Music in a religious context in the Portuguese Baroque and its correlations with the Ibero-American space – the particular case of brotherhoods or confraternities

The Baroque period in Portugal saw a great proliferation of structures that were already rooted in the national territory, but which grew and spread widely, gaining a new lease of life: the Brotherhoods or ‘Confrarias’. These were helpful liaisons between ecclesiastical structures and the faithful as a whole, as well as being primarily responsible for the maintenance and subsistence of many churches and chapels throughout the country. Their musical activity encompassed various levels: a) The establishment of sacred musical practices at masses, solemn feasts and processions; b) The establishment of profane musical practices in a religious context, such as processions, festivals, etc., which included the presence of music; c) The presence of black musicians hired for the Confrarias’ feasts in Portugal. The aim of this project is to make new contributions to a History of Music in Portugal that still has a lot to discover. We also intend to analyse the proliferation of these institutions during the Baroque period in Brazil.