Bresciaoggi
An appreciative account of the braguinha programme, highlighting its delicate miniatures and its links with Portuguese musical traditions. Published in the newspaper’s classical record column.
Da Vinci Classics
Davide Donelli, Giovanni Albini, Pedro Gonçalves
Physical Release: 27 March 2026
Digital Release: 2 April 2026
Davide Donelli, Giovanni Albini and Pedro Gonçalves explore contemporary miniatures for braguinhas, revealing new compositional possibilities for these small plucked instruments.
13.76€
Digital programme · 14 tracks
Track timings refer to the digital edition.
Giovanni Albini (b. 1982), composer, ukulelist and music theorist, is a tenured professor of Music Theory, Solfège and Music Perception and head of research at the Conservatory “Antonio Vivaldi” of Alessandria (Italy), where he also teaches the first Italian ukulele university class. He also teaches Composition at the Conservatory of Lugano (Swiss Confederation), and is an academic member of the Istituto di Studi Superiori dell’Insubria “Gerolamo Cardano”.
He has composed several concert music scores that have been performed by international soloists, ensembles, and orchestras around the world (Europe, USA, Canada and Japan), as well as many tracks for video art, exhibitions, multimedia, commercials, trailers, videogames and television. His music has been recorded in monographic albums and collections and published by Brilliant Classics, Da Vinci Publishing, and Stradivarius.
His theoretical research focus on algebraic and geometrical formalization of musical elements, mathematically informed aesthetics, quantitative methods in music analysis and composition, new technologies for composition and music didactics, and ukulele's technique and arranging features. He has given lectures, paper presentations and masterclasses at many universities, conservatories and institutions, including: Yale University (New Haven, USA), Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, USA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico City), Open University (Milton Keynes, UK), Lithuanian Union of Composers (Vilnius, Lithuania), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and Biennale di Venezia (Italy).
He is a ukulelist devoted to the modern and classical reportoire and he commissions and performs new contemporary classical music written for the ukulele and transcribe classical and renowned contemporary and twentieth century scores for it, fostering the development of a new challenging and cultivated ukulele repertoire and aiming to deepen and evolve the idiomatic unique features of the instrument. He is the founding co-director of the First Ukulele International Conference (UIC 2021) – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Performance, Composition, and Organology, hosted by the Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment of the University of Milan (Italy). He is the founding Artistic Director of the highSCORE New Music Center and of the highSCORE Festival, today’s principal Italian Contemporary Music Festival offering masterclasses.
He studied Composition at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory of Milan, where he achieved his bachelor and master degree of music. He subsequently received a ‘diploma di perfezionamento’ in Composition at the prestigious Accademia Nazionale di “Santa Cecilia” in Rome. He also completed a bachelor and a master of science in Mathematics and graduated in Classical Guitar. He received his PhD in Composition from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn. His mentors in composition include Ivan Fedele, Mario Garuti, Paul Glass, Toivo Tulev, and Tõnu Kõrvits. His mentors in guitar include Maurizio Preda, Roberto Pinciroli, and Betho Davezac.
He is an Aquila Corde Armoniche official endorser.
Davide Donelli is a guitarist, educator, and specialist in both classical and folk plucked instruments, with a strong focus on historical performance practice. He studied at several Italian conservatories, deepening his knowledge of early instruments and diverse folk traditions, from the Renaissance guitar to the ukulele. Active as a performer, researcher, and cultural promoter, he directs the “C. Monteverdi” Music School in Cologno Monzese and is a leading figure in the dissemination of ukulele culture in Italy.
Pedro Gonçalves is a Madeiran musician, teacher, and researcher specializing in the traditional chordophones of his homeland: the braguinha, rajão, and viola d’arame. He teaches these instruments at the Conservatório – Escola das Artes da Madeira (Portugal) and is a PhD candidate at NOVA University Lisbon, where his research focuses on the history and pedagogy of Madeiran instruments. As a performer and composer, he collaborates with the Xarabanda association and various ensembles, actively promoting and expanding the repertoire of his island’s musical heritage.
Alessandro De Iturbe is a composer represented on Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas by 2x2, co-written with Chiara Ferraresi. The work forms part of a collection of newly commissioned miniatures exploring the contemporary expressive possibilities of the Madeiran braguinha, and is performed by Pedro Gonçalves and Giovanni Albini.
Chiara Ferraresi is a composer represented on Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas by 2x2, co-written with Alessandro De Iturbe. The work forms part of a collection of newly commissioned miniatures exploring the contemporary expressive possibilities of the Madeiran braguinha, and is performed by Pedro Gonçalves and Giovanni Albini.
