1 Folk or Fake: The Notion of Authenticity in Portuguese Fado James Patrick Félix Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Music March 2015 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement © 2015 The University of Leeds and James Patrick Félix The right of James Patrick Félix to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 3 Acknowledgements Para a minha mãe Anne Marie Félix, meu pai Amorim Carvalho Félix, minha esposa Denise Sara Bryan e minha filha Emma Maria Félix. This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance and support of a large number of individuals. I wish to extend my thanks first to my supervisory team of Professor Derek Scott and Professor Kevin Dawe, whose input, encouragement and advice helped keep things moving. I would also like to thank friends and colleagues at the University of Leeds, including Dr Karen Burland, Dr Lauren Redhead and Tenley Martin, whose conversations and suggestions allowed me to focus my thoughts and research in the right direction. I would also like to thank Professor Peter Johnson and Dr Liz Garnett at Birmingham Conservatoire who first helped me develop my interest in authenticity and folk music. I am grateful to Tiago Miguel Gonzaga Videira, Cristina Almeida, Simon James and Mónica Lino Lopes Relvas Calado for their assistance in translating materials from Portuguese, and also to João Pimental and Tiago Manuel Eduardo Tomé for their knowledge and inside information regarding Lisbon’s fado community. Much of my fieldwork was funded by the Sir Thomas White’s Educational Foundation Music Scholarship, and I am grateful to all involved with this organisation as without this scholarship my research would have been almost impossible. During my time in Portugal I received assistance in various forms from numerous people, and I wish to acknowledge the hospitality and helpful nature of all staff of Hotel Duas Nações. I am indebted to everyone who participated in interviews and who were willing to share their knowledge and experience with me, and all those who helped 4 make these interviews happen. I also wish to thank the staff and performers of every casa I visited for their friendliness and also their passion in continuing the fado tradition. My research also was aided by every patron of these venues with whom I spoke, whose openness and honesty allowed me a powerful insight into the way fado is received by different groups of people. Particular thanks go to Vjekoslav Dvořák whose encouragement and passion for music first set me on this path, and whose friendship and interest in my research have been a constant element during my studies. I am indebted to Deepa Vijayan for her extremely thorough proof reading and editorial suggestions, particularly towards the end of the writing process. Finally special thanks go to my family, and it is to them that this thesis is dedicated. It is from my father that I first inherited the love of fado, and his knowledge of both the music and Lisbon, the city in which her grew up have been central to much of my research. My parents, Anne and Amorim Carvalho Félix have been my biggest supporters since I first picked up an instrument, and have always been there for me encouraging to “follow my joy”. My daughter Emma has been a continual source of joy and happiness since she was born. Finally, my wife, Denise, has been a constant pillar of love and support, by my side since I began my research, and I am eternally grateful. 5 FOLK OR FAKE: THE NOTION OF AUTHENTICITY IN PORTUGUESE FADO James P. Félix Abstract This thesis examines the notion of authenticity as it relates to folk music, particularly fado, a genre of urban folk music most commonly found in Lisbon, Portugal. It argues that authenticity, rather than being an inherent feature of the music, is ascribed by each individual on a case-by-case basis, and that the individual’s judgement of the value of a performance is dependent on this apparent authenticity. In particular, this thesis addresses the way tradition and “the traditional” are viewed, and the impact of commercialisation and modernisation as they relate to the notion and perception of authenticity. In order to better explore the ideas of tradition and authenticity, this thesis identifies a number of different factors that impinge on the perception of such characteristics, including the way in which fado has been commodified by the recording and tourist industries, the way in which fado performances came to be standardised in the twentieth century, and attitudes towards the evolution of the genre as a result of modernisation. Rather than simply focus on the musical features of fado performance and their fidelity to the “traditional", this thesis examines the value that