João Alexandre Dias

Biography

Born in 1998, João Alexandre Dias completed the 8th Grade in Classical and Jazz Piano at Trinity College London, graduated in Musicology from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and also obtained an MSc in Historical Musicology from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Universidade Nova de Lisboa. As part of his dissertation, he produced a critical edition of the “Missa Piquena” by Marcos Portugal. His research focuses on the philological and palaeographic study of musical sources and their subsequent critical editing, with special emphasis on 18th and 19th-century repertoires. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Historical Musicology at the same institution. His thesis project is called “Pedagogical Practices for Teaching Keyboard Instruments at the Real Seminário da Patriarcal (1713–1834): A study of didactic sources and critical edition”. Concurrently, he has been active as a composer, and some of his works have achieved relevant positions in a few international competitions. In addition to these activities, he is also a teacher at music schools, where he teaches Piano, Music Theory, History of Music, and Analysis and Composition.

Doctoral Project

Title
Pedagogical Practices for Teaching Keyboard Instruments at the Real Seminário da Patriarcal (1713–1834): A study of didactic sources and critical edition

Advisor
Cristina Fernandes

Abstract

The primary mission of the Portuguese institution Real Seminário da Patriarcal of Lisbon (1713-1834) was to train skilled musicians for the Patriarchal Church. However, its educational impact was much broader. The institution welcomed many of the leading Portuguese composers of the 18th century, as well as numerous musicians who later held significant positions in various Luso-Brazilian institutions. Consequently, the pedagogical materials used at the Real Seminário da Patriarcal were widely distributed throughout Portugal, underscoring its role as the main centre for musical education in the country, during the 18th century. This project aims to study the materials and understand the teaching practices related to keyboard instruments, exploring the latter’s importance, both as accompaniment and as a foundation for more extensive musical training. To achieve this, a philological and palaeographic analysis will be conduct on manuscript sources, namely linked to partimenti and “accompaniment solfeggi”, followed by transcription, and creation of selected critical editions. Practical examples, illustrating the application of the principles and rules presented in the institution’s repertoire, will also be provided. In addition, the case of the Real Seminário da Patriarcal will be framed in the international context, highlighting the contribution of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Portuguese composers, and of foreign composers residing in Portugal at the time.

Keywords: Pedagogical practices in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, Real Seminário da Patriarcal, Unfigured Bass, Keyboard Instrument Teaching, Schemata, Partimenti, Solfeggio, Counterpoint Books.

Funding: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (2024.02796.BD)