JOLY BRAGA SANTOS (1924-1998): Complete Chamber Music, Vol. 1 - String Quartets No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 4 and No. 2, Op. 27, String Sextet, Op. 65.

Description: In his early works like the first quartet of 1945, Braga Santos’ fondness for modal harmony, absorbed from the Portuguese masters of the Renaissance, and his busy counterpoint combine to make him sound surprisingly close to such particularly English composers as Vaughan Williams and Moeran. Although his harmonic language became more astringent with time (the other two pieces here are from 1957 and 1986), it retained a burly sense of humor and a powerful charge of energy. Quarteto Lopes-Graça w/Leonor Braga Santos (viola), Irene Lima (cello).