Maria Teresa de Noronha’s particularity in fado is due to her voice, expressive force and her synchronization with the instruments.
Her beautiful, natural soprano voice, rigorously tuned, was always superbly positioned either in low or high pitches and was provided with an unmatched agility and capacity to elaborate intricate melodic ornaments with precision. Her perfection is evidenced in her brilliant repertoire of some lower-pitched fados of Coimbra, generally a turf for male voices.
The expressive force is a must for those rigorosos like M.T. Noronha, who interpreted almost exclusively fados castiços, in which the music is repeated four to five times. The challenge for the virtuous singer is to stylize, i.e. to vary the melodic design of each stanza according to the emotional suggestions of the lyrics themselves. Maria Teresa de Noronha’s style was to introduce the fados with a simple and clear melody and subsequently to insert a variety of dynamic nuances, hinting the main words with either more intensity, an intimate whisper or briefly suspending her voice. Generally it isn’t until the final stanza that the full climax is reached.
Fado Menor e Maior
Maria Teresa de Noronha Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quantas vezes sem razão;
Saudades só quem as sente
É que sabe o que elas são.
Saudade, mágoa sem dor
Vivida por toda a gente
Que traz no peito um amor
Quis-te falar e não pude,
Nada te pude dizer;
Se os meus olhos te não falam
Como havias de entender?
Pedi a Deus que me desse
Alguma coisa do Céu;
Quem sabe se foste tu
Aquilo que Deus me deu?
The first stanza of Maria Teresa de Noronha's song Fado Menor E Maior talks about how one can only truly understand the feeling of saudade (longing or nostalgia) if they have experienced it themselves. The singer acknowledges that saudade is often felt without a clear reason and that the only ones who truly understand the feeling are the ones who have experienced it firsthand. The second stanza delves deeper into the complexities of saudade, describing it as a sorrowful feeling that is universal to all who have experienced the absence of a love that was once present in their life.
The third stanza speaks to the difficulty of expressing oneself through language. The singer laments that they couldn't find the right words to express how they feel, and even if they did, they doubt they could be understood by the intended audience. The last stanza hints at a possible unrequited love, as the singer asks God for something from heaven and wonders if the person they are addressing is the gift that they received.
Line by Line Meaning
De saudade fala a gente
We speak of longing, of the deep feeling of missing someone or something, a feeling that overcomes us without reason and cannot be if someone has not actually experienced it.
Quantas vezes sem razão;
We feel this emotion without always having a justifiable cause for it.
Saudades só quem as sente
Only someone who has truly felt the feeling of longing can really understand what it is.
É que sabe o que elas são.
It is that person who truly understands what longing is.
Saudade, mágoa sem dor
Longing is the feeling of pain without physical hurt, the deep feeling of sadness that comes from a place of love and connection.
Vivida por toda a gente
Everyone has experienced this feeling at some point, as it is part of human experience and emotion.
Que traz no peito um amor
Longing comes from a place of love, a deep connection and affection that is missing or lost.
Que a vida tornou ausente.
The things we long for are absent from our lives, taken away by the circumstances of life or some external factor.
Quis-te falar e não pude,
I wanted to speak to you but I couldn't find the words or courage to do so.
Nada te pude dizer;
I had nothing to say to you, and my inability to express my emotions and thoughts left me feeling helpless.
Se os meus olhos te não falam
If my eyes couldn't speak to you and convey what's in my heart and soul.
Como havias de entender?
How could you possibly understand my feelings if I couldn't convey them to you?
Pedi a Deus que me desse
I asked God to give me something,
Alguma coisa do Céu;
Something that would uplift me and ease the pain I'm feeling.
Quem sabe se foste tu
Perhaps you are what God gave me,
Aquilo que Deus me deu?
The missing piece that can fill the void in my heart and soul.
Contributed by Lucas V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.