Portuguese Music

Is the 18th-c. Symphony attributed to Carlos Seixas (died 1742) really by him? Yes, and its style was up-to-date.
"An article by Manuel Pedro Ferreira which constitutes, perhaps, the first serious and unprejudiced analysis of an Iberian symphony": Teresa Cascudo, in Music in Spain during the Eighteenth Century, ed. by Malcom Boyd and Juan José Carreras, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 146.

Pedido já antigo mas mais que merecido da colega e seguidora acérrima do canal Aurora Teles.
A música é um clássico dos karaokes portugueses, com letra e música do grande Tó Zé Brito, o tema: “Papel Principal”, brilhantemente interpretado por Adelaide Ferreira é, ainda hoje, cantado por muitas gerações distintas.
A versão que apresento aqui está no tom original, lá menor, (relativa menor de Dó Maior) mas fiz pequenas alterações na linha melódica para evitar as passagens onde surge o fá sustenido. Também harmonicamente alterei significativamente os acordes originais simplificando-os. É importante lembrar que estes acordes funcionam melhor quando tocados em conjunto com o instrumental.

QVOT TVNAS? - Quantas Tunas? 
De que tipo? Em que proporção? Onde? Durante quanto tempo?

Nesta obra pioneira, os números vão revelando, distrito a distrito, de Bragança aos Açores, a verdadeira dimensão desta segunda vaga de um fenómeno cultural, social e também económico sem precedentes no mundo académico e cuja importância pode finalmente começar a ser devidamente perspectivada.

Fruto de um levantamento incansável e rigoroso, assente em dados comprováveis e verificáveis, «Qvot Tvnas?» põe à disposição de todos - curiosos e investigadores -, sem reservas nem omissões, o conjunto de dados obtidos ao longo de mais de dois anos de pesquisa, procurando dar-lhes o devido enquadramento, propondo conclusões e lançando desafios a futuras investigações.

This research has as its main focus a group of Portuguese composers who were very active between 1960 and 1980, which is commonly regarded as the Portuguese musical avant-garde. The composers that are studied (particularly) through their solo piano works are: Filipe de Sousa (b. 1927); Maria de Lurdes Martins (b. 1928); Clotilde Rosa (b. 1930); Armando Santiago (b. 1932); Filipe Pires (b. 1934); Constança Capdeville (1937 - 1992); Álvaro Salazar (b. 1938); Cândido Lima (b. 1938); Alvaro Cassuto (b. 1938); Jorge Peixinho (1940 - 1995); Emanuel Nunes (b. 1941).
The first chapter defines the historical and aesthetic context: Culture in Portugal in the Estado Novo and the European musical avant-garde in he fifties and sixties, which is of paramount importance towards the understanding of this generation, their careers and works. Secondly, it shows how modern and avant-garde music were received in Portugal, in concerts, courses, public discussions, reviews, and through the policies of the institutions.
After this historic and aesthetic research, a second chapter deals principally with a group of solo piano pieces (at least one by each composer), which are considered the most relevant in 20 years of composition (1960 – 1980). Each piece is fully analysed using different technical devices and proposing a personal hermeneutic approach. The analysis aims to provide not only a thorough understanding of the piece but also a guide to its possible performance.
The third chapter proposes an insight into each composer’s career and work, taking into account their aesthetic and technical options. It includes also, as a conclusion, an overview of the whole generation and their context, having as a background the preoccupations of composers and theorists of the fifties and sixties and the later productions and generations that are now shaping Portuguese music.

“The viola´s technical and expressive emancipation in Portugal through its repertoire. An unprecedented historical heritage: from its origins to 1945”.

The present doctoral thesis aims mainly to study the evolution of the viola´s technical and expressive emancipation in Portugal, from it´s first known introduction in the country until 1945, analysing and charting a historical process that was hitherto unknown. In order to achieve this, previously unknown musical sources are explored, a critical analysis of it´s performative and techical features is pursued, and a historical and musicological contextualization is made through documental investigation. From this basis, the work focuses on viola practice and autonomization throughout the whole cronological period, always in correlation with field research in a performative context, connecting the discovered historic repertoire with state of the art of contemporary viola practice. Thus, in addition to the study of this uncharted process of emancipation of the instrument in Portugal, an output of unpublished historical works and of new repertoire is produced, resulting in a significant increase in the overall corpus of portuguese viola literature.

