Pedro Luís Neves
Encyclopedia
Pedro Luís Neves is a Portuguese
modern composer
of classical music
and author of several other genres.
Pedro Luís Neves works as a composer and musician
within many different musical fields, some of which include theatre
plays and works with fusion between contemporary classical music
and other genres (so called "crossover music"), such as jazz
, rock
, electronica
, and more. He also has extensive experience from working as producer
, and occasionally recording engineer, in many recording sessions.
, May 18, 1955, Pedro Luís Neves started his musical studies in 1965 at the Lisbon Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
. Later at the Academia dos Amadores de Música, and studied piano, harmony and composition with Maestro
João de Mello Júnior. He studied biology
at the University of Lisbon and formed a jazz quartet
at the Hot Club of Portugal
, entered the universe of improvisation and composition techniques, simultaneously collaborating in the creation of two experimental theatre shows with Lisbon's Comuna Teatro de Pesquisa and Teatro Oficina from Brazil
, in Brecht
's play Galileo
.
He dived into Brazil
ian popular music with Fernando Girão, and also into the complex structures of symphonic rock
with Tantra performing live at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon. He recorded in Madrid
as pianist and arranger with singers Paulo de Carvalho and Carlos Mendes the albums Sheiks and some TV series. In the 80s he arranged and performed the show Ser Solidário with singer composer José Mário Branco and toured as pianist with the orchestra.
In 1982, along with female vocalist Iei-Or, he founded the pop rock
band
Da Vinci
as composer and producer recording 15 albums and TV shows. For some years afterwards he has also produced and composed TV jingles with RTC awards.
He won the Festival RTP da Canção (RTP Song Contest) in 1989, later representing Portugal
at the Eurovision Song Contest
with the song Conquistador (platinum record).
Directing a band, he performed live tours in Portugal
, France
, Switzerland
, Canada
, South Africa
, among other countries. He has produced and composed for artists like Brazilian singer Marisa Dwir.
Since 1995 he has essentially dedicated his time to composing modern symphonic music, creating several opus
for orchestra and choir.
With Sheiks
With José Mário Branco
With Da Vinci
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
modern composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and author of several other genres.
Pedro Luís Neves works as a composer and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
within many different musical fields, some of which include theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
plays and works with fusion between contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
and other genres (so called "crossover music"), such as jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, and more. He also has extensive experience from working as producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and occasionally recording engineer, in many recording sessions.
Repertoire
- Seven Symphonic Suites (for orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, 1995–2005) - The Piano Collection (10 songs for pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, 2002) - Piano Quartets (for piano & stringString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s, 2004) - Spirits Octet (for violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, brassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
& reedReed (instrument)A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most Woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics.-Single reeds:Single reeds are used on the mouthpieces of clarinets...
s ensembleMusical ensembleA musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
and percussion, 2005) - Garden of Delights (3 symphonic poems for orchestra, choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and soloistSolo (music)In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
s, based on texts of the Vulgata, 2005–2008)
Biography
Born in LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, May 18, 1955, Pedro Luís Neves started his musical studies in 1965 at the Lisbon Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education, and science...
. Later at the Academia dos Amadores de Música, and studied piano, harmony and composition with Maestro
Maestro
Maestro is a title of extreme respect given to a master musician. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera. This is associated with the ubiquitous use of Italian vocabulary for classical music terms...
João de Mello Júnior. He studied biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
at the University of Lisbon and formed a jazz quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
at the Hot Club of Portugal
Hot Club of Portugal
The Hot Club of Portugal is the oldest jazz club in Portugal and has uninterruptedly developed its activity since 1948. It occupies a cellar in Praça da Alegria in Lisbon....
, entered the universe of improvisation and composition techniques, simultaneously collaborating in the creation of two experimental theatre shows with Lisbon's Comuna Teatro de Pesquisa and Teatro Oficina from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, in Brecht
Brecht
Brecht is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Brecht proper, Sint-Job-in't-Goor and Sint-Lenaarts. On January 1, 2006 Brecht had a total population of 26,464...
's play Galileo
Life of Galileo
Life of Galileo , also known as Galileo, is a play by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. The first version of the play was written between 1937 and 1939; the second version was written between 1945–1947, in collaboration with Charles Laughton...
.
He dived into Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian popular music with Fernando Girão, and also into the complex structures of symphonic rock
Symphonic rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
with Tantra performing live at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon. He recorded in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
as pianist and arranger with singers Paulo de Carvalho and Carlos Mendes the albums Sheiks and some TV series. In the 80s he arranged and performed the show Ser Solidário with singer composer José Mário Branco and toured as pianist with the orchestra.
In 1982, along with female vocalist Iei-Or, he founded the pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
Da Vinci
Da Vinci (band)
Da Vinci is a Portuguese band created by Iei-Or and Pedro Luís Neves, whose members included Ricardo, Joaquim Andrade, Dora and Sandra Fidalgo, among others throughout the years...
as composer and producer recording 15 albums and TV shows. For some years afterwards he has also produced and composed TV jingles with RTC awards.
He won the Festival RTP da Canção (RTP Song Contest) in 1989, later representing Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
at the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
with the song Conquistador (platinum record).
Directing a band, he performed live tours in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, among other countries. He has produced and composed for artists like Brazilian singer Marisa Dwir.
Since 1995 he has essentially dedicated his time to composing modern symphonic music, creating several opus
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
for orchestra and choir.
Discography
With Tantra- Holocausto (1977), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Valentim de Carvalho - Humanoid Flesh (1980), EMI Valentim de Carvalho
With Sheiks
- Pintados de Fresco (1978), EMI Valentim de Carvalho
- Sheiks com Cobertura (1979), EMI Valentim de Carvalho
With José Mário Branco
- Ser Solidário (1981), EMI Valentim de Carvalho
With Da Vinci
- Lisboa Ano 10.000 (1982), PolyGramPolyGramPolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
- Hiroxima Meu Amor (1982), PolyGram – silver record
- Caminhando (1983), PolyGram/UniversalUniversal Music GroupUniversal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
- Xau Xau de Xangai (1983), PolyGram
- Anjo Azul (1984), PolyGram
- No Meu Vídeo (1985), PolyGram
- Prince of Xanadu (1986), PolyGram
- A Jóia no Lótus (1988), Discossete – gold record
- ConquistadorConquistador (Da Vinci song)"Conquistador" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed in Portuguese by Da Vinci.The song reminisces about the former Portuguese colonial possessions worldwide...
(1989), Discossete – 1st prize at the RTP Song Contest - Conquistador (1989), Discossete – platinum record
- A Dança dos Planetas (1990), Discossete
- Entre o Inferno e o Paraíso (1993), PolyGram/Universal
- Oiçam (1995), Movieplay
- Momentos de Paixão (1999), CD7
External links
- Artist page at SPA http://spautores.pt/PageMembros.aspx?UserCod=0&UserID=921