Frederico de Freitas

Composer Frederico de Freitas was born in Lisbon in 1902. He initially studied with his mother Cândida de Araújo Guedes de Freitas, having enrolled in the National Conservatory when he was 13 years old. The first compositions from his catalogue are from 1922. Worth of mention is the piece Poema sobre uma Écloga de Virgílio (Poem on a Eclogue by Virgil), for string orchestra. At the same time he was a composer, Frederico de Freitas also developed a career as secondary school teacher. However, it was his eclecticism that earned him the favour of the wider public. This eclecticism allowed him to compose not only pieces like Suite Africana (African Suite) or Quarteto Concertante (Harmonious Quartet), but also a vast gallery of light songs that since then inhabit national popular imagery. In 1935 Frederico de Freitas was admitted in the National Radio Broadcast Company as orchestra conductor, and since then played a leading role in the music events organized by the Estado Novo government. In 1940 he composed Missa Solene (Solemn Mass), for solo voices, choir and orchestra and Auto de D. Afonso Henriques (King Afonso Henriques Act), both pieces premiered on the Double Celebrations of the 800th Anniversary of Portugal's Foundation and the 300th Anniversary of the Independence Restoration. The conductor career, for which he worked very hard, was also internationally recognized, and as a result of that Frederico de Freitas was regularly invited to conduct foreign orchestras. Among his later pieces, one should mention D. João e as Sombras (D. João and the Shadows, 1960), the symphony Os Jerónimos (1962), Fantasia Concertante (Harmonious Phantasy, 1969) and Farsa de Inês Pereira (The Farse of Inês Pereira, 1979), the latter finished by Manuel Faria after Frederico de Freitas' death. (text and photo fom PMIC)