This thesis describes the vocal practice in Rio de Janeiro in the early nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on how it was influenced by the presence of the Portuguese court. To this end a substantial number of primary sources have been consulted, both musical and historical. The most important musical sources are those of the actual repertoire composed there at that time, as well as a considerable body of books on musical theory and methods written in both Brazil and Portugal. Among the historical sources consulted are letters, government expense ledgers, reports by those in charge of the Royal Chapel, and periodicals. From an analysis of these documents, it has been possible to carry out a wideranging biographical study of the singers active in Rio de Janeiro during the regency and reign of King João VI, whenever possible including a description of their interpretative style and their voices. The descriptions of individual voices are based on the solos expressly written for certain singers and composed by Father José Maurício Nunes Garcia and by Marcos Portugal. The data confirms that the presence of the Portuguese court in Rio did indeed lead to considerable change in vocal practice there and, by means of an analysis of most of the vocal lines by Fr. José Maurício, it can be shown how this actually occurred. We may conclude that up to the early 1840s the most influential model of vocal excellence in Rio de Janeiro was the eighteenth-century Italian school, represented above all by a number of castrati at the Royal Chapel. This research, which links questions relating to both musicology and interpretation, provides an example of how an analysis of the activities of performers contributes to a better understanding of musical output as a whole. Key words: Singing, Opera, Song, Musicology, D. João VI.

Uma abordagem sobre as origens e o conceito da Marcha e do Dobrado. Seu contexto histórico para o desenvolvimento no espaço temporal e humano, identificando os seus principais agentes entre os séc. XVIII e séc. XX. Um estudo comparativo entre os dois gêneros musicais, numa análise formal e estrutural, procurando o porquê do seu relacionamento tão próximo.

Directed by Carlos Saura, this is a fusion of cinema, song and dance. It explores the intricate relationship between the Fado genre and the city of Lisbon and its evolution over the years from its African and Brazilian origins to the new wave of modern Fadistas.

The film is introduced by Dr Richard Elliott (Universtiy of Sussex), author of Fado and the Place of Longing.

This event will also present a photographic exhibit from the Museu do Fado (Lisbon).

Supported by Instituto Camoes

On 8 March 1808, the the Portuguese court established itself in its American dominions, seeking refuge from Napoleon’s army which had taken possession of Portugal. Thus, what had hitherto been the capital of the Viceroyalty of Brazil, found itself elevated overnight to the headquarters of the Portuguese Empire. This was the beginning of a serires of political and social changes that would lead to the independence of Brazil in 1822, almost a year after the return of the Portuguese court to Europe. In the midst of all these events, musical life in Rio underwent a process of profound transformation. In the present text I aim to describe how the presence of the Portuguese court came to influence vocal practice in Rio de Janeiro. To this end, I will identify the changes that took place in musical circles there, in the churches, in the theatres and in private salons.

El objetivo principal de este artículo consiste en ofrecer una panorámica general sobre las primeras investigaciones etnográficas en Portugal dedicadas al rescate, recopilación y estudio de música popular portuguesa de tradición oral. Durante el siglo XIX surgen diversas iniciativas orientadas al análisis del folclore musical portugués, motivadas por un afán patrimonialista o por una intencionalidad ideológica de filiación nacional. Ambos supuestos no difieren de lo que sucede simultáneamente en el resto de Europa: un auténtico estallido de investigaciones etnográficas potenciadas por el Romanticismo y por la irrupción de los nacionalismos como movimiento sociopolítico predominante. Agrupados en dos bloques, en este artículo profundizaremos en los siguientes autores: Almeida Garrett (1799-1854), César das Neves (1841-1920), Teófilo Braga (1843-1920), Adelino António das Neves e Melo (1846-1912), António Arroio (1856-1934), José Leite de Vasconcelos (1858-1941) y Jaime Lopes Dias (1890-1977). Todos ellos, intelectuales de reconocido prestigio y funcionarios ligados a la administración portuguesa, representan un mismo perfil de investigador. Este no se encuentra especializado ni interesado exclusivamente en la música popular, sino que ella es una vertiente más dentro de un estudio etnográfico en el que todos los aspectos relativos a la cultura y a los saberes populares portugueses tienen lugar.

