Fado

The word fado means "fate" in Portuguese, and—like the blues—fado songs are full of the fatalism of the poor and deprived, laments of abandoned or rejected lovers, and tales of people oppressed by circumstances they cannot change. The genre, probably an outgrowth of a popular sentimental ballad form called the modinha, seems to have emerged in the first half of the 19th century in the poor quarters of Lisbon. Initially, fado was essentially a music of the streets, a bohemian art form born and practiced in the alleys and taverns of Lisbon's Mouraria and Alfama quarters. By the end of the century, though, fado had made its way into the drawing rooms of the upper classes. Portugal's last king, Dom Carlos I, was a fan of the form, and a skilled guitar player to boot.

Strictly an amateur activity in its early years, fado began to turn professional in the 1930s with the advent of radio, recording, and the cinema. The political censorship exercised at the time by Portugal's long-lasting Salazar dictatorship also influenced fado's development. Wary of the social comments fadistas might be tempted to make in their lyrics, the authorities leaned on them heavily. Fado became increasingly confined to fado houses, where the singers needed professional licenses and had their repertoires checked by the official censor.

Nowadays, although the tradition of fado sung in taverns and bars by amateurs (called fado vadio in Portuguese) is still strong, the place to hear fado is in a professional fado house. Called casas de fado, the houses are usually restaurants, too, and some of them mix the pure fado with folk dancing shows. Casas de fado are frequented by the Portuguese, so don't be wary of one being a tourist trap.

There are two basic styles of fado: Coimbra and Lisbon. In both the singer is typically accompanied by three, or sometimes more, guitarists, at least one of whom plays the Portuguese guitar, a pear-shape 12-string descendant of the English guitar introduced into Portugal by the British port-wine community in Porto in the 19th century. It is the Portuguese guitar that gives the musical accompaniment of fado its characteristically plaintive tone, as the musician plays variations on the melody. The other instruments are usually classical Spanish guitars, which the Portuguese call violas.

Although the greatest names of Lisbon fado have been women, Coimbra fado is always sung by men, and the style is more lyrical than that of the capital. The themes tend to be more elevated, too—usually serenades to lovers or laments about the trials of love.