Damião Barbosa de Araújo

Damião Barbosa de Araújo (27 September 1778 – 20 April 1856) was a Brazilian violinist, teacher, conductor and composer.

Born on Itaparica Island, he worked in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro during the period around the transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil, and later served as chapel master of Salvador Cathedral.

His compositions were mainly sacred vocal works, although he also wrote instrumental music, theatre music, military marches and pieces in popular genres such as modinha, lundu and waltz.

Biography

Araújo was the son of Francisco Barbosa de Araújo, a shoemaker and amateur musician. He first learned music from his father and later studied with Alexandre Gonçalves da Fonseca. He became known as a violinist and performed at the old Teatro Guadalupe in Salvador, including in plays by António José da Silva, known as "the Jew". At the age of 18, he entered the 1st Line Regiment of Salvador as a soldier-musician. When Prince Regent John arrived in Salvador in 1808, after the French invasion of Portugal, Araújo played before him on several occasions.

As a young musician in Salvador, Araújo worked in popular theater and formal musical service. He played violin at the Teatro Guadalupe in performances of plays by António José da Silva, and entered military service as a soldier-musician. Those early years put him close to stage music, civic music and church music, a mixture that later reappeared in his sacred works, court pieces, marches and theatrical music. Without those scores, his theater music is less accessible than his sacred repertory, where several major works still survive.

Memento Baiano is his best-known composition. Written for chorus and orchestra, it is devotional music for death and mourning, outside the ordinary Mass setting. Modern editions circulate in versions for chorus and chamber orchestra and for chorus and piano.

Surviving work include a 1970 edition that was prepared from manuscript parts kept by the Orquestra Lira Sanjoanense in São João del-Rei. Those parts were not Araújo's autograph manuscript and date from 1910, but they preserved the music under his name and helped return the work to performance in the twentieth century.

His sacred works also include a Requiem for four voices and orchestra, two Te Deum settings, one for four voices and organ and another for chorus and orchestra, and a Fourth Mass for four voices and orchestra.

Selected works

Only part of Araújo's music survives. The following list includes works named in modern repertory sources, with public score or listening links where they are available.

Sacred and liturgical music

Memento Baiano, for chorus and orchestra. The work is available in modern score form, including a version for chamber orchestra and chorus and a version for chorus and piano. It has also been recorded by Ensemble PHOENIX and the Upper Galilee Choir. Requiem in F major, CT 190, for four voices and orchestra. Fourth Mass, for four voices and orchestra. Missa Rival.

Secular, theatrical and instrumental music

Tristes saudades, a modinha for voice. A modern score, with audio access, is available from Musica Brasilis. Sempre viva, a waltz for piano. A modern score, with audio access, is available from Musica Brasilis. A Intriga Amorosa, a comic opera or theatrical vocal work. The score is lost, and no staging is known. Overtures, quartets, arias, duets, theatre choruses, military marches, lundus and other pieces in popular genres. Several works in these areas are lost.