Joly Braga Santos

[citation needed] Having studied violin and composition at the National Conservatoire of Lisbon, he became a disciple of Luís de Freitas Branco (1890–1955), the leading Portuguese composer of the preceding generation.

In 1945 he visited England where he met Ralph Vaughan Williams, who encouraged him to use his native folksong in his symphonic music and also suggested that he should take lessons in counterpoint.

In his own words, he wanted “to contribute toward a Latin symphonism and to react against the predominant tendency, of the generation that preceded me, to reject monumentalism in music”.

Joly Braga Santos lectured on composition at the National Conservatoire of Lisbon, where he introduced the chair of Musical Analysis.

4 by Naxos/Marco Polo, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and conducted by Álvaro Cassuto received the Cannes Classical Award for the CD Premier category.

In 1977, Joly Braga Santos was distinguished with the Order of Santiago de Espada by António Ramalho Eanes, the President of the Portuguese Republic.