Júlia d'Almendra

Júlia d'Almendra (1904 – 1992) was a Portuguese musicologist, pedagogue, organist and violinist. In particular, she made a significant contribution to the dissemination of Gregorian chant in Portugal, being responsible for founding the first higher education school of sacred music.

Early life D'Almendra was born on 3 October 1904 in the village of Samões in the municipality of Vila Flor in the north of Portugal. She studied at the National Conservatory of Lisbon, where she completed a higher-level violin course. She appeared in several concerts, including one at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos when she was just eleven. However, she abandoned her violin career in the 1930s, when she began to study medieval and Renaissance music.

First Contact with Gregorian chant In the early 1940s, the French musicologist Solange Corbin was in Portugal, where she began research in church and convent archives on the oldest documentary sources of Gregorian music. D'Almendra had the opportunity to study with this French musicologist after attending a lecture she gave at the French Institute, which profoundly influenced her. She continued her studies with Fathers Inácio Aldasoro and Pascal Piriou, professors at the Olivais Seminary in Lisbon.

In addition to teaching, in 1956 D'Almendra created the magazine Gregorian Chant, a quarterly publication on the subject, which she edited for three decades. She also published numerous articles in national and international magazines and newspapers and gave lectures in Portugal, France, and Brazil.

Recognition In 1958, D'Almendra was made a Knight of the French Ordre des Palmes académiques for her musicological research on Debussy and Gabriel Fauré. She was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal by the Vatican on the 25th Anniversary of the Gregorian Weeks. In Portugal, in September 1984, she was awarded the rank of Commander of the Order of Public Instruction.

Death D'Almendra died in Lisbon on 22 September 1992. Posthumously, she was honoured in 1992 by the Portuguese Association of Friends of the Church Organ.