Published in: Revista Portuguesa de Musicologia, NS 2/2 (2015), pp.  193-214
(http://www.rpm-ns.pt/index.php/rpm/article/view/275).  || 

ABSTRACT || Morales’s Magnificat settings were among his most popular and important sacred works. The main series, loosely associated with his ‘Roman’ period (c. 1534-45) appeared in print from 1542 onwards and also survive in some fifty manuscripts sources preserved in Europe, including in Portugal, and the New World. As is not commonly known, these were not his only settings: others dating from before his time in Rome are also to be found in Iberian sources. Two important Portuguese codices dating from the late 16th-17th centuries— Oporto MM 40 and the Arouca Codex—preserve copies of a selection of the printed Magnificats by Morales. These sources also contain a few anonymous Magnificats integrated with settings by Morales that are analogous in thematic content and style to both his ‘Roman’ series and those surviving only in manuscript. Through analysis supported by musical examples, this study explores the possibility of Morales’s authorship of these anonymous Magnificat settings.  || RESUMO || Os Magnificat contam-se entre as obras sacras mais importantes e conhecidas de Morales. O conjunto principal, associado de forma imprecisa ao período ‘romano’ do compositor (c.1534-45), surge em fontes impressas a partir de 1542 e sobrevive ainda em cerca de cinquenta fontes manuscritas preservadas na Europa, incluindo Portugal, e nas Américas. Apesar de o facto não ser geralmente conhecido, estes não são os únicos Magnificat compostos por Morales: outros, datados do período anterior à estadia em Roma, podem também encontrar-se em fontes ibéricas. Dois importantes códices portugueses de finais do século XVI e inícios do século XVII, o MM 40 da Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto e o Códice de Arouca, preservam cópias de uma parte dos Magnificat impressos. Estas fontes contêm igualmente alguns Magnificat anónimos integrados com os de Morales, semelhantes no estilo e no conteúdo temático tanto aos da série ‘romana’ como a outros transmitidos apenas em manuscrito. Através da análise com o suporte de exemplos musicais, o presente estudo explora a possibilidade de ser Morales o compositor destes Magnificat anónimos.

From the second half of the twentieth century, in a society still shaken by post-World War II, we see music as a way of escape but also as an affirmation between the youth and the cultures they are involved in.
One of these musical genres that tends to emerge at this time is the so-called Rock'n''Roll, with uncertain origins but very linked to the black reality and the '' american way of life '' is being broadcast a little throughout the world, spreading from the United States to Europe, and evolving steadily in the following decades of the twentieth century and continuing to evolve today in the 21st century.
And it is in the middle of this century that this genre also arrives in Portugal, which despite its limitations and cultural delays is also evolving and becoming more and more identical, gaining an excellent uniqueness.

The polyphonic models for five of the six imitation or parody Masses published by the Portuguese composer Filipe de Magalhães in his Missarum liber (Lisbon, 1636) are well known. However, for the sixth, O soberana luz, only tentative musical or contextual connections with works by other composers have been suggested, none of which satisfy the criteria for them to be considered as a model. In this article, I reveal that the homonymous spiritual madrigal by Stefano Limido is undoubtedly the piece that Magalhães used as the basis for his Mass. In addition, Magalhães’s general compliance with Pedro Cerone’s theoretical recommendations of 1613 for compositions of this type is demonstrated. In light of this information, new ideas are put forward—and previous ones re-evaluated— about the creative context of both works in the courtly circles of Philip IV, who was at that time the absolute sovereign of the Iberian Peninsula. An edition of the previously unpublished madrigal by Limido is included in the  Appendix.

https://academic.oup.com/em/article-abstract/47/3/307/5572556/?redirectedFrom=fulltext

“Polyphonie de l'Assomption à la Cathédrale de Mexico: tradition et survivance”. Notas musicológicas para el CD Trésors des cathédrales. Nouvelle-Espagne XVIIe s. Vox Cantoris, Jean-Christophe Candau, director. Psalmus, PSAL036, Burdeos (Francia), 2020, pp. 8-10 (francés), pp. 11-13 (inglés) y pp. 14-16 (español). // En 1667, l’intérieur de la Cathédrale de Mexico fut achevé et celle-ci fut consacrée la même année sous le patronage de Notre Dame de L’Assomption. Les archives musicales, qui comptent un peu plus de 5000 oeuvres du XVIe au XXe siècle, sont conservées à part égales entre la Cathédrale et le Musée de Tepotzotlan. C’est ce dernier, dans le cadre de son festival de musique ancienne, qui a commandé ce nouveau programme à l’ensemble Vox Cantoris autour de la fête de l’Assomption qui est donc la plus importante de la cathédrale.

