Fado

Refimprove|date=May 2008Infobox Music genre
name=Fado
bgcolor=mediumvioletred
color=white
stylistic_origins=Portuguese music, possibly with Moorish and Brazilian modinha influences
cultural_origins=Early 19th century Lisbon, Portugal
instruments=Portuguese guitar
popularity=Much in Portugal; sporadic elsewhere, especially France, The Netherlands and Japan
derivatives=Coimbra Fado
subgenrelist=
subgenres=
fusiongenres=
regional_scenes=
other_topics=

Fado (translated as destiny or fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. In popular belief, Fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. However, in reality Fado is simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain structure.

The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word "saudade" (that has no match in English but it could be understood as nostalgia felt while missing someone), a word describing a sentiment. Another similar English translation can be to pine for something or someone.

Some enthusiasts claim that Fado's origins are a mixture of African slave rhythms with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors and Arabic influence.

There are two main varieties of Fado, namely those of the cities of Lisbon and Coimbra. The Lisbon style is the most popular, while Coimbra's is the more refined style. Modern fado is popular in Portugal, and has produced many renowned musicians. According to tradition, to applaud fado in Lisbon you clap your hands.

Mainstream fado performances during the 20th century included only a singer, a Portuguese guitar player and a classical guitar player but more recent settings range from singer and string quartet to full orchestra.

Cape-Verdean morna is a close relative of fado.

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History

The fado is undoubtedly Portugal's most famous music. One theory states that Fado had its origin in Moorish songs, which were preserved in the quarter of Mouraria in Lisbon. The melancholy of those songs and the references in many fado lyrics to this part of Lisbon support that theory. Musicological research connects the first fado performances to modinhas, which were a kind of Brazilian hall music that was successful among middle-class social circles in the later 18th century in Lisbon and Porto: at the time, Brazilian students were a strong presence in the University of CoimbraFact|date=December 2007.

The first great fado singer who survived in collective memory is Maria Severa Onofriana, who lived in the first half of the 19th century. In the 1920s and 1930s, a series of fado de Coimbra (a version born in Coimbra) recordings were very popular. Guitarists Carlos Paredes and his father Artur Paredes were the masters and the great pioneers of this genre and of the Portuguese guitar. The Orfeon Académico de Coimbra was, and still is, one of the most prominent ambassadors of Fado de Coimbra, along with an internationally recognized choral activity.

Amália Rodrigues introduced the best-known variety of fado. Still today, after her death in 1999, Rodrigues is considered to have been the greatest fado diva ever. After she died, a new wave of performers added stylistic changes and brought more international popularity to the traditional Portuguese music. In the last few decades there has also been some successful experimentation with fado by mixing it with electronic music. Carlos do Carmo, Mariza, Ana Moura, Mafalda Arnauth, Camané, Katia Guerreiro and Mísia brought with them a new look to the traditional song, occasionally reviving 19th century fado.

Whilst Dulce Pontes mixed fado with popular and traditional Portuguese music, Madredeus and Cristina Branco added new instruments and themes – all they kept of the original Fado are its looks and the concept of saudade. The fado is almost universally sorrowful, although some can also be joyful songs.

Mísia and Mariza are considered to be the best fado singers of the newest generation.

Lisboa Fado

Fado probably arose from the taverns and popular squares of working-class city sectors (Alfama, Castelo, Mouraria, Bairro Alto, Madragoa), being sung and heard by the people until the well-to-do began frequenting those places to join in the enjoyment of the music. The first fado singer of renown was Maria Severa. The most popular themes were "saudade", nostalgia, the small stories of everyday life in the traditional sections of town (bairros típicos) and Bullfights: these were also the themes for songs that were permitted by the Salazar dictatorship, and these themes pushed aside the tragic fado, which dealt with lovers’ jealousy or passion, often leading to violence, with lots of blood, repentance and remorse. The lyrics that were concerned with social or political problems, or which featured any complaint about the establishment, were repressed by the regime's censorship. [cite web | url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW26VoEhF5k| author = WeNeedARevolution | title = Mariza and the Story of Fado (clip) | accessmonthday = April 21 | accessyear = 2009]

The “classic” fado (also known as "fado castiço") was performed by the earliest performers of whom anything is known: among others these were Carlos Ramos, Alfredo Marceneiro, Berta Cardoso, Maria Teresa de Noronha, Hermínia Silva, Fernando Farinha, Fernando Maurício, Lucília do Carmo, Manuel de Almeida.

