Last week we blogged about the Portuguese Nobel Laureate, Jose Saramago who was born in Lisbon and surely spent many nights in an intimate restaurant listening to Fado by candlelight. Fado is of African origin, traveling from Brazil to Lisbon cafes in the nineteenth century. Fado means fate in Portuguese. This music's sad but tender themes began with sea songs from Portugal's past as a maritime power, when its sailors left for colonies and new worlds. These are love songs, confessions of regret, laments of betrayals, but also the expression of hope for a better future. Fado has grown into a cherished national heritage and Lisbon has applied to the UN cultural organization, UNESCO, to have fado included on its world list of "intangible heritage" -- cultural and raditional arts and practices.Listen to popular fado artists at National Geographic's World Music.
The Libray has a fado collection that will surely continue to grow.
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2 comments:
What a coincidence! I was listening to something on NPR the other day about Amalia Rodrigues, the great Portuguese Fado singer, and I'd never heard of Fado before, but the songs they played made me write her name down so I could find her in the library.
Ah! I LOVE FADO!! I am a big follower of Amalia Rodriguez, Misia, Dulce Pontes among others! If you haven't listen to it, give it a try!
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