António Fernandes

António Fernandes was a Portuguese music theorist born in Souzel, near Évora, around 1595, although the date of his birth is considered approximate. He died sometime after 1680. His importance lies in having written the first treatise on music in the Portuguese language, a text that opens a theoretical tradition in Portugal extending down to Luís Álvares Pinto's Arte de solfejar, published in 1761.

He trained with Duarte Lobo, to whom he dedicated the treatise that brought him renown. Ordained a priest, he served as vicar choral at the church of Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai in Lisbon. It is possible that he was the António Fernandes who in 1642 appeared in the royal chapel choir of João IV at Vila Viçosa, where he combined singing with directing, a practice which, according to some accounts, was due to his wish to increase his income; the identification, however, is not confirmed.

His Arte de musica de canto dorgam, e canto cham & proporções, printed in Lisbon in 1626, is a quarto volume of 131 leaves. Fernandes did not aim to be original: he clearly summarised his predecessors, especially Zarlino, with the needs of a practising choirmaster in mind. For this reason he treats polyphony first, then plainchant, and leaves more academic matters such as proportions and genres until the end. He also follows an ancient division, dating back to Boethius, between animated and organic music.

The catalogue of João IV's library, dated 1649, also attributes to him an unpublished speculative treatise, Especulação de segredos de Musica, dated 1634. Barbosa Machado, for his part, claimed that the library bequeathed by Francisco de Valhadolid in 1700 contained three other unpublished works by him, among them a treatise on polyphony which, according to its own title, was written by an old man of 85 eager to avoid idleness. These reports, transmitted by later sources, should be treated with caution.