Christmas Songs of Portugal
An interesting collection of Portuguese Christmas songs from the Folkways Collection of the Smithsonian Institute. Any anthology of music for Christmas would be incomplete without the inclusion of the work of Fernando Lopes-Graça who is considered by many to be the outstanding composer of the 20
th century. Starting at the age of only fourteen as a pianist in the Cine-Teatro of Tomar his musical career was chequered by his political activities as an opponent of the fascist regime. This resulted in the continuous harassment of his studies at conservatoires in Portugal and France including both banishment and imprisonment .