Francisco Xavier Baptista: New Biographical Data on the Identity of the Portuguese Composer.

Nejmeddine , M. S. (2023). DE BAPTISTA A BAXIXA: percurso dos músicos Francisco Xavier e Joaquim Félix Xavier. Video Journal of Social and Human Research, 2(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.18817/vjshr.v2i1.21

Little is known about Francisco Xavier Baptista who was the greatest Portuguese keyboard composer of the second half of the eighteenth century. This paper reveals new biographical data, clarifies some uncertainties about his identity and assigns the authorship of two sonatas to this Portuguese composer.

Francisco Xavier Baptista is one of the most important composers of the Portuguese keyboard repertoire of the second half of the 18th century. His collection of twelve sonatas is among the rare keyboard works published in Portugal at that time. In addition to these, there are two manuscript sonatas by him and two others indicating the authorship of Francisco Xavier Bachixa, in a manuscript preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Based on biographical research and on the study of documentation from the time, this video-article clarifies about the surname Baxixa (or Bachixa) and the identity of this Portuguese musician and composer, as well as his son, Joaquim Félix Xavier.

Portuguese Music, Biography, Francisco Xavier Baptista, Joaquim Félix Xavier Baxixa.

Mafalda Nejmeddine concluded in 1995 the Diploma of the Complementary Piano Course at the Academy of Music S. Pio X in Vila do Conde. In 1999, she obtained the 1st Prize of Harpsichord from the Superior Conservatory of Paris-CNR. His academic career was completed with the Harpsichord Degree in the Superior School of Music of Lisbon, Master degre in Music Education in University of Minho, and with PhD degree in Music and Musicology in University of Évora, which has been supported of the Foundation for Science and Technology. She performed teaching activities, interpretation as a harpsichordist and research in the field of musicology. She edited the score of “Sei Sonate per Cembalo” by Alberto José Gomes da Silva, in collaboration with Gerhard Doderer. Her repertoire extends from ancient music to contemporary music with emphasis on Portuguese keyboard repertoire of the eighteenth-century.