Manuel Cardoso

Manuel Cardoso (baptized 11 December 1566 – 24 November 1650) was a Portuguese composer and organist. With Duarte Lobo and John IV of Portugal, he represented the "golden age" of Portuguese polyphony.

Cardoso is not known to be related to an older contemporary composer of the same name; the precentor Manuel Cardoso, who published a book of Latin passions in Leiria in 1575.

Cardoso was born in Fronteira, near Portalegre, most likely in 1566. He attended the Colégio dos Moços do Coro, a choir school associated with the Évora cathedral, studying with Manuel Mendes and Cosme Delgado. In 1588 he joined the Carmelite order, taking his vows in 1589. For most of his career he was the resident composer and organist at the Carmelite Convento do Carmo in Lisbon.

Cardoso's works are models of Palestrinian polyphony, often with the help of King John IV to defray costs. Many of his works—especially the elaborate polychoral compositions, which probably were the most progressive—were destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake and fire of 1755.

Recordings Frei Manuel Cardoso, Requiem. The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips. Gimell CDGIM 021 Manuel Cardoso. Missa Miserere mihi Domine. Ensemble Vocal Européen, Philippe Herreweghe. Harmonia mundi HMA1951543, 1997. Manuel Cardoso, Missa pro defunctis. Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Jeremy Summerly. Naxos CD 8.550682, 1992 Manuel Cardoso, Missa Secundi Toni, Magnificats, and Motets. Choir of Girton College, Cambridge, Gareth Wilson. Toccata Classics TOCC0476, 2018 Manuel Cardoso, Requiem, Lamentations, Magnificat & motets. Cupertinos, Luís Toscano. Hyperion CDA68252, 2019.