Modern fado began, and had its heyday, with Amália Rodrigues. She popularized fados that featured the words of great poets, such as Luís de Camões, José Régio, Pedro Homem de Mello, Alexandre O’Neill, David Mourão-Ferreira, José Carlos Ary dos Santos, João Ferreira-Rosa, Teresa Tarouca, Carlos do Carmo, Beatriz da Conceição, Maria da Fé.

João Braga also carved out his name in the history of fado's revitalization because of the quality of the poems and the music that he performed: he interpreted poems by the authors mentioned earlier, as well as works by Fernando Pessoa, António Botto, Affonso Lopes Vieira, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Miguel Torga or Manuel Alegre. Braga was also the mentor of a new generation of ‘’fadistas’’.

Along with the attention to lyrics, new instrument accompaniment and music by distinguished composers were introduced: Amália collaborated with Alain Oulman (an important contributor to the modernization of fado musical accompaniment), and others who played similar roles were Frederico de Freitas, Frederico Valério, José Fontes Rocha, Alberto Janes, and Carlos Gonçalves.

The Lisboa fado that is known throughout the world today can be (and often is) accompanied by violin, cello, or even by a complete orchestra, but the Portuguese guitar (guitarra portuguesa) is always an essential element. There still are today great musicians, such as Armandinho, José Nunes, Jaime Santos, Raul Nery, José Fontes Rocha, Carlos Gonçalves,Custodio Castelo, Pedro Caldeira Cabral, José Luís Nobre Costa,Ricardo Parreira , Paulo Parreira and Ricardo Rocha. The viola de fado (a Spanish style guitar) is also central to some of the fado music, such as is the case with viola de fado performers such as Alfredo Mendes, Martinho d'Assunção, Júlio Gomes, José Inácio, Francisco Perez Andión, o Paquito, Jaime Santos Jr., Carlos Manuel Proença, or with the greatest fado performer of the fado guitar bass (known in Portuguese as viola baixo) Joel Pina.

Today many younger singers – Maria Ana Bobone, Mariza, Joana Amendoeira, Misia, Miguel Capucho, Mafalda Arnauth, Ana Sofia Varela, Kátia Guerreiro, Camané, Gonçalo Salgueiro, Diamantina, Cristina Branco, Ana Moura – have added their names to those of the great "fadistas", and are giving this urban song an amazing revival.

The traditional fado or ”típico” today is sung mainly for tourists in “fado houses” ("casas de fado"), with the traditional instrumentation. The best fado houses are found in the traditional or "bairros típicos" of Alfama, Mouraria, Bairro Alto and Madragoa. It maintains the characteristics of the tradition: singing past and present sorrow with bitter sadness. But fado can also tell a funny story with irony, or provide a way for two singers to battle, improvising the verses – this is called the desgarrada.

Coimbra Fado

This fado is closely linked to the academic traditions of the University of Coimbra and is exclusively sung by men; both the singers and musicians wear the academic outfit (traje académico): dark robe, cape and leggings. It is sung at night, almost in the dark, in city squares or streets. The most typical venues are the stair steps of the Santa Cruz Monastery and the Old Cathedral of Coimbra. It is also customary to organize serenades where songs are performed before the window of the woman to be courted.

The Coimbra fado is accompanied by either a Portuguese guitar or by a classical guitar; the tuning and sound coloring of the Portuguese guitar in Coimbra are quite different from that of Lisbon.

The most sung themes: student love, love for the city and bohemia, and the ironic and critical reference to the discipline and conservative nature of the professors and their courses. Noted singers of this style are Augusto Hilário, António Menano, and Edmundo Bettencourt.

