Seixas: Harpsichord Works - Pamela Cook

SEIXAS liner notes

It remains a mystery to me that so little biographical information is available about Carlos Seixas. He was born in Coimbra, June 11, 1704, and died in Lisbon, August 25, 1742. He studied with his father, Francisco Vaz, who was the organist of Coimbra cathedral. Carlos inherited his father’s post, but kept it only from 1718 until 1720, leaving to become organist of the Royal Chapel in Lisbon when he was only sixteen years of age. In 1721, Domenico Scarlatti was appointed director of the Royal Chapel, having been summoned to the Portuguese Court to teach Princess Maria Barbara the harpsichord. For the next eight years, the two great musicians worked together in the same chapel. Then, in 1729, when Maria Barbara married the Prince of Asturias, Scarlatti went with her to the court at Madrid. It is at this point in Seixas life that biographical information trickles away. He was twenty-five and had only thirteen more years to live. No doubt, his keyboard playing was enormously influenced by the great Scarlatti, but his compositions remained surprisingly personal.