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Música: Revista de artes

(Lisbon, 1924-1925)

Prepared by Mariana Calado
Online only (2022)

Música: Revista de artes was published monthly in Lisbon between July 1924 and January 1925, the final issue comprising the fifth and sixth issues together. Each issue consists of approximately thirty pages, including several pages of advertising. The cover was designed by the artist Martins Barata, depicting a bucolic scene of a child playing aulos with a bird in a field of flowers, however the interior design of the journal was very simple, with a single column of text and some photographs. A copy of the final issue, no. 5-6, could not be obtained, however, a summary of this issue’s contents can be found in the fourth issue, announced in advance possibly as a strategy to keep the readers interested in the journal which was prone to publishing delays.

Música was directed by Gastão Faria de Bettencourt (1894-1962), a journalist and writer. He was also director of the ephemeral Vida musical: Quinzenário de divulgação musical (Lisbon, 1923-1924). Bettencourt worked for several newspapers and published studies on Brazilian music and composers. Later in life, he was employed by the department of tourism and propaganda of Portugal, based in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Working with Bettencourt, João de Campos Silva served as director of the magazine; both contributed to the journal with articles and columns of music criticism.

Without a clear program, Música presents itself in the editorial of the first issue as a medium for the promotion of the arts and culture of the population. In this sense, the journal tried to balance musical content with the publication of poetry (specifically by the pianist and music professor Oliva Guerra), and articles on theatre, photography, ceramics, and literary criticism. It also covered the organization of concerts in several cities, with the participation of Gastão de Bettencourt, the pianist Óscar da Silva, and the collaboration of other musicians. A brief commentary on recent concerts was also published in the first issue. Similar to other music journals of the time, Música included biographical articles on composers and musicians (e.g., Smetana, Fauré, Busoni and Beethoven), reports about the activities of Portuguese composers and conductors in the country and abroad (Cláudio Carneiro, Francisco de Lacerda, Ruy Coelho, Hermínio do Nascimento and Timóteo da Silveira), articles focusing on the history of Portuguese music (by Luís de Freitas Branco and Boavida Portugal), and Brazilian music. Nogueira de Brito (1883-1946), an archeologist and prolific music, art, and theatre critic in several journals of the 1920s and 1930s, is responsible for the book reviews and is the author of an article on popular music. A young Mário de Sampaio Ribeiro (1898-1966) writes under the pseudonym “Ego” in what was possibly one of his first appearances as a music journalist. The Spanish music critic Adolfo Salazar contributes with two articles, found in the first and last issues of the journal.

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