Vinte livros de música polifónica da capela ducal de Vila Viçosa no século XVI: uma coleção perdida

Until quite recently, very little was known about the repertories that might have been enjoyed at the ducal chapel at Vila Viçosa before c.1600. But the transcription, deeper study and interpretation of parts of the post-mortem inventory of the 5th duke of Braganza, D. Teodósio I, great-grandfather of John IV, has enabled a reconstruction of the musical collection as it physically existed in by 1563, the year of his death. In addition to the books in the library, the inventory records as many as 20 books of polyphony dating back to the very earliest printed choirbook in Europe - Antico’s Liber quindecim missarum, 1516 - and forward to a substantial collection in both print and manuscript of the music of Cristóbal de Morales. Curiously, perhaps, none of these books or the repertories has survived in situ, but the collection provides vital evidence for the type of music that was performed there and presumably also in the Portuguese royal chapels during the 16th century.