A donzela guerreira

Opera for children with a libretto based on a text by António Torrado, for solo voices, chorus and a small instrumental ensemble consisting of flute, clarinet, piano and percussion. The inspiration for composing a children’s opera came from witnessing the attention and enthusiasm with which the child audience watched Benjamin Britten’s Let us make an oper at the Teatro São Luiz. At the same time, the composer’s interest in music education and the Orff-Schulwerk method of music teaching also influenced the conception of this work. Maria de Lourdes Martins, in fact, devoted herself to composing music for children and young people and several didactic works. According to the composer, the opera A Donzela Guerreira was to include the improvised participation of the listeners, which, however, did not materialise at the premiere in order to avoid hesitations that might compromise the performance.²

The composition of the opera resulted from a commission from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, but its performance was not guaranteed. The premiere would only take place in 2001, at the Casa das Artes (Vila Nova de Famalicão), in a production by Artave-Escola Profissional Artística do Vale do Ave, in collaboration with the Instituto de Estudos da Criança of the University of Minho. In addition to the chorus, soloist and orchestra, the performance included the participation of children from several schools in the region. The staging was by Norma Graça Silvestre. A few days before the premiere on June 7, as part of the II Encontro de História do Ensino da Música em Portugal at the University of Minho, a round table dedicated to contemporary musical creation for children was held, with the participation of Maria de Lourdes Martins, Joel Canhão, Cândido Lima and Fernando Valente. Subsequently, the opera was presented in several schools.³