José Maria Xavier (23 August 1819 – 22 January 1887) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic priest, composer, instrumentalist, and music teacher from São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais. Born into a family of church musicians, he sang in its ensemble as a child and later worked as a clarinetist, violinist, and violist. He entered the Seminary of Mariana in 1845, was ordained the following year, and spent most of his priesthood in São João del-Rei, where he taught music and served churches, brotherhoods, schools, and charitable institutions. In 1872, Xavier received a silver medal for his religious music at the Fifth Industrial Exhibition of Minas Gerais, and Emperor Pedro II wrote admiringly of his music after hearing it in 1881.
More than 100 compositions bear Xavier's name. His scores follow the church year, from Christmas matins and saints' novenas to the long offices of Holy Week. He wrote masses, matins, offices, antiphons, hymns, motets, and procession music, usually for four-part choir with strings and winds. The flute, clarinet, and valved trumpet often carry the more active melodic writing, at times joining the voices and at others stepping forward as solo instruments.
Most of his music circulated in handwritten scores and performing parts. Two works for choir and orchestra, Missa No. 5 and Matinas do Natal, were printed in Munich in 1884 and 1885. His compositions have since been edited, recorded, and studied, and they are still heard during Holy Week in São João del-Rei. The city's state music conservatory has borne his name since 1954, and he is the patron of Chair No. 12 of the Brazilian Academy of Music.
Biography
Family and musical training
José Maria Xavier was born on 23 August 1819 in a house on Rua Santo Antônio in São João del-Rei. His father, João Xavier da Silva Ferrão, was an ensign from Mariana. His mother, Maria José Benedita de Miranda, was born in São João del-Rei.
Xavier grew up among musicians on his mother's side. His maternal grandfather, José Joaquim de Miranda, founded the ensemble that became the Orquestra Lira Sanjoanense. Four of Xavier's maternal uncles performed with the group. One of them, Francisco de Paula Miranda, directed one of the city's church choirs and gave Xavier his first music lessons.
Xavier learned his first letters from Guilherme José da Costa. He went on to study Latin, French, history, geography, and philosophy with teachers in São João del-Rei. His lessons with Francisco de Paula Miranda covered singing, violin, and clarinet, and he also learned to play the viola, piano, and guitar.
At nine, Xavier sang treble with his family's ensemble. The Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel paid him for this work in 1828. By 1837, he was the group's first clarinetist, and he also performed as a violinist and violist. Before entering the seminary, he taught music in private homes and worked as a clerk in the law office of José Maria da Câmara.
Seminary and early priesthood
In 1845, Xavier entered the Seminary of Mariana to study theology. Antônio Ferreira Viçoso, bishop of Mariana, ordained him to the priesthood on 19 April 1846. Xavier celebrated his first solemn Mass on 23 May at the mother church of Our Lady of the Pillar in São João del-Rei.
In February 1847, Xavier became vicar of Rio Preto. He remained there until May 1848, when poor health led him to seek permission to return to São João del-Rei. He spent the rest of his life in his native city.
Career in São João del-Rei
After his return, Xavier resumed teaching music. He taught at Colégio Duval and other schools in São João del-Rei and served as the college's chaplain. From 1854 to 1856, he was vicar forane of the district of São João del-Rei.
Xavier held offices in the brotherhoods, confraternities, and third orders that arranged the city's church ceremonies. From 1855 to 1856, he was an officer of the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Confraternity of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Gonçalo Garcia. He served as commissary of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel from 1859 to 1870. He was also chaplain of the Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Steps and the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary.
He presided for more than ten years over the Vincentian confraternity at Our Lady of the Pillar and worked with the Confraternity of Saint Gonçalo Garcia. Xavier belonged to the Conference of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Good Death. In 1879 and 1880, he was elected administrator of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of São João del-Rei. He wrote music for the feasts and services organized by these institutions, many of which employed choirs and instrumental ensembles drawn from the city.
Recognition during his lifetime
In 1872, Xavier received a silver medal for his religious music at the Fifth Industrial Exhibition of Minas Gerais.
During an 1881 visit to Minas Gerais, Emperor Pedro II heard Xavier's music and wrote admiringly of it in his diary.
Final years and death
Xavier had recurring health problems after his ordination. In January 1887, he fell while pruning shrubs in his garden and fractured his leg near the hip. His condition worsened while he was confined to bed, and he died in São João del-Rei on 22 January 1887, aged 67.
His funeral was held on 23 January with the participation of the religious orders, brotherhoods, and confraternities in which he had served. After a solemn Mass, he was buried in the Cemetery of Our Lady of the Rosary in São João del-Rei.
Music
More than 100 compositions bear Xavier's name. Most were written for Catholic worship and for the choirs and orchestras of São João del-Rei. The catalogue follows the church calendar, with masses, matins, offices, novenas, antiphons, litanies, hymns, motets, and music for processions.
A few works fall outside the vocal liturgy. The catalogue lists instrumental minuets and an overture, as well as Pensamento sentimental, dated in Ouro Preto in 1886.
