António Machado e Cerveira

António Xavier Machado e Cerveira (Tamengos, near Anadia, diocese of Coimbra, 1 September 1756 – Caxias, 14 September 1828) was one of the most distinguished and prolific Portuguese organ builders of his time. His importance lies both in the quality of his instruments and in his approach to the craft, which stood midway between business and art.

The son of the organ builder Manuel Machado Teixeira, he grew up in his father's workshop. His father had completed in 1781 a large organ for the Hieronymite monastery of Belém in Lisbon, with 74 stops and 4,010 pipes, and the young Machado e Cerveira took part in that work. On account of his work in the chapel of the Queluz Palace and in the basilica at Mafra, completed in 1807, he was elected a member of the Brotherhood of St Cecilia in 1808 and became organ builder to the royal household. He worked almost until his death; when ill, he retired to Caxias and was buried in Belém. The workshop remained active for a short time under his widow and an apprentice, but eventually closed.

He is known to have built at least 105 instruments, of which some 30 survive. Although he initially made a few organs in the Baroque style, he soon turned decisively to Neoclassicism. Among his most notable works is the organ of the Cistercian convent of Lorvão (1795), with two manuals and 61 stops, installed in an unusual manner over an arch dividing the nave and with two facades. Many of his organs were sent to the Azores, and it is believed that some also reached Brazil and other Portuguese colonies, although the latter is only a generally accepted assumption.

Machado e Cerveira recorded each instrument: his signature, opus number and date appeared on a plaque above the keyboard. This documentation today makes it possible to identify his works in Lisbon, among them those of St Roch (1784), Mártires (1785), the Basílica da Estrela (1789) and the Palácio da Bemposta (1792). His legacy is that of a builder who united craft, art and the complete production of instruments, at a time of transition in Portuguese organ building.