Davide Tramontano (Piacenza, 2000) studied composition at the “Nicolini” Conservatory in Piacenza under Carlo Alessandro Landini and Barbara Rettagliati, and later perfected his training through masterclasses and advanced courses with Giorgio Colombo Taccani, Stefano Gervasoni, Ivan Fedele, Oscar Strasnoy, and Michael Jarrell.
Emanuele Maria Fiammetti is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music with a background in composition, singing and cello performance. His works explore imaginative soundscapes that evoke emotional experiences and the oneiric world. Emanuele has created chamber works, vocal pieces, and orchestral compositions that have been performed by prominent ensembles across Europe. Recent works include “Orange Flowers” for solo cello which won the International Prize for Composition "Valentino Bucchi" of Rome, and “Scènes Vues Autrefois” premiered by the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.
Emanuele holds degrees in Music Composition and Cello Performance from the Milan Conservatory, obtaining the highest possible degree evaluation for his composition degree and winning the 2020 “Premio del Conservatorio” scholarship as one of the institute’s top students. He has also completed a Composition Diploma at Lund University under the mentorship of Bent Sørensen.
Fabian Leung is a composer from Texas, based in Baltimore. His music explores themes including memory, cultural identity, climate change and the relationship between people and the natural world, with particular attention to organic processes and harmonic and textural detail. He has worked with ensembles including Lorelei Ensemble, TAK Ensemble, Trio Kanon and the Orlando Philharmonic. His Postlude to a Firefly is included in Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas.
Fabrizio Nastari is an Italian composer whose work frequently uses irony, borrowed material and contrasts between different musical textures. He studied composition and choral conducting in Latina and continued his studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, where he completed doctoral research on compositional strategies involving existing material and irony. His music has been performed by ensembles including the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Mivos Quartet and L'Arsenale. His works for plucked instruments include Ludus and Trafiletto, recorded on Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas.
Giorgio Colombo Taccani, born in Milan in 1961, is an Italian composer. He graduated in piano and composition from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, studying composition with Pippo Molino and Azio Corghi, and continued his training with Franco Donatoni at Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He also attended courses with György Ligeti and a computer-music workshop at IRCAM.
Alongside his musical training, he studied modern literature at the University of Milan with Francesco Degrada. His dissertation on Bruno Maderna’s Hyperion received the Premio Missiroli in 1993. His music explores instrumental colour, expressive detail and clearly articulated musical form.
Giovanni Albini (b. 1982), composer, ukulelist and music theorist, is a tenured professor of Music Theory, Solfège and Music Perception and head of research at the Conservatory “Antonio Vivaldi” of Alessandria (Italy), where he also teaches the first Italian ukulele university class. He also teaches Composition at the Conservatory of Lugano (Swiss Confederation), and is an academic member of the Istituto di Studi Superiori dell’Insubria “Gerolamo Cardano”.
He has composed several concert music scores that have been performed by international soloists, ensembles, and orchestras around the world (Europe, USA, Canada and Japan), as well as many tracks for video art, exhibitions, multimedia, commercials, trailers, videogames and television. His music has been recorded in monographic albums and collections and published by Brilliant Classics, Da Vinci Publishing, and Stradivarius.
His theoretical research focus on algebraic and geometrical formalization of musical elements, mathematically informed aesthetics, quantitative methods in music analysis and composition, new technologies for composition and music didactics, and ukulele's technique and arranging features. He has given lectures, paper presentations and masterclasses at many universities, conservatories and institutions, including: Yale University (New Haven, USA), Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, USA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico City), Open University (Milton Keynes, UK), Lithuanian Union of Composers (Vilnius, Lithuania), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and Biennale di Venezia (Italy).
He is a ukulelist devoted to the modern and classical reportoire and he commissions and performs new contemporary classical music written for the ukulele and transcribe classical and renowned contemporary and twentieth century scores for it, fostering the development of a new challenging and cultivated ukulele repertoire and aiming to deepen and evolve the idiomatic unique features of the instrument. He is the founding co-director of the First Ukulele International Conference (UIC 2021) - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Performance, Composition, and Organology, hosted by the Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment of the University of Milan (Italy). He is the founding Artistic Director of the highSCORE New Music Center and of the highSCORE Festival, today’s principal Italian Contemporary Music Festival offering masterclasses.
He studied Composition at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory of Milan, where he achieved his bachelor and master degree of music. He subsequently received a ‘diploma di perfezionamento’ in Composition at the prestigious Accademia Nazionale di “Santa Cecilia” in Rome. He also completed a bachelor and a master of science in Mathematics and graduated in Classical Guitar. He received his PhD in Composition from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn. His mentors in composition include Ivan Fedele, Mario Garuti, Paul Glass, Toivo Tulev, and Tõnu Kõrvits. His mentors in guitar include Maurizio Preda, Roberto Pinciroli, and Betho Davezac.