Liturgical repertory
For Holy Week, Xavier wrote matins for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday in 1871. These settings and their lauds form the Ofício de Trevas, or Tenebrae office. Other pieces set the Lamentations of Jeremiah, lessons, tracts, motets for the Adoration of the Cross, music for the burial procession, and the hymn Pange lingua for a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. An office and a Credo for Palm Sunday followed in 1872.
Xavier also wrote for the feasts arranged by the brotherhoods and third orders in which he served. His dated novenas include Novena de Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte from 1855, Novena de São Gonçalo Garcia from 1856, Novena de Nossa Senhora das Dores from 1867, Novena de São Sebastião from 1869, and Novena da Santíssima Trindade from 1875. He composed matins for Christmas, the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, Pentecost, Saint Cecilia, Saint Joseph, and the Sacred Heart. His masses were written for the Assumption, the Holy Spirit, Holy Saturday, cathedral services, and funerals.
The shorter works were made for particular moments in a service. They include antiphons for saints' feasts, hymns for novenas, music sung before sermons, settings of Tantum ergo, and chants for processions. Many could be combined with the larger masses, offices, and matins required for a full ceremony.
Voices and instruments
Xavier often wrote for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass with a small orchestra. One recurring wind group uses flute, clarinet, two horns, and a valved trumpet called a piston in the manuscripts. First and second violins, viola, and bass complete the ensemble. Xavier used this scoring in Missa No. 5, Matinas do Natal, Ofício de Ramos, the Good Friday and Holy Saturday tracts, and Matinas da Ressurreição.
The flute, clarinet, and piston frequently carry a single melody together. They also divide into duos or take turns as solo instruments. Flute and clarinet may share one staff, moving in unison, at the octave, or in parallel thirds and sixths. The choir often sings in homophonic chords, keeping the Latin words clear while the wind parts carry the more active melodic lines.
Xavier gave the flute a solo part in six works, Novena de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, Matinas do Natal de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo, Hino de Nossa Senhora das Mercês, Novena de São Sebastião, Matinas de Santa Cecília, and Antífona de São João Evangelista. In the fourth responsory of Matinas de Santa Cecília, the flute is answered by clarinet and cornet as the choir sings in chordal blocks. In Antífona de São João Evangelista, flute and first violin begin with the same melody before the baritone and choir enter.
Four manuscripts name Gioachino Rossini as the source of adapted melodies. The 1839 Qui sedes and Quoniam, written for bass solo, are based on a Rossini trio. Creator alme siderum uses music from Mosè in Egitto, an arranged Mass draws on Le siège de Corinthe, and Jam nunc Paterna claritas uses music from Semiramide.
Xavier sometimes added directions for the musicians to his scores. On the 1872 manuscript of Ofício de Domingo de Ramos, he asked performers to moderate the tempos, especially the Allegros, to suit the decorum of sacred music.
Manuscripts and printed editions
Most of Xavier's music circulated in handwritten scores and separate performing parts. Copies are held in musical archives in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Goiás. The archives of the Orquestra Lira Sanjoanense and the Orquestra Ribeiro Bastos in São João del-Rei hold manuscripts and performing parts used in editions of his music. Other materials used by editors are held by the Orquestra Ramalho in Tiradentes and music collections in Itapecerica and Viçosa.
Some parts contain missing rests, unclear notes, inconsistent syllabification, and differences in instrumentation. Editors must also decide how many players to use and how to approach music written for nineteenth-century simple-system flutes when it is performed on a Boehm-system flute.
Two works for choir and orchestra were printed in Munich during Xavier's lifetime. Missa No. 5 was printed in 1884, with the Kyrie and Gloria. Matinas do Natal was printed in 1885, with an invitatory and eight responsories. The publisher and plate numbers are unknown. Most Brazilian sacred scores printed in the nineteenth century paired a solo voice with piano, organ, or harmonium. Xavier's two editions were issued for choir and orchestra.
Selected works
Selected dated works are listed below.
Work Year Liturgical use and scoring Notes Qui sedes and Quoniam 1839 Sections of the Gloria for bass solo Based on a trio by Rossini Missa da Assunção 1851 Mass for the Assumption Novena de Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte 1855 Novena of Our Lady of the Good Death Matinas do Natal de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo 1866 Christmas matins for choir and orchestra Contains a solo flute part and was printed in Munich in 1885 Novena de São Sebastião 1869 Novena of Saint Sebastian Contains a solo flute part Matinas do Espírito Santo 1869 Matins for Pentecost, for choir and orchestra Missa de Catedral 1870 Mass Matinas de Quinta-feira Santa 1871 Matins for Maundy Thursday, for choir and orchestra Part of the Ofício de Trevas Matinas de Sexta-feira Santa 1871 Matins for Good Friday Part of the Ofício de Trevas Matinas de Sábado Santo 1871 Matins for Holy Saturday Part of the Ofício de Trevas Ofício de Domingo de Ramos 1872 Office for Palm Sunday The manuscript asks performers to moderate the Allegro tempos Adoramus te Christe 1875 Holy Week motet for choir and chamber orchestra Missa de Requiem 1876 Requiem Mass Missa No. 5 1880 Kyrie and Gloria for choir and orchestra Printed in Munich in 1884
Legacy
Conservatory and institutional commemoration