Undoubtedly the leading Portuguese symphonist of the twentieth century, Joly Braga Santos was a gifted composer for the orchestra. His musical language is based on a strong sense of architecture as well as drama, with generous melodic lines and a natural instinct for structural development. In his own words, he wanted to contribute “toward a Latin symphonism and to react against the predominant tendency of the generation that preceded me to reject monumentalism in music”. At times recalling the symphonies of Bruckner and Sibelius, Braga Santos’ Symphony No. 4 is one of his longest and most accomplished in balance and form, as well as in orchestration. The Symphonic Variations on a popular song from the Alentejo are influenced by local folk-songs, which the composer considered to be “of mesmerizing originality and grandeur”.