Esther Bernard (1770-after 1833), also known as Esther Gad or Lucie Domeier, was a German writer and translator of Jewish origin. She took part in the Berlin Salons, was a regular guest at Henriette Herz’s and belonged to the circle of Jean-Paul Richter, Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel. She attended the Berlin Opera and the Singakademie Berlin, wrote and translated novels, took part in public debates, defended women's rights, and became known for her argument with the pedagogue Joachim Heinrich Campe. In 1801 she followed her second husband, Wilhelm Domeier, on a trip to Portugal, who in turn was accompanying the Duke of Sussex as his personal physician. In 1802 and 1803 her travel journal was published in two volumes, where she presented various aspects of Portuguese life, including detailed descriptions of the Lisbon opera and in particular the Sao Carlos Theater, which opened in 1793 and became an attraction for many foreign travellers. Bernard’s work has been studied, mostly regarding her role on the feminist thought of the late eighteenth century, but there has been little to no emphasis on her Portugal descriptions, not to mention her remarks about Portuguese music.  While she is undoubtedly an important source for musical research on the Lisbon opera practice of this period, it must be remembered that a traveller always carries a cultural background, from which he not only doesn’t free himself, but which he applies to the reality he wishes to describe, projecting his own habits and expectations. Bernards book brings with it an implicit narrative that reveals her social, political, and religious context, reflecting the Prussian musical practice known to her, but also interesting gender issues, such as her assertion in a literary genre which was predominantly dominated by men.
This lecture examines the musical aspects of Bernard's travel report, as well as letters and unpublished archive material, connecting it to current investigations on Portuguese opera and the Theater Sao Carlos. Furthermore, it will be discussed what can be extracted, from this source, about the musical practice at the Lisbon Opera House, as well as about the German writer herself.

El objetivo principal de este artículo consiste en profundizar en las diferencias existentes entre el proyecto cultural del Integralismo Lusitano y el promulgado por el Estado Novo (1933-1974) en Portugal. Mientras que el primero fue un movimiento ideológico protofascista cuya actividad se desarrolló principalmente durante la Primera República Portuguesa (1910-1926), el segundo se correspondió con un modelo de estado basado en un régimen dictatorial de carácter civil. Por ello, a partir de los modelos de sociedad portuguesa que ambas dimensiones ideológicas perseguían, y ante un panorama musical desolador en el siglo XIX, apostaron por propuestas musicales nacionalistas diametralmente opuestas. En definitiva, el fin último de esta investigación será identificar las discrepancias, así como sus implicaciones sociales y culturales, entre el proyecto musical integralista orientado a la recuperación del contrapunto polifónico y de la música antigua portuguesa, y el folclorismo instaurado por el Salazarismo durante el Estado Novo.

Resumo: No início do século XIX, os hinos militares, festivos ou laudatórios mereceram crescente destaque no cancioneiro luso-brasileiro. Eles cantavam vitórias, festejavam grandes nomes, ou convocavam os cidadãos à batalha. Os mais importantes compositores daqueles dias cultivaram esse gênero musical, como é o caso de Marcos Portugal, e mesmo o futuro imperador, D. Pedro, soube dar sua própria contribuição. Este repertório foi usado sistematicamente por diferentes grupos de poder como eficaz veículo de disseminação ideológica, o que passa por tentar estabelecer determinado conceito de país, ou de sociedade. Alguns destes hinos, pelo seu poder de mobilização, ou legitimados pelo seu próprio sucesso popular, acabaram merecendo foros de " nacional ". Ao se tornarem símbolos pátrios, estiveram estreitamente relacionados com os processos de criação ou estabelecimento de uma identidade nacional, tanto no Brasil, quanto em Portugal. Nesta comunicação, pretende-se exemplificar o fenômeno dos hinos políticos através de duas composições relacionadas com a elevação do Brasil à dignidade de Reino Unido. Os hinos, com sua linguagem profundamente emotiva e sua capacidade de congregar, contribuíram para que o povo se reconhecesse, ou se identificasse, como comunidade. Portanto, fica evidente sua importância no processo de " invenção " do Brasil – citando aqui um conceito caro a Benedict Anderson (2005). Palavras-chave: Hinos. Reino Unido do Brasil. Império Luso-brasileiro. Identidade Nacional. The Luso-Brazilian Hymns and the national identity issue Abstract: In the early nineteenth century, the military, festive, or laudatory hymns deserved increased attention in the Luso-Brazilian song repertoire. They sang victories, celebrated the greats, or call citizens for battle. The most important composers of those days cultivated this genre, such as Marcos Portugal, and even the future emperor, D. Pedro, was able to give their own contribution. This repertoire was used systematically by different social groups as an effective vehicle for ideological dissemination, which is related to an attempt to establish certain concept of country or society. Some of these hymns, by his power of mobilization, or legitimized by its own popular success, ended up deserving forums of " national ". Once they became national symbols, they were closely related to the processes of creation or establishment of a national identity, both in Brazil as in Portugal. This communication aims to illustrate the phenomenon of political hymns using two compositions related to the elevation of Brazil to the dignity of United Kingdom. The hymns, with his deeply emotive language and their ability to bring together, helped the people to recognize themselves as a community. Therefore, it is evident their importance in the process of " invention " of Brazil-quoting here a concept dear to Benedict Anderson (2005).

