Young Caesar Rafael surprised to receive European Composition Award

A distinction was attributed by the work “Saudades, only Portuguese”, premiered worldwide on August 7 at Konzerthaus Berlin, by the Young Portuguese Orchestra (JOP), under the Young Euro Classic festival. The award was announced during the festival closing concert.

The work arose from the theme taken by JOP to the festival and proposed by conductor Pedro Carneiro.

The choice of longing happened immediately, also by the desire to present to an international public a concept associated with Portuguese culture.

“ I thought it would be challenging to write about such a theme”, explained the composer, who sought to spread the longing “in my own musical language and in the best way I can, with an audience to whom this concept is unknown”.

The title of the work establishes a relationship with Fernando Pessoa and “Message”. The composition accompanies the transformation of the feeling, from the farewell to the moment that the longing approaches the nostalgia.

“ With the background of the ‘Message’ of Pessoa and the exaltation of the era of Discoveries, the music translates the longing for a time that, like Pessoa, the composer never lived”, explained César Rafael, in statements to the agency Lusa.

The play still seeks to look at those who stand on the ground at the departure of someone to the unknown. It is, according to the composer, “a look of empathy toward those who once stood on the ground to see their departure toward the unknown ‘by seas never before sailed’”.

Turning longing into music was one of the main challenges of the composition. Caesar Rafael developed a dramatic narrative to accompany the farewell and transformation of feeling, crossing different sound environments.

“ From the beginning, it presents the sea as a sound environment and explores melodies that translate farewells, which turn into revolt and despair ", described.

Listening to the work for the first time at Konzerthaus Berlin was “extraordinary” for Caesar Rafael. The acoustics of the room and the interpretation of JOP contributed to an experience that described it as both frightening and joyful.

“JOP gave a life to the play in a way that I had never imagined,” he stressed.

The concert ended with a standing ovation in front of a full room. For the composer, the moment represented “a sense of mission accomplished”, after months of work.

“ Something that I try to keep in mind in the act of composition is that the music will be played for the public, enjoyed by the public ", revealed, adding that "seeing the whole room standing was the living proof that this care was worth it."

The European distinction arises after Caesar Rafael also won the JOP Young Composer Contest in the 2025/26 season. The composer considers that the two recognitions help validate a path developed in an area that faces limitations in Portugal.

“It’s difficult in Portugal, sometimes, to feel validated in this area,” he admitted, pointing to the reduced size of the area of composition and the scarcity of opportunities to listen and present new works.

“ We do not always have the opportunity to listen to our work and we can feel alone and our work unknown”, he added. Therefore, the two distinctions represent “a great strength of motivation and validation” of the quality, effort and work that has been developed.

Born in Vila Real in 2001, César Rafael began his musical studies at the Regional Conservatory of Vila Real, in trumpet, before developing his interest in the composition at ESPROARTE, in Mirandela. In 2020, he joined the University of Évora, where he studied composition with Christopher Bochmann, Hugo Ribeiro and Pedro Amaral. He completed his Master's in Music Teaching in 2025.

The next work of the composer to be presented will be “The View from Halfway Down”, for solo saxophone and orchestra, played by Mário Marques and the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, under the direction of conductor Pedro Amaral, on October 25, in Alcobaça.