Murillo Santos [1931–2019]

Murillo Tertullian dos Santos (1931–2019) is numbered among the leading Brazilian composers of the second half of the twentieth century, having composed over one hundred works, such as the award-winning In Memoriam, a Missa Brevis mass setting, the opera Palmares, a wide variety of pieces for voice, piano and other solo instruments, works for symphony orchestra and chamber and choral music.

Born in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro to a lower-middle-class family, Santos began his piano studies in the 1940s and was soon discovered and praised by such esteemed musicians as the foremost Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and the pianists Magda Tagliaferro, Lili Kraus and Felicja Blumental.

After graduating in Piano Performance, Composition and Conducting from the School of Music of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Santos began a successful three-stranded career as Assistant Professor of Composition at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, keyboard player in the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro and chamber music pianist.

While much music of the twentieth century can be seen as a search for new sounds, Murillo Santos strove to combine tradition with innovation; the influence of both Copland’s modalism and Villa-Lobos’ nationalism is clearly apparent.

Further information about Murillo Santos can be found on his Web site.

  WorkGradeDurationPublishedPrice
FM215BatuqueSound
for Piano Solo • for Piano Duet
Commemorative edition (contains both solo and duet versions presented together)		8 to Advanced (post-Grade 8)2¾ mins22nd June 2019£12.50
Forces: Piano, Piano duet