Page 146 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Lisbon

144  TR A VELLERS ’ NEEDS

Fado: the Music of Lisbon

Like the blues, fado is an expression of longing and
sorrow. Literally meaning “fate”, the term may be
applied to an individual song as well as the genre
itself. The music owes much to the concept known
as saudade, meaning a longing both for what has
been lost and for what has never been attained,
which perhaps accounts for its emotional power.
The people of Lisbon have nurtured this poignant
music in back-street cafés and restaurants for over
150 years, and it has altered little in that time.
It is sung as often by women as men, always A graphic depiction of the music’s low-life
accompanied by the guitarra and viola associations from the 1920s
(acoustic Spanish guitar). Fado from
Coimbra has developed its own All female fadistas wear
lighter-hearted style. a black shawl in memory
of Maria Severa.
The guitarrista plays
the melody and will
occasionally perform a
solo instrumental piece.

Maria Severa (1810–36) was the first
great fadista and the subject of the
first Portuguese sound film in 1931.
Her scandalous life and early death
are pivotal to fado history, and
her spiritual influence has been
enormous, inspiring fados, poems,
novels and plays.
The Fado House
Lisbon’s best fado houses are
those run by fadistas themselves.
Most instruments have The Guitarra Based on a love of the music
12 paired strings, like this one. and on relationships with other
The double strings produce a Peculiar to Portuguese culture, the performers, such houses usually
resonant, silvery-sweet tone. guitarra is a flat-backed instrument offer a truer fado experience
shaped like a mandolin, with eight, than the larger, tourist-oriented
ten or twelve strings, arranged in
pairs. It has evolved from a simple houses. A good example is the
19th-century design into a finely Parreirinha de Alfama, owned
decorated piece, sometimes by Argentina Santos (shown
Delicate mother-of-pearl inlaid with mother-of-pearl. above). Less slick, but more
emotionally charged, are
inlaid flower motifs The sound of the guitarra is an
essential ingredient of a good performances of fado vadio,
Mother-of-pearl fado, echoing and enhancing “itinerant” fado, in humbler
finger plate the singer’s melody line. restaurants and bars such as
Tasca do Chico in Bairro Alto.

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Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Feature template “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.6)
Date 27th March 2014
Size 125mm x 217mm