[FOR ENGLISH SEE BELOW] Os relatos de viajantes estrangeiros em Portugal na passagem do século XVIII para o século XIX constituem ferramentas preciosas para conhecermos melhor a prática musical portuguesa no final do Antigo Regime. No entanto, esses relatos não são, regra geral, inócuos e trazem consigo uma narrativa implícita relacionada com a realidade de quem escreve. Para uma maior compreensão das práticas musicais no período em estudo, é necessário o confronto do material em questão com o contexto social, cultural, musical, histórico e pessoal em que foi produzido. Neste estudo será analisado o relato profícuo de Esther Bernard, uma das raras mulheres viajantes deste período, proveniente dos circuitos da intelectualidade pré-romântica berlinense, que manteve uma convivência próxima de Schleiermacher, Schlegel, Jean Paul, Walter Scott e Lord Byron. Viveu em Portugal entre 1801 e 1802 e escreveu dois volumes especificamente para o público dos salões cultos de Berlim. Partindo das suas descrições dos teatros de ópera, do Convento de Mafra, da música doméstica, das danças populares e dos salões privados, pretende-se enquadrar criticamente e contextualizar os relatos de Esther Bernard, contribuindo para um melhor conhecimento da prática musical portuguesa e procurando compreender de que forma estes textos influenciaram a percepção de Portugal no circuito erudito dos salões berlinenses.

[ENGLISH] Foreign accounts of travel in Portugal from the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century are important tools for knowledge of Portuguese musical practices at the end of Ancien Regime. However, in general these texts are not innocuous and have an implicit narrative. To understand better musical practices from this period it is necessary to compare these sources with the social, musical, historical and personal contexts in which they were produced. In this paper I intend to analyse the narrative of Esther Bernard, one of the few travelling women in the pre-romantic period from the restricted intellectual circles of Berlin, where she became acquainted with Schleiermacher, Schlegel, Jean Paul, Walter Scott and Lord Byron. Bernard lived in Portugal between 1801 and 1802 and wrote two books for the frequenters of Berlin's intellectual salons. Following her descriptions of the opera theatres, the Convent of Mafra, domestic music, popular dances and private salons, I will critically contextualize and frame Esther Bernard's narrative to understand Portuguese musical practices and the way in which these texts have influenced knowledge about Portugal within the circle of salons in Berlin.

nova série | new series 4/2 (2017), pp. 283-308 ISSN 2183-8410 http://rpm-ns.pt

Sr. José do capote, a worker and an opera lover, is the monad contemplated in this article. He is a theatrical figure, the protagonist of the one-act burlesque parody Sr. José do capote assistindo a uma representação do torrador (Sr. José of the Cloak attends a performance of The Roaster, 1855), but also an idea that expresses in abbreviated form the urban environment of nineteenth-century Lisbon, the theatrical
and operatic sensibility of its citizens, and the politics of their engagement with the stage. This article is a history of Il trovatore and of bel canto claimed for a nascent culture of democracy in nineteenth-
century Portugal.

Amparados pela consulta a tratados musicais - práticos e teóricos - e a dicionários
coevos produzidos na Península Ibérica, em datas anterior e posterior a publicação de Nova Arte
de Viola (1789), esta pesquisa concentra-se no estudo analítico do conteúdo temático desenvolvido
pelo autor de sua obra frente aos conceitos de pensável e vivido (Certeau, 1982). Nosso objetivo
reside em apresentar uma possível “tradução” dos conceitos discutidos pelas regras do tratado, já
que a obra não recebeu um estudo dessa natureza.

