Silva Leite, Leite da Silva, António Joaquim da, *23 May 1759 Porto, †10 January 1833 Porto, Portuguese composer, and teacher. He was probably a student of G. Sertori in Porto, where he soon became a valued teacher; from 1788, he was a teacher at the Real Colégio dos Meninos Órfãos, and also an organist in the convents of Santa Clara and Santo Bento da Avé-Maria. There, in 1792, he became mestre de capela; he held the same position from 1808 in the cathedral in Porto.
Silva’s religious compositions are characterised by strong ornamentation of vocal parts, some see in them the influence of N. Jommelli; one of the most outstanding compositions is Tantum ergo. Among Silva’s works, the most important is the popular textbook Estudo de guitarra, containing a concise set of the principles of music and guitar playing technique, and a collection of several dozen marches, minuets and counterdances of various provenances arranged for two guitars. Manuscripts of Silva’s compositions are in the Biblioteca Nacional in Lisbon.
Compositions:
6 sonatas for guitar accompanied by violin and 2 horns ad libitum, published in Porto 1792
Symphony, premiere Vila Nova de Gaia, 1808
Hymno patriótico for orchestra, published in Paris 1820
L’astuzie delle donne, opera, premiere in Porto 1807
Os génios premiados, cantata, premiere in Porto 1807
Puntigli per equivoco, opera, premiere in Porto 1807
over 60 religious compositions, including:
Tantum ergo for 4 voices, string orchestra and flute obbligato, published in London 1815
Hora de Noa for 4 sopranos, violin and organ
6 masses
23 motets.
Works (published in Porto unless stated otherwise):
Rezumo de todas as regras, e preceitos da cantoria (‘Summary of all the rules and precepts of singing’), 1787
Estudo de guitarra, 1796
O organista instruido, ca. 1796, not published
Novo directório fúnebre, 1806
