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| Amália, the queen and the soul of Fado, popularized the genre worldwide |
Fado, the famous urban folk popular song of Portugal, was inscribed on the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, on the 27th of November, 2011 (can check information about Fado in documents in English and French).
Fado is a performance genre incorporating music and poetry widely practised by various communities in Lisbon. It is usually performed by a solo singer, male or female, traditionally accompanied by a wire-strung acoustic guitar and the Portuguese guitarra – a pear-shaped cittern with twelve wire strings, unique to Portugal, which also has an extensive solo repertoire. The past few decades have witnessed this instrumental accompaniment expanded to two Portuguese guitars, a guitar and a bass guitar.
For centuries ships have sailed from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, around the globe and brought to European shores the first news of many unknown cultures in Africa, Asia and the Americas. There is also a clear and strong Moorish (Arabic) influence in Portuguese culture that it is evident in Fado.
In each returning ship there came also songs that spoke of the dangers of the voyage and all the fascination for the new worlds explored, full of exotic tunes and rhythms. Songs that also tell about loneliness and homesickness and the fragility of mankind against the fury of the elements and the unpredictable nature of human fate.
In the 1820s and 1830s a new song was born in Lisbon. Which was to become the very mirror of the multicultural identity of the city and of its people. It was called Fado. A word that means fate in the Portuguese language.
The main roots of the early 19th Century Lisbon Fado were a sung dance of the same name, that had developed in the Portuguese colony of Brazil mixing European song patterns and syncopated African rhythms both nostalgic and sensual.
But Fado was immediately taken over by the people of the poor neighborhoods along the Lisbon harbor and combined with local song and dance traditions to become a central element in the Lisbon popular culture.
Soon, the taverns where the Fado was sung began to attract the attention and curiosity of other essential groups of the city seduced by the magic of its song. Around 1940, a young prostitute of the popular neighborhood of Moraria, Maria Severa, was known as a remarkable Fado singer, became the first icon of the Fado tradition, whose name was to be remembered and celebrated in Fado lyrics ever since then.
Fado soon expanded, not only in the circuit of taverns around the outskirts of Lisbon, but even to the joined grooms of the middle classes and to the theatres. By the turn of the century Fado also became associated with the growing trade union and socialist movement as a song of political protest and social reform, often with radical propaganda lyrics.
The establishment of the military dictatorship in 1926 brought with it a stern censorship of all Fado lyrics and also saw the expansion of the genre all over the country, through the development of the recording industry and the advent of radio.
In the 1930s and 40s a growing net of small restaurants with resident Fado performers led to the birth of a new generation of professional singers, who established new performance codes that greatly enlarge the genre’s repertory. Greatest among these was singer and composer Alfredo Marceneiro.
But Fado also found remarkable exponents in Lucília do Carmo, Hermínia Silva, a major star of the musical theatre, and even in amateur artists born into aristocratic families like countess Maria Teresa da Noronha.
Associated with Fado is a musical instrument unique to Portugal, the twelve string pear shape Portuguese guitar. In the 1930s and 40s guitar virtuosos such as Armandinho revolutionized the instrumental techniques used for accompanying the voice and develop a rich soloistic Fado repertoire.
In the late 1940s and 50s an extraordinary voice emerged from the circles of the Lisbon Fado and conquered the international music hall circuit: Amália Rodriques.
She became a household name and a hallmark in the Portuguese culture all over the world. Amália also attracted to Fado some of the greatest poets of the Portuguese language, linking high literature into popular culture in a way that the genre had never known. She opened the way for an even wider international exposure of Fado in the next generation of performers, especially with Carlos do Carmo.
In the decades that followed the democratic revolution of 1974 a new wave of Fado singers emerged with Camané, Mísia, Cristina Branco, Aldina Duarte and more recently Cátia Guerreiro, Carminho, Ana Moura, Ricardo Ribeiro and Mariza. They entered the first row of the music international circuit and reinforced the role of Fado as worldwide acknowledged symbol of the Portuguese cultural identity. Combining the time all Fado traditions with crossover experiments with other musical languages and genres. These young artists also strengthened the role of Fado as an identity factor cherished and shared by the Portuguese youth.
In almost two centuries of history, Fado has constantly evolved to match the rhythm of change of Portuguese culture as a whole. It remains, however, faithful to its essential nature, a song of Lisbon and Portugal, a song open to the sea and to the world, eager to be not only a symbol of Portuguese identity recognized as such internally and abroad, but also a permanent bridge for multicultural exchange. And as such, it represents indeed a major Portuguese contribution to the world’s common intangible cultural heritage.
More information in the “Sofia’s Place MUSIC EXPERIENCE a soulful selection” file and online at
www.museudofado.pt,
www.portaldofado.net and
www.unesco.org (
here)
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David Byrne (musician and producer) on Amália's music: "
she expresses the sadness of the Universe and existence"
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Some Fado VIDEOS:
Amália Rodrigues:
Gaivota (
Gaivota) ;
Grito (studio) ;
Grito (live in Japan)
Camané:
Sei de Um Rio
Ricardo Ribeiro:
Destino Marcado
Ana Moura:
Até ao Verão
Carminho:
As Pedras da Minha Rua;
A Bia da Mouraria ;
Meu Amor Marinheiro ;
Rão Kyao:
Fado Bailado (with saxophone)
Paulo Bragança:
O Farol
Mariza:
Gente da Minha Terra (live)
Alfredo Marceneiro:
Fado Cravo ;
Amor é Água que Corre
Lucília do Carmo:
Lisboa Casta Princesa
Carlos do Carmo:
Homem na Cidade
Aldina Duarte:
Princesa Prometida
Argentina Santos:
Viva Vivida
Dead Combo:
Esse Olhar Que Era Só Teu
And Carlos Paredes, the Portuguese guitar genius (american label
Drag City prints/sells two albuns):
Verdes Anos,
Canto do Amanhecer,
Variações de Artur Paredes.
If Portugal has a sound, it is the sound of
Canto de Rua (Street Song) a composition by Carlos Paredes. Two other versions: one in Gisela João's debut album (
Canto de Rua) by Ricardo Parreira, and another by Rafael Fraga (
Canto de Rua).
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Related:
SOFIA'S PLACE MUSIC EXPERIENCE - A SOULFUL SELECTION
FADO FILM SELECTION IN SOFIA'S PLACE
SOFIA'S PLACE AUDITORIUM
