Alfredo Wedge
Alfredo Keil (born July 3, 1850 in Lisbon , † October 4, 1907 in Hamburg ) was a Portuguese composer , painter and collector of Portuguese art. Keil is known as the composer of the Portuguese national anthem ( A Portuguesa ).
Life path
Keil's parents were the Alsatian Maria Josefina Stellflug and the German tailor at the royal court, Hans-Christian Keil (later João Cristiano Keil). Keil's father became a Portuguese citizen before his son was born, so Alfredo Keil was also Portuguese.
In his youth he enjoyed an excellent education. He studied art and music in Nuremberg and Munich . With the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he returned to Portugal to continue studying in Lisbon. Keil was married to Cleyde Cinatty, daughter of an Italian sculptor and architect.
In 1907 he died as a result of a surgical procedure that he underwent in Hamburg. His grave is in the Cemitério dos Prazeres cemetery in Lisbon . In Lisbon there is a plaque on Praça da Alegria, near Avenida da Liberdade , which commemorates Alfredo Keil. The memorial plaque is housed in the 0.5 hectare " Jardim Alfredo Keil ".
Artistic work
_-_Alfredo_Keil.png)
At the age of 12 he composed the work “Pensée Musicale” and dedicated it to his mother. Later he was also active in the field of painting, where he demonstrated an equally remarkable talent. Musically he was supported by Antonio Soares , Ernesto Vieira and Oscarda la Cinna . He studied painting with artists such as Joaquim Prito , Miguel Lupi and Wilhelm von Kaulbach .
music
Musically, Keil was a loner of the end of Romanticism . He was in close contact with composers such as Giuseppe Verdi , Giacomo Puccini , Pietro Mascagni and Jules Massenet , to whom he also dedicated his successful opera “Serrana”. With this opera, the title of which can be translated as "The Woman from the Mountains", he tried to break the dominance of foreign-language opera from France, Italy and Germany and to establish Portugal as a musical cultural nation. "Serrana" is set around 1820 and is about a woman who stands between two men from enemy villages. In the piano reduction the opera is referred to as "drama lyrico". It premiered on March 13, 1899 at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon.
Other operas by Keil are:
- "Susana", ópera cómica, 1 act (first performed in Lisbon in 1883)
- "Donna Bianca", drama lírico 4 acts (1893 in Lisbon, in Italian)
- "Irena", drama lírico 4 acts (1893 in Turin)
- "A Índia" was not completed
- “Simão Ruivo” was not completed
The opera "Donna Bianca" was a huge commercial success in Portugal and Europe. Afterwards, Keil was a welcome guest from nobles and kings all over Europe.
He also wrote polkas , fado music , waltzes and pieces for piano and voice.
His best known piece, however, is the song " A Portuguesa ", which became the Portuguese national anthem in 1911. Henrique Lopes de Mendonça wrote the text. The patriotic song, composed 1890-1891, had its origins in a strong nationalist movement that gripped Portugal during this period. The cause was an English ultimatum. At the time, Portugal was keen to connect the two colonies of Angola and Mozambique . In between, however, was British territory, and Great Britain wanted to build a rail link from Cape Town to Cairo . The then Prime Minister Salisbury asked Portugal to abandon its claims, which the Portuguese government did. This led to an outcry from the people who saw themselves humiliated. Two governments fell over this process.
painting
Keil painted around 2000 pictures in his life. Most of his pictures are landscape portraits.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alfredo Keil on mic.pt (Portuguese)
- ↑ http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/4/48/IMSLP107115-PMLP218173-serrana.pdf
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wedge, Alfredo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Portuguese composer, painter and collector of Portuguese art |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 3, 1850 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lisbon , Portugal |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th October 1907 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |