Fado and Flamenco
Many of us are familiar with Fado, destiny, and the entire cultural involvement of our origins, and many even manage to understand that there may be a connection with Flamenco, from our Spanish brothers. But is there really one?
Come with us and see for yourself.
Flamenco originates from our neighboring Spain, more associated with the regions of Andalusia, Murcia, and Extremadura, and is to the Spanish what Fado is to the Portuguese. When we listen to Flamenco, we can distinguish some of its influences, such as Gypsy and Moorish influences. Not so easy to identify will be the Jewish and Arab influence that is an integral part of the music, singing, and dance. It was only on November 16, 2010, that Flamenco was declared an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
In its original form, Flamenco consisted only of singing, without accompaniment, and later began to be accompanied by the guitar, clapping, tap dancing, and dance. The dance and the playing can appear without singing, that is, without the song, although singing is the heart of the Flamenco tradition. As time went on, other instruments were added, such as the cajón, originating from Peru, introduced by the great guitarist maestro, Paco de Lucía, a wooden box used as percussion, castanets, violin, cello, and flute; which enriched the musical nuances beyond the traditional guitar.
In Spain as in Portugal, there were troubled moments in history across various social, economic landscapes, and so on. But they nurtured some similarities in events, both in one country and the other. Two extremely Catholic countries could not tolerate lesser and promiscuous cultures; thus, Moors, Gypsies, Jews, and other religions, as well as people less favored in their eyes, were persecuted by the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition. The Gypsies did not have the habit of written culture; thus, they passed their culture orally, with no significant records about it, and the culture was passed down from generation to generation through community performances, losing details and transforming according to the times and desires. It was in this socially and economically difficult situation that the musical cultures of Jews, Moors, and especially Gypsies began to merge into what would become the basic form of Flamenco: the Moorish singing style, which expressed their difficult life in Andalusia, the different "compás" (rhythmic styles), rhythmic clapping, and basic dance movements. Flamenco music still reflects the desperate spirit, struggle, hope, pride, and night festivities.
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Fado deals with life, destiny, longing, and has its origin in the Latin fatum, which means destiny, the same word that gave rise to fairy, fado, and to run the fado. The popular explanation traces the origin of Fado in Lisbon to the songs of the Moors, like Flamenco, due to the last stronghold of the Arabs in Portugal in 1249, and in Andalusia where the Arabs remained until the late 15th century.
It reemerged in the second half of the 19th century, wrapped in the currents of Romanticism: melopeia expressing the sadness of a people, their bitterness over the difficulties they face, but capable of inducing hope. Later contaminating the salons of aristocrats, it would quickly become a typically Portuguese musical expression. Fado began to be sung in the so-called "Fado Houses," such as Alfama, Castelo, Mouraria, Bairro Alto, and Madragoa. Its bohemian and ordinary origins come from taverns and brothels, from the orgy and violence environments of the poorest neighborhoods of the capital. This made Fado condemnable in the eyes of the Church, which early on tried to prevent its evolution.
The most sung themes are longing, nostalgia, jealousy, the small stories of daily life in typical neighborhoods, and bullfighting, as in Flamenco. These were the themes allowed by the Estado Novo, which also permitted tragic fado, of jealousy and passion resolved violently, with blood and regret. Lyrics that spoke of social and political issues were repressed by censorship. Here a difference is noted, as Flamenco had some difficulty being recognized as a traditional and cultural symbol, and was a trend. Unlike Fado, which quickly became the entertainment of the aristocracy and thus also a national symbol to be referenced beyond borders.
