José
Marques e Silva

Friar José de Santa Rita Marques e Silva (Vila Viçosa, 1782-1837) was a Portuguese composer and organist. According to João Vaz, interpreter and expert in his musical production, the importance of Friar José Marques da Silva comes "not only from the substantial number of works with firmly established authorship, but also from the close relationship between his operatic writing and the morphology of the organs built in Portugal at the time". In Lisbon he studied with João José Baldi and was called by him to be organist at the Capela Real da Bemposta, when Baldi took over as his Master, in 1808. He would later perform the same functions in 1816. After Baldi's death, he ran and was accepted for the teaching position of organist at the Royal Chapel in Rio de Janeiro, during the presence of the Royal Family in Brazil. When the Lisbon Conservatory was created, he was appointed professor of orchestra, but he never held these positions. He was director of the Semanário Filarmónico, whose name would change to Semanário Harmónico, and where he would collaborate. He had several notable students, including Joaquim Casimiro Júnior, Xavier Migone, Manuel Inocêncio dos Santos, João Baptista Sassetti, among others.