The guitarist of the people

Dear grandmother,

This year in which the centenary of guitarist Carlos Paredes is celebrated, I realized that we have not yet talked about this unavoidable name of Portuguese culture.
To learn more about your life and work, I have gone to numerous exhibitions and gatherings, which have been organized all over the city of Lisbon.
Carlos Paredes was one of the most important and influential Portuguese musicians of the twentieth century. Creator of an original repertoire that led to the highest level the expressive possibilities of the Portuguese guitar. It influenced different generations of national and international musicians, contributing to the popularization of this instrument with vast hearings. Its legacy, full of memory and modernity, occupies a central place in our cultural heritage.
In the month when we celebrated Freedom, the Lisbon City Council also celebrated the centenary of the birth of Carlos Paredes, with a great concert in the municipality square, which I liked a lot.
As you know, besides being a great guitarist and composer, Carlos Paredes was a great defender of freedom, democracy and other values ​​won in April 1974. It was undoubtedly the guitarist of the people.
In the testimonies I heard from Luísa Amaro, Carlos Alberto Moniz, and so many others who deprived Carlos Paredes, I could see also had a corrosive humor.
As I write you this letter, I hear the CDs of Carlos Paredes as a « source of inspiration. » They are part of the book Carlos Paredes – the guitar of a people, the centenary edition written by Octávio Fonseca.
This year I have offered, to the youngest, the book My First Carlos Paredes, by José Jorge Letria and Helder Teixeira Peleja. The book talks about a guitar that a boy fell in love with.
Thank you, Carlos Paredes.
Kisses

Dear grandson,

As you should calculate, I was always very friendly with Carlos Paredes, which I interviewed countless times, and Luisa Amaro, whom I have homesickness.
Carlos Paredes was one of the most striking figures of Portuguese culture of the twentieth century, particularly in the field of music. Excellent Portuguese guitar player, raised this instrument to new levels of artistic expression, breaking with the traditional use linked to fado and creating a language of its own, almost poetic and deeply emotional.
Helped redefine the Portuguese cultural identity. His music was instrumental, but he could convey intense feelings of longing, resistance, hope and freedom. In times of repression, as during the Estado Novo, his work offered a space for introspection and even silent contestation. His art has transcended social and political boundaries, becoming a symbol of unity and national pride.
Although not a politician, Carlos Paredes played an important symbolic role in the struggle for freedom. He was a militant of the Portuguese Communist Party, which cost him, during the dictatorship of Salazar, five years in prison (1958-1963). After April 25, he became an icon of freedom and resistance. He never used music to promote hatred, but to inspire freedom and human dignity – values ​​deeply linked to democracy.
Unfortunately, in recent years, Carlos Paredes has been affected by a degenerative neurological disease. His withdrawal from artistic life was silent and worthy, but painful for those who admired him. He died in 2004, leaving a difficult emptiness to fill in the Portuguese cultural landscape.
Good thing my friend José Moças published this beautiful book that is a deep testimony of the life and work of an artist whose guitar echoes the soul of a people.
Kisses