As a significant choral composer of the Renaissance, his motets and masses enjoyed huge popularity in Britain until the mid-19th century, but the name of Duarte Lôbo of Portugal has long been forgotten here. Now Portuguese vocal ensemble Cupertinos is reviving interest in him with the release of 18 world premiere recordings.

Some of the works were only recently discovered and reconstructed, and some were already known but had not been recorded, scattered across archives worldwide, from Mexico to Italy. They include two masses, each with five movements, and eight Christmas responsories.

Their survival is all the more interesting because much of his music is thought to have been destroyed in the catastrophic earthquake that hit Lisbon in 1755.

A motet, Audivi vocem, and a six-part Requiem are among surviving masterpieces by Lôbo (c.1565–1646), chapel master at the Cathedral in Lisbon, who enjoyed the patronage of King John IV of Portugal and who became the most widely performed Portuguese composer of his time.

His music was also highly prized in England in the 18th- and early 19th-centuries, performed by the Academy of Ancient Music and the Madrigal Society, among others.

Luís Toscano, Cupertinos’s musical director, told the Sunday Telegraph that there is also some extraordinary music among the 18 premieres: “They reflect his mastery of polyphonic writing. The music is so uplifting and beautiful. There are such touching moments, because the music has such a close relation with the text.”