Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon
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The Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon (Portuguese: Real Seminário de Música da Patriarcal de Lisboa) was founded in 1713 by Portugal's king John V[1] to train singers for his Royal Chapel of Saint Thomas (Portuguese: Capela de São Tomé) at Ribeira Palace (Portuguese: Paço da Ribeira).
Its role was similar to that of other schools which for some centuries had been training singers and musicians for European abbeys, cathedrals, parish and collegiate churches, and court chapels. Over time, its influence expanded as it produced singers, instrumentalists and composers of merit, many of whom took on careers in sacred and secular music including opera both within and outside of Portugal.
According to the records , the official date of the Seminary's foundation was 9 April 1713, three years before the Patriarchate of Lisbon (Portuguese: Patriarcado de Lisboa) came into operation. At that early stage, the Seminary was housed in the Archbishop's Palace near Lisbon Cathedral (Portuguese: Sé Catedral Metropolitana Patriarcal de Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa); but from the outset, the Seminary's function and purpose were directly associated with the court, and once the position of Patriarch of Lisbon was created and the holder became chaplain to the king, the Seminary as part of the patriarchal household continued to serve its primary purpose in providing music in the Royal Chapel.
Although it was neither Portugal's first nor only music school associated with the church[nb 1], the Seminary's location in Lisbon and its relationship with the monarchy placed it at the forefront of Portugal's music life at this time.
It remained the country's most important music school until it was closed in 1834 and replaced the following year by the Lisbon Conservatory (Portuguese: Conservatório de Música).[3]
According to one analysis, "In it [the Seminary] was formed the great majority of our most outstanding eighteenth-century composers"[4] including Francisco António de Almeida,[5] João Rodrigues Esteves,[6] António Teixeira,[7] José Joaquim dos Santos,[8] António Leal Moreira,[9] Marcos Portugal,[10][11] and others.[12]