Constança Capdeville facts for kids

Constança Capdeville (born March 16, 1937 – died February 4, 1992) was a talented musician from Portugal. She was a pianist, a percussionist, a music teacher, and a composer. She created many different kinds of music during her life.

Constança's Early Life

Constança Capdeville was born in Barcelona, a city in Spain. As a child, she lived in a village called Caxias in Portugal. Her family was very artistic. This meant she grew up around many creative people. She even met famous artists like Salvador Dalí.

Constança started writing piano music when she was very young. She studied piano and composition at the Lisbon Conservatorio Nacional. There, she earned a special diploma in music. After finishing her studies in Barcelona, she moved to Portugal in 1951. She continued to learn piano with Varela Cid. She also studied musical composition with Jorge Croner de Vasconcellos. Later, she focused on old music. This included studying how to read ancient musical notes. She also learned about old instruments and how music was played long ago. Her teacher for this was Macário Santiago Kastner.

Her Musical Career and Teaching

After finishing her studies, Constança Capdeville became a music teacher. She taught at the National Conservatory. She also taught at the New University of Lisbon. She was part of important music groups. These included the Portuguese Council of Music. She was also in the Catalan Composers Association of Barcelona.

Constança was a very active composer. By 1969, important groups like the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation asked her to write music. She created about 100 pieces of music. These included music for orchestras and smaller groups. She also wrote music for solo instruments.

Her music was often used for films and plays. She composed for ballet and dance shows too. Her work often connected strongly with drama. It used sounds to create images of human feelings. Constança was also a skilled percussionist. But her main instrument was the piano. She was a close friend of the famous musician Jorge Peixinho. He was a big influence on music in Portugal.

Besides the conservatory, she taught at the Academia de Musica de Santa Cecilia in Lisbon. She also taught music history at the New University of Lisbon. Many of her students became famous musicians and composers. They won important awards in Portugal and other countries. One of her well-known students was Eurico Carrapatoso.

Constança Capdeville passed away on February 4, 1992. She was 55 years old. She died in her hometown of Caxias.

Some of Her Works

Constança Capdeville composed around one hundred pieces. These included music for orchestras, theater, and movies. Here are a few examples:

• Diferenças Sobre um Intervalo (1967) for orchestra
• Libera me (1979) for a group of musicians, choir, piano, and percussion
• Cerro Maior (1980) – music for a film
• Don't Juan (1985) – a musical theater piece
• Di lontan fa specchio il mare – Joly Braga Santos, In memoriam (1989) for a musical group
• Solo de Violino (1990) – music for a film
• Take 91 (1991) – another musical theater piece
• "Que mon chant ne soît plus d'oiseau," (1991) for orchestra

Groups She Worked With

Constança Capdeville was involved with several musical groups and ensembles:

• Convivium Musicum – a musical group
• ColecViva – a musical theater group
• Opus Sic – created music for films and performances
• Palavras por dentro – a theatrical group