Our second CD, Sempre Amor, is a selection of Portuguese modinhas, performed by renowned soprano, Lorna Anderson, to the tuneful strains of the Apollo Chamber Players. Cellist and musical director of the Apollo Chamber Players, David Chernaik, has arranged all the works on the CD for the ensemble, transcribing directly from the
original song sheets.
In 1807 the Portuguese Royal Family, threatened by an impending invasion of Napoleon's armies, fled to Rio de Janeiro where they remained until 1821. Modinhas were the most popular musical form created for the salons of this Portuguese/Brazilian society. They are solo songs in which the charm of the Italian aria cantabile and the canzonetta of Neapolitan opera are combined with the seductive and sensuous melodies originally sung by African slaves and adopted by both Brazilian and Portuguese composers.
The original modinhas would have been intended for Portuguese guitar or piano. Here they are arranged for string quartet with double bass and occasionally an obbligato flute.