authenticity and tradition are seen to have to both the performer and the listener. This is achieved through a critical analysis of existing scholarship concerning authenticity, coupled with the author’s observations of fado performances and interviews conducted with individuals involved with fado; these include professional musicians and singers, audience 6 members, and those involved with the operation of fado houses in Lisbon. Other important features of fado are discussed, such as the role that it plays in the lives of its practitioners, its cathartic value, the identity that is constructed through involvement with fado, and the status accorded to the genre and its practitioners by both those involved with it and those outside of it. This thesis advocates two central ideas regarding authenticity in fado. The first is that there can be no absolute standard or measure of authenticity, but rather it is ascribed on a case-by-case basis and is a personal judgement that may differ from one individual to the next. Second, while authenticity is important, it does not render that which is deemed to be inauthentic as an object of lesser value but, rather, the two types serve different functions, and therefore cannot be judged in the same way. Subsidiary to this, the thesis argues that the terms “amateur” and “professional” are not to be taken as opposite points on the same scale, because they actually describe two different orders of things: “amateur” implies a personal state of mind and belief whereas “professional” simply indicates one who receives money for a performance. In this way this thesis contributes to the fields of ethnomusicology and popular musicology and builds upon previous scholarship in order to enable a greater understanding of the nature and role of tradition and authenticity in popular folk music. 7 Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction 1 Introduction and Rationale 2 Principle Aims 7 Methodology 8 Research Approaches 13 The Notion of Authenticity: An Overview 20 Thesis Structure 28 Chapter Two: Musical Features Typical in Fado 38 Introduction 38 Origins and Influences 40 Musical Characteristics of Fado 49 Musical Developments in Fado 65 Conclusions 70 Chapter Three: The Nature of Tradition and Tradition in Fado 71 Introduction 71 Establishing Tradition 74 Innovation Within A Tradition 82 Moving Away From Tradition 91 Conclusions 98 Chapter Four: Commercialisation of Fado: Cause and Effects 101 Introduction: What is Commercialism? 101 Fado and Tourism 104 The Rise of the Fado Business 108 Amália and Mariza 113 The Effects of Commercialisation 123 Conclusions 127 Chapter Five: The Status of Fado and Fadistas 130 Introduction: Fado as Culture, Fado as a Culture 130 Historical Status of Fado 133 Ownership: Fado as Portuguese 137 Fado in the World 143 Fado Variations 146 8 The Celebrity in Folk Music 150 Insider or Outsider? 153 Conclusions 158 Chapter Six: The Identity of the Fadista 161 Introduction 161 The Fadista in Society 163 The Fadista and Fascism 168 Fado and Identity Formation 175 The Fadista Today: Professional Amateurs? 179 Fado and National Identity 186 Conclusions 187 Chapter Seven: Fado and its Functional Value 189 Introduction 189 Fado as Performed Emotion 192 Fado as a Social Activity 204 The Amateur/Professional Relationship 206 Material and Personal Value 209 Cultural Promotion and Dissemination 213 Conclusions 215 Chapter Eight: The Nature and Value of Authenticity 217 Introduction: The Relative Nature of Authenticity 217 Influences on the Definition and Interpretation of Authenticity 223 Problems Caused in the Name of Authenticity 229 The Possible Forms of Authenticity 231 Taxonomy of Authenticity 233 The Notion of Transferable Authenticity 238 Responsibilities of Performers 243 Conclusions 246 Chapter Nine: Conclusions 249 Glossary of Portuguese Terms 262 Bibliography 264 1 Chapter One Introduction Perhaps the mother was a brothel prostitute, Perhaps the father a decadent aristocrat Perhaps since birth they gave it love and bile, Perhaps it grew stumbling in the ungrateful life. Maybe they educated it without manners, Between disorders, razors and passions, Perhaps it was hearing gales and drunkenness, And the violence which tears hearts apart. Perhaps while growing it saw that destiny, Was the word better understood, In the unreason of its genuine sense, And, certainly, abandoned it grew. Perhaps later solitude, mistake, longing, And bad fortune, inflamed love, bitter fate, Gave to its voice the quality Of the despair and the dark tone of the mute. It suffered much, often delirious, Perhaps then it sang hoarsely a maddened love, Only a few times did it know how to love in a gentle fire, And very often so much love tasted of so little.