FADO - Heritage Of Humanity

Stamps

First Day Cover

Corporative stamp

Brochure

In the year that celebrates the consecration of Fado as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, this philatelic issue pays tribute to this Living Tradition that we have shared with the world through the art of different generations of creators.

Heir of a temporal dimension of approximately two hundred years, Fado today continues to grow and be recreated in full 21st Century.

A living tradition, with deep roots and structural presence in the history of the country, Fado was, since its origins in the nineteenth century, able to integrate diversified poetic, musical, cultural and technological influences, drawing a path of gradual consecration, along which it crossed all borders to which it was initially subject.

It conquered, from the second half of the twentieth century, the area of scholar and classical poetry, gained international visibility and became a constant presence in the most prestigious concert halls in the world, openly dialogues with other musical genres today - in circuits of the so-called international World Music - and its most emblematic artists have become true icons of the performing arts in Portugal.

At the same time, it continues to be cultivated in the social circles of its origin, in small rooms such as in gatherings in associations and recreational groups all over the country and throughout the diaspora of Portuguese emigration.

In Fado, we always recognize and rediscover ourselves. Here we forge the meeting between time, music and words.

In this unique moment, we unveil our ability to be who we are and be, at the same time, permanently open to the world. Fado, like few other musical styles, positively derives from its interpreters.

In Fado, behind a deceptive simplicity, we find the technical and expressive complexity that is characteristic of the great vocal, popular or scholar traditions.

Fado singers and guitarists recreate an absolutely unique fate in each interpretation, where the basic melody is successively colourful and ornamented through the voice and the expressive tools of each artist.

In this philatelic edition we pay tribute to several generations of creators, six individuals with six very different styles: Vicente da Câmara, Argentina Santos, Rodrigo, Maria da Fé, Camané and Mariza.

Six paths that are completely different from each other, both in the contexts of creation - essentially tied to a time and space of their own - and in terms of their audience or media projection.

Each one equipped with an absolutely unique artistic personality.

And in all of them we find the mythical heritage of the great masters and the ability to carry this legacy to future generations, giving it a powerful interpretative originality of a profound emotional weight.

In all of them we recognize the alchemy capable of transmuting a unique musical expression into a heritage that is both from Lisbon, and national and universal.

Technical Details

Date of Issue: 11 October 2012

Values: stamps of 0,32€, 0,47€, 0,57€, 0,68€, 0,80€ and 1,00€ additional ‘corporate stamp’ of 1,00€

Designer: Elisabete Fonseca / Atelier AcácioSantos

Photos:

Credits: 0,32€ - Vicente da Câmara; 0,47€ - Argentina Santos; 0,57€ - Maria da Fé; 0,68€ - Rodrigo; 0,80€ - Camané; 1,00€ - Mariza; 1,00€ - w/o title Portuguese guitar.

Brochure cover: Viela de Lisboa, Rui Pimentel 1998 col. Museu do Fado

Ackowledgements: Argentina Santos, Camané, Maria da Fé, Mariza, Rodrigo e Vicente da Câmara; Casa do Artista, Everything is New, Vachier & Associados, Museu do Fado

Printer: Joh. Enschedé

Process: Offset 4 Colors

Size: 30,6 x 40,0 mm

Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13

Paper: 110 g./m2

Watermark:

Sheet: with 50 stamps (except corporate stamp that is in sheets of 10 stamps)