[português]
Esta dissertação centra-se na análise da relação entre o jazz e a sociedade portuguesa, partindo da etnografia de um sistema de ensino na tradição do jazz, enquanto parte de uma realidade que é o jazz em Portugal. Observa-se aqui se o jazz em Portugal constitui uma rede social, de que forma se organiza, de que forma interagem os agentes dessa rede e se esses processos de interacção, em duas escolas de jazz de Lisboa (JBJazz e Curso Superior de Jazz e Música Moderna – Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa), podem constituir uma metáfora válida para o exercício positivo da cidadania.


[English]
This essay is focused on the connection between jazz and the Portuguese society, starting from the ethnography of a jazz tradition teaching system while part of the reality that jazz is in Portugal. It is analysed in this thesis if jazz in Portugal works as a social network, how does it organise itself, in what way do the agents of that network interact and if these processes of interaction in two Lisbon jazz schools (JBJazz and Curso Superior de Jazz e Música Moderna – Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa) can build a valid and significant metaphor for the positive exercise of citizenship within society.

Nos relatos de viajantes alemães em Portugal no final do Antigo Regime, um dos aspectos frequentemente abordados relaciona-se com o modelo de representação da corte, que chocava de diversas formas com o do seu país de origem. Em Berlim, um dos expoentes máximos para este efeito era o edifício da ópera, mandado construir com carácter prioritário por Frederico II no mesmo ano da sua coroação e palco essencial da sua política de representação. Em Portugal, destruída a Ópera do Tejo no Terramoto de 1755, a ópera régia tinha um carácter mais intimista e a encenação do poder real assumia formas e espaços que vinham já do período joanino, como o espaço público da rua - na festa geral - e o da celebração sacra - nas grandes missas, no Te Deum e nas procissões públicas, entre outros. Estas diferenças de contexto, bem como a fronteira muito diluída entre o plano secular e o litúrgico, e o próprio modelo de representação simbólica do Estado (em Portugal centrado na figura do monarca, que se queria poderoso e protector, por oposição ao modelo iluminista protestante em que o Rei era antes de tudo o primeiro funcionário do Estado, prestador de serviço público e agindo em prol do bem comum), provocavam estranheza nos viajantes, que registavam com detalhe aquilo que viam como sendo peculiar e exótico.
Nesta comunicação serão apresentados exemplos de representação régia, descritos em relatos de viajantes prussianos entre 1760 e 1800. Será dado destaque, por um lado, ao teatro de Salvaterra de Magos, onde a corte promovia divertimentos de inverno e cuja descrição de 1763 complementa a informação até aqui existente; e por outro lado, à tourada como parte integrante da festa pública, analisando-se as informações encontradas quanto aos instrumentos, tipos de música, etc., procurando reconstituir aproximadamente o que teria sido, musicalmente, aquele espectáculo, contribuindo assim para o entendimento das práticas musicais públicas da corte portuguesa no período em estudo.

Em seu segundo CD, o grupo MAWACA mapeia as artérias do coração brasileiro e lança no mercado um trabalho com músicas que unem as tradições africana, portuguesa, indígena, árabe, japonesa e italiana em arranjos fortes e totalmente acústicos.

At the end of the 18th century, the increase of travel reports to Portugal provides interesting documents about Portuguese cultural and musical practices. A text from a Prussian officer living in Portugal in 1763 contains valuable information about the carnival court tradition, which he saw as utterly strange. Unlike Berlin, where the public carnival entertainments consisted mostly in expensive opera performances staging royal power, in Portugal at the end of the Ancien Régime court carnival entertainments took place in a small village in the country, named Salvaterra de Magos, where the state apparatus was replaced by a more or less informal coexistence between the court and their guests. The Portuguese triumphal representation took place in the church or on the streets, often blurring the boundaries between the profane and the sacred celebration, as in the Procession of the Corpus Christi. For the Royal Family, after Lisbon’s Earthquake, opera was a small-scale event for a necessarily smaller number of spectators, and even, as in Salvaterra de Magos, in a relatively informal environment, as the German traveler notes, complaining about the Queen's lack of solemnity, having laughed so hard that she fell in the King's arms. Based on the travel report of Johann Andreas von Jung (which would become one of the most influential German reports about Portugal in the second half of the 18th century), this communication will take a closer look to Portuguese court carnival practices, with focus on the repertoire, its functions, meanings, performative practice and the role of women.