SONG -A CONTINOUS ACT.PART 13.

Fado and Flamenco

While the names are similar Fado and Flamenco are two distinct music styles from the Iberian Peninsula.
Fado is the most characteristic  and traditionalist music style in Portugal and Flamenco is the most
characteristic and traditionalist music style in Spain.
These two share a few  characteristics like being born in the same Peninsula and having a difficult and obscure past difficult to track; historically speaking that is!.
Both have probably Moorish influences at the very beginning of their roots and they both share the same characteristic of blending with some other native  and ancient music styles from the Iberian Peninsula, “later i will write something about this”.
They also have their own  distinct musical instrument that could be define as their pillar-stone.
The Portuguese Guitar and the Spanish Guitar.
Fado wouldn´t be Fado without a Portuguese Guitar and Flamenco wouldn´t be Flamenco without a Spanish guitar (also called Flamenco guitar).
These are both acoustic string guitars they are very differently shaped and serve different purposes musically speaking, you see because even if this sounds a bit strange both instruments
serve different Masters with different tastes.
The Portuguese Guitar fits perfectly in the Fado music style because Fado in it´s essence is a sad,soft,humble,whaling music style that depicts sadness and the feelings of a People that are facing the Atlantic Ocean  always looking outward to the sea and dreaming with the possibility of finding some sort of lost paradise in the immense void of the sea line. 
And the Portuguese Guitar with it´s 12 steel strings provide that sort of characteristic sound that resembles a soft cry.
The flamenco Guitar fits perfectly in the Flamenco music style because Flamenco in it´s essence is a joyful, proud, loud music style that depicts the happiness and joy so very characteristic of the nomadic Gipsy people that live in Southern Spain and that are proud to be free with a sense of union and love for the land that also sprung into the very famous and infamous Art form that is Bullfighting.
A lot will remain unsaid because there wouldn´t be enough time in the world to depict these two complex music styles.
So i´ll leave you with two pieces of music, the first one is one of my favorites, it´s a music piece  named Asturias which is in fact a region of Spain and here you can listen to the Amazing interpretation of this music piece by John Williams who is a great musician and also a true searcher  (musically speaking that is), the great interpretation of Cavatina that you´ve heard before is his.
And the second one is a music piece (i don´t know it´s title) played with Portuguese Guitar by another great musician Pedro Caldeira Cabral who is also a true searcher and also a living library when it comes to  tracking the Portuguese Guitar  and it´s course along history.
So here you have two music styles and two instruments that share so much with each other and yet they couldn´t be more different just like Portugal And Spain.
How wonderful is this ?!.
I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions or comments please let me know and i will do my very best to be of service.