Vianna da Motta, José

(1868-1948)

   One of Portugal's greatest musicians, pianists, and music scholars. Vianna da Motta (or Viana da Mota) was born in São Tomé Island, a Portuguese West African colony, and came to Portugal at a young age. Soon honored and patronized by Portuguese royalty for his musical genius, he first performed on the piano in public at age 10. This child prodigy was trained in Lisbon as well as in Germany. In 1918, he directed Lisbon's Symphonic Orchestra, and the next year he was appointed director of Portugal's National Conservatory, Lisbon, a post he held until retirement in 1938. As one of the premier interpreters in his day of the compositions of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and Liszt, Vianna da Motta was also a famous composer and scholar of music. Widely published as an authority on the great central European Romantic pianist-composers, he also composed music that was influenced by popular Portuguese folk melodies. One of his more celebrated nationalistic compositions was his Canções Portuguesas (Portuguese Songs), Opus 10. He was honored and decorated by Portugal and other countries, and helped train future generations of musicians.