A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Sociedade de Quartetos do Porto

by William Barclay Squire

SOCIEDADE DE QUARTETOS DO PORTO (Quartet Society of Oporto). This society, the only one of the kind in Portugal, originated in private musical gatherings at the house of a banker of Oporto (Sr. Joaõ Miranda Guimarães). In 1875 the violoncellist J. Casella settled in Oporto, and it was resolved to give public concerts. The first subscription was for 12 concerts, and resulted in a net profit of about £32. Encouraged by these results, the same little body of musicians have continued to give two series of chamber concerts yearly, 12 in the autumn, and 6 in the spring. They take place on Sunday afternoons in a small concert-room at the S. Joaõ Theatre. The audience numbers usually about 100 persons. The programmes are entirely instrumental, and consist of movements from the chamber-music of the great masters, as well as from the works of Grieg, Dvorák, Saint-Saëns, Liszt, Grädener, Svendsen, Tchaikowsky, and Miguel Angelo. Short analytical remarks are written by Sr. B. V. Moreira de Sá, to whose energy and enthusiasm the society owes much of its success.

[ W. B. S. ]