This guide is about FADO the Portuguese music genre

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- Amália - Coração Independente (2CD) AMALIA RODRIGUES

- Mariza (Limited Deluxe Edition 3CD+2DVD)
       
- Fado Nosso (Edição Especial Limitada CD+DVD) JOAO BRAGA

- Camané - Ao vivo no Coliseu: Sempre de Mim (Edição Especial Limitada CD+DVD)


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NEW Fado online Radio

http://www.amalia.fm
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FADO is a very emotional, melancholy, nostalgic and kind Portuguese folk-song, which make tears or cry even you don't understand portuguese language.  People get amazed when discover themselves FADO music.
On the other hand you have FADO VADIO or DESGARRADA  (kind of live contest between two singers with some joy and competition) and FADO DE COIMBRA (love songs and broken hearts by students). 

Fado music is the heart of the Portuguese soul. It is arguably the oldest urban folk music in the world. Some say it came as a dance from Africa in the 19th century and was adopted by the poor on the streets of Lisbon. Or perhaps it started at sea as the sad, melodic songs coaxed from the rolling waves by homesick sailors and fishermen (tales...).

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.

In fact 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. The word "pine", sharing the same root as the Portuguese word "PENA" (which has evolved to express the feeling of being sorry for someone) seems to describe the meaning of the word SAUDADE only in very crude terms as a feeling of nostalgia, or longing, which is agreed by translators to not be an accurate description. Furthermore, because the word pine is actually a verb in English whilst saudade is simply a noun, any translation using these two words would be inaccurate.

Whatever its origins its themes have remained constant: destiny, betrayal in love, death and despair. A typical lyric goes: “Why did you leave me, where did you go? I walk the streets looking at every place we were together, except you’re not there.” It’s a sad music and a fado performance is not successful if an audience is not moved to tears... well, not always: 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.

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

Like other forms of folk music such as American blues, Argentine tango or Greek rebitika, fado cannot be explained; it must be felt and experienced. One must have the soul to transmit that feeling; a fadista who does not possess saudade is thought of as inauthentic. Audiences are very knowledgeable and very demanding. If they do not feel the fadista is up to form they will stop a performance.

There are two main varieties of FADO, namely those of the cities of LISBOA and COIMBRA. The LISBOA style is the most popular, while COIMBRA's is the more refined style and generally played by university students. Modern FADO is popular in Portugal, and has produced many renowned musicians. According to tradition, to applaud fado in Lisbon you clap your hands, while in Coimbra one coughs like if clearing one's throat.

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

The traditional accompaniment for the fadista is a Portuguese guitar (guitarra), a 12-stringed instrument, and a bass guitar, or viola. Sometimes a second acoustic guitar is added.

Cape-Verdean MORNA is a close relative of fado.

Fado can be performed by men (usually in Coimbra and Lisboa) or women (mainly in Lisboa), although many aficionados prefer the raw emotion of the female fadista. Dressed in black with a shawl draped over her shoulders, a fadista stands in front of the musicians and communicates through gesture and facial expressions. The hands move, the body is stationary. When it’s done correctly, it’s a solemn and majestic performance.

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 Coimbra.

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.

AMALIA 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. Anabela, Carlos do Carmo, Mariza, Ana Moura, Mafalda Arnauth, Camane, Katia Guerreiro and Misia 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.

MISIA, MARIZA, RAQUEL TAVARES are considered to be the best fado singers of the newest generation.

Today the younger generation in Portugal is respectful but not dedicated to fado. But a new generation of young musicians have contributed to the social and political revival of fado music, adapting and blending it with new trends. Contemporary fado musicians like Misia have introduced the music to performers such as Sting. Misia and fadistas like Cristina Branco and Mariza walk the fine line between carrying on the tradition and trying to bring in a new audience.

By the early twentieth century, fado had become a fixture in the everyday life of Lisbon’s working class. It was played for pleasure but also to relieve the pain of life. Skilled singers known as fadistas performed at the end of the day and long into the night. Fado was the earthy music of taverns and brothels and street corners in Alfama and Mouraria, the old poor sections of Lisbon. (Another strain of fado, Coimbra fado, was favored among university students.)

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.

The “classic” fado (also known as fado castico) 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, Carlos "Laço" Chiro.

JOAO 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, Raquel Tavares – 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.

Coimbra Fado

Aside from the Lisbon fado there is another completely different form of this song, sung by the students of Coimbra University whose ancient roots can be found in the medieval songs called TROVAS. Here the subjects are mainly love, friendship and nostalgia. This form of fado reached its most famous period in the 1950s and 1960s when names like Edmundo Bettencourt, Luis Gois, Jose Afonso and the musicians (ZECA AFONSO) and Artur Paredes, CARLOS PAREDES and Antonio Portugal among others, combined new forms and lyrics to a song which was limited to student circles.

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, wich forced the fado performers to become professional and confined them to sing in the fado houses and the so called "revistas", a popular genre of "vaudeville".
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 includes: 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.

Books

You also have sverall books about FADO music, including VERSOS (Poems) Author: Amália Rodrigues Lisbon, Portugal, 1997

Special items

For those special albums or editions you looking for, ask it for a portuguese seller eBayer.

also look for:
TAVARES, RAQUEL - fado singer - portuguese music GUIDE

visit CARMINHO site.
One of the newest voices of Fado:
http://www.carminho.net/

Portal do Fado:
http://www.portaldofado.net/