In the 1950’s, a new movement took the singers of Coimbra to adopt the ballad and folklore. They began interpreting lines of the great poets, both classical and contemporary, as a form of resistance to the Salazar dictatorship. In this movement names such as Adriano Correia de Oliveira and José Afonso (Zeca Afonso) had a leading role in the revolution taking place in popular Portuguese music.

Regarding the Portuguese guitar, Artur Paredes revolutionized the tuning and the accompaniment style to the Coimbra fado, adding his name to the most progressive and innovative singers. Artur Paredes was the father of Carlos Paredes, who followed and expanded on his work, making the Portuguese guitar an instrument known around the world.

Some of the most famous fados of Coimbra include: "Fado Hilário", "Saudades de Coimbra" (“Do Choupal até à Lapa”), "Balada da Despedida" (“Coimbra tem mais encanto, na hora da despedida”, the first verses are more recognizable than the song title), "O meu menino é d’oiro", and "Samaritana".

Curiously, it is not a Coimbra fado but a song which is the most known title referring to this city: "Coimbra é uma lição", which had success with titles such as "April in Portugal".

Fado in North America

Several singers of the traditional Portuguese fado have appeared in Canada and the United States.

One of these, Ramana Vieira, regularly performs in the San Francisco Bay Area with unique blends of musical accompaniment that may include classical guitar, bass, percussion, violin and mandolin. Ramana received her formal voice training at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and has been called "The New Voice of Portuguese World Music." [ [http://www.ramanavieira.net/ Ramana Vieira website] ]

San Francisco's Brava Theater often hosts fado performances. Since its founding in 1986, Brava has invited a number of fado singers to perform, including Dona Rosa, Cristina Branco and Ramana Vieira. [ [http://www.brava.org/ Brava Theater] ]

In Canada one can look to Vancouver based [http://www.salomefado.com Salome] . The large Portuguese communities in Toronto and Montreal are also home to local fado singers that perform regularly in community events in these two cities.

Stretching the tradition of fado even further, the Northern California-based band [http://www.fadocore.com Judith and Holofernes] blends the unique and mournful beauty of fado with their own indie and punk rock upbringing, taking fado from the aristocracy and giving it back to the people. The group's interpretation, cheekily referred to as "fadocore," is also representative of Northern California's own blend of Portuguese and American culturse that resulted from the mass migrations of the 1950s and 1960s.

References

1. Now at http://spainforvisitors.com/archive/features/fado.htm?meid=10142. "Fados": a 2007 movie about fado by Carlos Saura, a Spanish director, at http://www.fados-saura.com/

External links

* [http://www.fado.com Fado.com - Website featuring biographies, news, online comunity, videos and music]
* [http://www.fado.biz Terreiro do Fado]
* [http://www.misia-online.com Mísia's official Website]
* [http://www.hmmusica.com HM Música]
* [http://www.verdesanos.com/home.htm "Verdes Anos" - Coimbra Fado group]
* [http://www.heldermoutinho.com Helder Moutinho]
* [http://www.telmopires.com Telmo Pires]
* [http://www.custodiocastelo.net Custodio Castelo]
* [http://www.encoresfado.com Encores Fado]
* [http://www.myspace.com/custodiocastelo Custodio Castelo]
* [http://www.mariza.com Mariza official webpage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/margaridaguerreiro Margarida Guerreiro]
* [http://www.fado.nl Fado in the Netherlands]
* [http://www.insideworldmusic.com/cs/portugal.htm Inside World Music: Portuguese and Fado music]
* [http://www.aac.uc.pt/~orfeon Orfeon Académico de Coimbra]
* [http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/staticpages/index.php/fado World Music Central: Fado music]
* [http://www.ofadodelisboa.blogspot.com O FADO de LISBOA]
* [http://www.accessibleportugal.com/revista/Setembro/fado.html Fado´s Article] by Ana Graça and Vania Costa in Accessible Travel Magazine, September 2006
* [http://www.portaldofado.net/ Portal do Fado]
* [http://www.myspace.com/poeticasaudadefadobelem Poética Saudade Fado Belém]
* [http://www.verdesanos.com/gp_e.htm Portuguese guitar]