António da Silva Leite was born on May 23, 1759, in Porto, and initially received minor orders with a view to pursuing an ecclesiastical career, before deciding to invest in his musical vocation. Regarding the quality of his training, Ernesto Vieira writes: “He must have had excellent teachers, or, if he studied alone, he applied himself with the greatest intelligence, because his religious compositions attest to a technical knowledge that can only be acquired by someone who undergoes suitable preparatory studies.”¹ The author speculates that one of Silva Leite’s possible teachers may have been the Italian Girolamo Sertori; however, the composer was too young – only five or six years old – when this master was in Porto. It is also possible that he was part of the student body at the Music School of Porto Cathedral, or that he acquired his knowledge self-taught.²
With or without formal education, the composer developed early. As early as 1787, at only 28, he arranged to print a music compendium, Rezumo de todas as regras, e preceitos da cantoria, designed for use by his disciples.³ This was the first of four didactic publications produced by Silva Leite: an Estudo de guitarra, published in 1796; O Organista instruído, from the same period, which may not have been printed; and the Novo diretório fúnebre, published in 1806, containing a translation of the reformed funeral liturgy and hymns intended for performance during the office.⁴ The following year, he became a teacher at the Royal College of Orphaned Boys and organist at the convents of Santa Clara and São Bento de Ave Maria, having been appointed mestre de capela at the latter institution in 1792.⁵ He produced various musical works for these and other convents, as well as religious texts and sonnets dedicated to some of its nuns.⁶
From 1806, Silva Leite distinguished himself as maestro at the Royal Teatro de São João and, in 1808, took up the post of mestre de capela at Porto Cathedral. At the theatre named after the Prince Regent, he conducted operas such as La Griselda by Ferdinando Paer and La morte di Cleopatra by Sebastiano Nasolini, presented in 1807.⁷ That same year, two operas whose music is attributed by some authors to Silva Leite were staged: I Pungigli per equivoco and L’Astuzia delle donne. For his part, David Cranmer suggests that the composer may have been only responsible for the musical direction of I Pungigli per equivoco by Fioravanti and L’Astuzia femminili by Cimarosa, as was customary at the time, possibly adding arias of his own to them.⁸ This hypothesis is also supported by Rodrigo Teodoro de Paula; however, no records exist to confirm either possibility, since the scores of both works are thought to have disappeared in the fire that broke out at the theatre in April 1808, leaving only the walls of the building standing.⁹
Alongside Silva Leite’s dramatic output – from which only the libretto of the cantata I geni premiati survives – a Tantum Ergo, published in England in 1815 and widely disseminated, stands out, as well as several modinhas published in the Jornal de modinhas, recognised for their “captivating melodies, piquant rhythm and instrumental effects of expressive colour”.¹⁰
Finally, it is worth noting that, in times of political uncertainty marked by the invasions of French troops and the absence of the royal family from national territory, Silva Leite was also an active promoter of the restoration and the liberal cause.¹¹ In the context of the celebrations of the expulsion of French troops from the city, a Te Deum conducted by the composer and “a symphony of his own composition entitled Restauração” were heard.¹² Later, on October 22, 1820, when the Commercial Body of the city of Porto ordered a solemn mass to be held at the Monastery Church to celebrate the victory of the liberal regime, a Te Deum by Silva Leite was again heard. On that occasion, the composer is identified as examiner of plainchant of the Bishopric, a prestigious position that reinforces his prominence in the city’s cultural life.¹³
