(Port. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian).
Portuguese organization for supporting the arts, charity, education and sciences. It was founded on 18 July 1956, in accordance with the will of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (b Istanbul, 29 March 1869; d Lisbon, 20 July 1955), a pioneer of the Middle Eastern oil industry, an enlightened amateur of the arts and philanthropist. The foundation's headquarters are in Lisbon, but its activities, though centred in Portugal, extend to many other countries.
The foundation supports music chiefly by granting subsidies or financing projects of its own to promote four main concerns: the musical education and professional improvement of musicians, the encouragement of contemporary music and musicians, the study and performance of lesser-known works including important musicological projects, and the growth of public interest in music and the creation of new audiences through its own resident groups: an orchestra, a choir and a dance company. Scholarships are granted for training professional musicians; conservatories and academies of music, concert societies, choral groups and other organizations have been subsidized.
In its promotion of musicological research the Gulbenkian Foundation has financed the indexing and classification of music in several Portuguese libraries (in Lisbon, Évora, Coimbra, Oporto, Braga, Mafra, Viseu, Lamego and Faro), the most valuable items being published as printed music in the series Portugaliae Musica; by 1995 this numbered 50 volumes. The editions include operas, orchestral and choral music, a cappella choral music and organ and harpsichord music by the most representative Portuguese composers from the 16th century to the 19th. The foundation has also been responsible for books on musicology, catalogues, new editions of the complete keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti (published by Heugel), and the complete works of Berlioz (published by Bärenreiter). Its other activities include the restoration of a number of Portugal's historic organs and, since 1980, the organization of an annual early music festival.
The foundation's plan to commission works every year from leading contemporary composers has led to new compositions by Messiaen, Penderecki, Xenakis, Berio, Cristobal Halffter, Milhaud, Camargo Guarnieri, Boucourechliev, Lutosławski, Richard Rodney Bennett, Stockhausen, Maderna, Cage, Takemitsu, Denisov, Ferneyhough, Peixinho, Nunes and others. The Gulbenkian Orchestra and the Gulbenkian Choir (created in 1962 and 1964) perform a key role in Portuguese musical life, tour frequently and have made many recordings, several of which have won major awards. The Ballet Gulbenkian (created in 1965) has also made its mark both in Portugal, where its contemporary dance repertory is unique, and abroad. Throughout the year the Gulbenkian Foundation presents concerts in Lisbon with its own choir and orchestra, as well as hosting visits from internationally renowned orchestras, soloists and chamber ensembles.
CARLOS DE PONTES LEÇA