singing, with such events also dramatically marked by peals of bells and cannon fire. Drawing upon different kinds of contemporary documentation, including the recently studied post-mortem inventory of the fifth Duke of Braganza, D. Teodósio I (d. 1563), besides later historical accounts, this paper will focus especially on the evidently resplendent five-day sequence of events marking the celebration of the royal marriage between the king’s son, the Infante Duarte, and Isabel, sister of D. Teodósio, which took place in Vila Viçosa in April 1537. In this evocative history, the importance of protocol and ceremony that incorporated a closely intertwined and powerful aural and visual spectacle is a dominant aspect. Moreover, music and sound, both outside the town itself and in the terreira do paço in Vila Viçosa, and both inside the palace and the churches, provided aural testimony to the prestigious and indeed symbolic status of the House of Braganza in this royal union.