Alberto Nepomuceno

Who was Alberto Nepomuceno?

Alberto Nepomuceno was a Brazilian composer and conductor.

Alberto Nepomuceno was born in city of Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará in northeastern Brazil. He was the son of Vitor Augusto Nepomuceno and Maria Virginia de Oliveira Paiva. He started studying music with his father, who was a violinist, organist, teacher and chapel-master of the Cathedral of Fortaleza, Brazil. In 1872, he moved with his family to Recife, where he started studying piano and violin. Later on, he became one of the most important defenders of the republican and abolitionist causes in Brazil, being very active in several campaigns over that time period. However, he did not stop being a musician, and at the age of eighteen, he became the director of the Carlos Gomes Club where all the important music concerts happened in Recife, Brazil.

In 1885, he presented his compositions for the first time at the Musical National Institute, a series of songs all in Portuguese. The main objective of the concert was to achieve those who thought Portuguese was inappropriate for the "bel canto". He was very criticised for doing that and he started a true battle against several newspapers and music critics.