Alexandre Jorge Maria Idalécio Raimundo Rey Colaço (

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

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, 30 April 1854 -

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, Portugal, 11 September 1928) was a Portuguese

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

of a

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father and Spanish- Portuguese mother.

Life

He studied piano at the Madrid Royal Conservatory and gave his first performance in Lisbon in 1881. Pedro Eugénio Daupias, 1º Visconde de Daupias ( Count of Daupias) was present and so impressed that he offered Colaço a trip to

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to continue his musical education. From there he moved on to

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to study at the

Berlin Hochschule für Musik The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research univers ...

under Barth and

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(piano) and Harertel and Bargiel (composition). Due to his outstanding talent, he was invited to teach piano at this school, whose director was the famous violinist Joseph Joachim, a great friend of Schumann and Brahms. In 1887, Colaço returned to Lisbon and became a Portuguese citizen. He was appointed piano professor at the Conservatory of Music and contributed largely to the cultural activities of this country as a performer, pedagogue and composer. He taught music to the young Portuguese Prince Manuel of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Braganza (later King Manuel II of Portugal). Colaço married Alice Lafourcade Schmidt, born in Chile in 1865, who had a French mother and a German father. Their daughter, Amélia Rey Colaço, became one of Portugal's leading actors.

Compositions

His works were among the first to incorporate popular themes of a Portuguese national character. These works include pieces for the piano: the collection of Fados, the reference point of his personal creative style, Bailarico,

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, Malagueña and ''Pequenas Peças''; for piano and voice: ''Cantigas de Portugal''. He also wrote a book, ''De Música'', a consequence of his experience and reflections about musical art. A recording of his piano music was issued by Educo Records in 1985 (Educo LP 4114). The recording by Michael Habermann contained the following compositions: Um Fado No. 1, Canção do Mondego, Fado No. 2, "Malagueña" from Cante Flamenco, Bailarico, Fado No. 3, "Hylário", Peças Pequenas, and Two Popular Spanish Dances: "Seguidilha" and "Jota".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colaco, Alexandre Rey 1854 births 1928 deaths People from Tangier Composers for piano Madrid Royal Conservatory alumni Portuguese classical pianists Portuguese composers Portuguese male composers 19th-century Portuguese people 19th-century classical pianists Male classical pianists 19th-century male musicians 19th-century musicians