He is an Aquila Corde Armoniche official endorser.
Graciano Caldeira is a Madeiran composer represented on Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas by Levada da Serra. The work belongs to the album's selection of music by contemporary composers from Madeira, alongside newly commissioned contributions from composers approaching the braguinha for the first time. Levada da Serra is performed by Pedro Gonçalves.
Guilherme Órfão is a Madeiran musician, composer and arranger specialising in traditional island chordophones, particularly the braguinha. He began studying the instrument at the age of seven and has participated in projects including Si que Brade, Orquestra de Ponteado, Metáfora, FadoFuncho and Timple Meets Madeira. His work combines the instruments' traditional vocabulary with original music and influences from other genres, including jazz. His P8 is included in Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas.
Paulo Esteireiro (born 1975) is a musicologist and multi-instrumentalist musician. He serves as the Director of Research, Communication, Editions, and Training Services at the Conservatory – School of Professional Arts of Madeira and is a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Sociology and Aesthetics of Music (UNL/FCSH). He holds a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree in Musical Sciences from NOVA University Lisbon, having achieved the highest distinction unanimously by the jury in his master’s and doctoral studies. Among his publications, notable works include History of Music in Madeira, Performative Arts in Funchal, Studies on Education and Culture, Democratization in Artistic Education, A Social History of the Piano, Musicians Interpret Camões, 50 Stories of Musicians in Madeira, Regionalization of the Music Education Curriculum, and three books of compositions for Braguinha. He coordinates the Madeira Music Collection – an editorial series that has published eleven CD-ROMs with recordings of historical musical works from Madeira –, the collection Contributions and Ideas for Artistic Education, and the historical sheet music editorial project Anthology of Music in Madeira. He was the author and coordinator of the documentary series Musicians from Madeira for RTP-Madeira (12 documentaries). He has an extensive array of articles and book chapters in national and international scientific publications in the fields of musicology and pedagogy. He regularly delivers presentations and lectures at specialized congresses on arts and education (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Scotland, Austria, Estonia, Poland, Sweden, Cape Verde, and Brazil). He was a guest lecturer at the School of Education in Setúbal (2008-2012), an assistant in the first triennium at the School of Education in Bragança (2002 and 2005), and a guest adjunct professor at the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences (2008-2014).
Pedro Gonçalves is a Madeiran musician, teacher, and researcher specializing in the traditional chordophones of his homeland: the braguinha, rajão, and viola d’arame. He teaches these instruments at the Conservatório - Escola das Artes da Madeira (Portugal) and is a PhD candidate at NOVA University Lisbon, where his research focuses on the history and pedagogy of Madeiran instruments. As a performer and composer, he collaborates with the Xarabanda association and various ensembles, actively promoting and expanding the repertoire of his island’s musical heritage.
The braguinha, also historically known as the machete (or machetinho) of Madeira, is a small plucked chordophone that came into use in Portugal in the 18th century. It has a distinctive guitar-like ‘figure-eight’ shaped body, a long neck, and typically four strings tuned D4-G4-B4-D5. This tuning corresponds to the top four strings of the guitar, transposed one octave higher, though with the first string pitched a whole tone lower. It occupies the soprano register within the family of Portuguese hand guitars. The instrument enjoyed popularity across all social classes: it…
The braguinha, also historically known as the machete (or machetinho) of Madeira, is a small plucked chordophone that came into use in Portugal in the 18th century. It has a distinctive guitar-like ‘figure-eight’ shaped body, a long neck, and typically four strings tuned D4-G4-B4-D5. This tuning corresponds to the top four strings of the guitar, transposed one octave higher, though with the first string pitched a whole tone lower. It occupies the soprano register within the family of Portuguese hand guitars. The instrument enjoyed popularity across all social classes: it was played by peasants in rural settings but also cherished as a parlor instrument among the nobility-famously, Empress Elisabeth of Austria was among its players. At first glance, its appearance may cause it to be mistaken for a ukulele, the more internationally widespread instrument. In fact, in the broader context of cultural migration, the braguinha’s influence extended far beyond its native island. In August 1879, Portuguese immigrants from Madeira arrived in Hawaii, bringing the braguinha with them, and it quickly inspired the creation of the ukulele. However, the braguinha is not only an instrument of historical and musical importance, but also a symbol of memory and identity for the people of Madeira. As Madeiran musician, journalist, folklorist and braguinha performer Carlos Maria Santos poetically observed in 1937, the braguinha “is, even nowadays, in certain homes, an evocation, indelible nostalgia, the remnants of a dream…”.
