Constança
Capdeville

After completing her musical studies, Capdeville (1937-1992) taught music at the National Conservatory and the New University of Lisbon. She was a member of the Portuguese Council of Music and the Catalan Composers Association of Barcelona. She won the Portuguese Medal of Cultural Merit in 1990, and the Insignia of the Order of Santiago da Espada posthumously in 1992. Capdeville was a prolific composer. By 1969 she had begun to have her works commissioned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for its orchestra. She produced works for orchestra, chamber ensembles and a variety of soloists using different instruments. She also composed music for films and plays, ballet and 'dramatized' staged performances. Capdeville's compositions were laden with multiple artistic perception. During her life, she was a close artistic and personal friend of Jorge Peixinho who had himself been a towering influence upon the contemporary Portugal of the latter half of the 20th century. Capdeville was also a talented percussionist, but as a musician her main instrument was the piano. Besides the conservatory, she taught at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa and at the Academia de Musica de Santa Cecília in Lisbon. She also taught in the Musicology department of the New University of Lisbon.