SUITE DO BAILADO “ALFAMA”Transcribed by Francisco Ribeiro (2001) for Symphonic Band by JOLY BRAGA SANTOS (Portugal, 1924 – 1988)

[#324] Oct 06, 2025 Portugal | 2024 | Symphonic Band | Grade 4 | 19’ | Transcription

Premiered by Sociedad Musical La Artística de Buñol conducted by André Granjo

on 05 June 2024 in Aveiro, Portugal

Purchase score at Editions Ava

Throughout history, transcriptions have been essential to the artistic and cultural development of the wind band. They opened the door to masterpieces otherwise inaccessible to the medium, providing performers and audiences alike with a broader musical heritage. Beyond serving as valuable pedagogical tools, transcriptions demonstrated the wind band’s unique capacity for color, nuance, and expressive depth, thereby legitimizing it as a serious vehicle of artistic expression. In this light, WASBE’s Composition of the Week seeks to honor such works—proposed by colleagues from around the world—that have shaped the repertoire and affirmed the wind band’s enduring role in the wider musical tradition.

Today’s work is proposed by Portuguese conductor and educator André Granjo.

Suite do Bailado “Alfama” by Portuguese composer and conductor Joly Braga Santos is our Composition of the Week. Written in 1956 as a ballet, the suite was edited for the stage by Alvaro Cassuto.

Francisco Ribeiro has done a wind band version of it in 2024.

The suite is structured in eight short dance movements following a slow introduction, with a total duration of around 19 minutes.

I. Introduction - Largo

II. Dance of the sailor - Allegro, Largo ma non troppo

III. Pas de trois - Allegro marcato

IV. Dance of the fishwives - Allegretto

V. Dance of the fishwife and the longshoreman - Un poco più che prima

VI. Dance of the girls of the neighborhood - Vivace

VII. Dance of the boys and girls who fill the square - Allegro

VIII. Dance of the girls around the fire - Allegro

IX. Final Dance - Allegro vivace

The wind band version is scored for

Piccolo

Flute 1-3

Oboe 1-2

Bassoon 1-2

Clarinet 1-3

Bass Clarinet

Alto Saxophone 1-2

Tenor Saxophone 1-2

Baritone Saxophone

Trumpet 1-4

Horn 1-4

Trombone 1-3

Euphonium 1-2

Tuba 1 - 2

Timpani - Percussion 1-5

Piano

Harp

Joly Braga Santos was one of Portugal’s most important 20th-century composers and the foremost symphonist of his generation. Born in Lisbon, he began violin studies at the age of six and composition at ten under the guidance of Luís de Freitas Branco, whose influence shaped his early neoclassical style. Further studies abroad with Herman Scherchen, Antonino Votto, Virgilio Mortari, and Gioachino Pasqualini exposed him to new techniques and broadened his artistic horizons.

Braga Santos quickly distinguished himself with music of great freshness, accessibility, and monumental scope, combining clarity of expression with rigorous craftsmanship. His early works—including four symphonies written between 1946 and 1950—reveal a strong melodic gift and a language rooted in modal and popular inflections, while his later works adopt richer chromaticism and advanced orchestral color. Throughout his career he remained a master orchestrator, admired for his ability to achieve brilliance and transparency even in the densest textures.

Although his catalogue includes operas, chamber music, and choral works, Braga Santos is best remembered for his orchestral output, particularly the six symphonies, concertos, and large-scale choral works. Balancing tradition and modernity, immediacy and depth, his music continues to stand as a landmark in Portugal’s musical heritage and a testament to his vision of speaking to audiences with both simplicity and artistic integrity.