In this album we have brought together a collection of recent and newly composed works written exclusively for the braguinha, with the aim of highlighting both the contemporary expressions of its rich heritage and the instrument’s modern expressive possibilities. For this reason, we chose to draw on an original repertoire by living composers from Madeira (Caldeira, Esteireiro, Gonçalves, and Órfão), while also commissioning new works from composers who were approaching the instrument for the very first time (De Iturbe, Ferraresi, Fiammetti, Leung, Nastari, Taccani, and Tramontano). Each was invited to explore the braguinha through the lens of their own aesthetics and compositional language. At the same time, we allowed for the occasional use of the guitar, since the tradition of music for the braguinha has often included it as an accompanying instrument. The project deliberately focuses on extremely short pieces-miniatures, concise and striking-in order to convey, in concentrated form, the widest possible variety of expressions. Finally, it is worth underlining the choice to use, for this album, exclusively braguinhas crafted on the island of Madeira by contemporary luthiers continuing the tradition, as well as an Italian guitar which, although classical, was undoubtedly built with a parlor use in mind.
The album opens with a playful exchange: the two braguinha performers dedicate a piece to one another in the role of composer. My Ricercare takes its title from the Italian verb ‘cercare’ (to search) and reflects the intent to explore the instrument’s technical and expressive possibilities. Pedro Gonçalves’ composition, on the other hand, draws upon the rhythms of the bailinho-Madeira’s most distinctive and popular traditional dance-and blends them with delicate harmonic nuances in an unfolding sequence of sections, almost as variations on the dance’s rhythmic pattern.
The third track is a joint composition by two young Italian composers, Alessandro De Iturbe and Alessandra Ferraresi, written for two braguinha performers. Two composers for two performers: hence the concise and effective title, 2×2. Built entirely on imitation, the piece highlights the different expressive approaches of the two interpreters, playing on instruments with slightly contrasting timbres, so that the result emerges like a playful sonic reflection. Fabian Leung’s Postlude to a Firefly follows, with its evocative delicacy and subtle programmatic nuances. The popular inspiration of the next piece, Graciano Caldeira’s Levada da Serra, is embedded in its title-literally ‘the irrigation channel of the mountain’. Here the words of Carlos Maria Santos and his idea of the braguinha as a voice of evocation find new resonance.
This collection could not be complete without a contribution by Paulo Esteireiro, both composer and braguinha performer, whose prolific and versatile catalogue for the instrument is truly remarkable. His Santo Expedito, Paisagens Marítimas, and Manhã Espirituosa offer a glimpse into the stylistic breadth of the Madeiran musician, ranging from contemporary colours to folk-inspired atmospheres.
Two works by Italian composer Fabrizio Nastari follow: Ludus (a trio) and Trafiletto, for solo braguinha. Trafiletto is presented as a divertissement, intended to showcase the instrument’s varied colors. In the trio for two braguinhas and guitar, Nastari-whose artistic research has long explored the concept of irony in music-seems instead to allude to a kind of parodic instrumental electronic music, with loops, the raw materiality of certain gestures, and polyrhythmic layers that may sound like the outcome of granular synthesis. In the following Ar De Presença, Giorgio Colombo Taccani creates a virtuosic tour de force that leaves the performer breathless. Here, timbres, techniques, and gestures that could be perceived as unsettling when isolated are, in the spirit of the Milanese composer’s aesthetic, re-functionalised into crafted sound worlds, integrated within a rich yet transparent form.
The mysterious allure of Davide Tramontano’s Ph.B - Petite Hommage à la Braguinha leads into the refined sonorities of Emanuele Fiammetti’s Il Viola dei Selciati, another highly evocative work.
The album closes with P8 by Guilherme Órfão, a trio that freely and seamlessly blends elements of jazz and folk music, recalling the atmosphere of the places where this music still thrives today-bars, hotel lounges, restaurants, and the street festivals of Madeira.
Giovanni Albini © 2025
Ricercare, Bailinho & Ludus
Gonçalves, Albini & Donelli · Contemporary Braguinhas
A listening selection from Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas · C01149
Selected awards, reviews and interviews. Radio broadcasts and podcasts are listed separately below.
Bresciaoggi
An appreciative account of the braguinha programme, highlighting its delicate miniatures and its links with Portuguese musical traditions. Published in the newspaper’s classical record column.
Diário de Notícias da Madeira
A report on the Italian recording sessions for Miniaturas Contemporâneas para Braguinhas, highlighting Pedro Gonçalves, Giovanni Albini, Davide Donelli and the newly commissioned repertoire.
Explore the coverage ↗ - Diário de Notícias da Madeira
