As a virtuoso performer and composer, Carlos Paredes is undoubtedly one of the greatest figures of Portuguese culture of the last century, which hasty end-of-century stocktaking tends to confuse and at times render barely credible through its need for absolute choices.
Through the sounds of his Portuguese guitar, Carlos Paredes produced an emotional and sensitive synthesis of our collective way of living and being. A cultured but humble man, generous but often unfathomable, kind and inspired, discreet and disconcerting, he made an impression on everyone who had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with him, on stage and in life.
Personally, I will never forget the enthusiasm of the standing ovations of thousands of people, during successive encores, in Italy, Germany, Holland or Sweden, immediately after the Revolution of 25 April 1974, making him the celebrated ambassador of a nation that had just recovered its freedom. We cannot talk about the artist Carlos Paredes without also mentioning the attentive citizen, committed and ever- restless, the man who never yielded to dogmas or allowed himself to be blinded by false evidence, the creator never intoxicated by success or succumbing to self-conviction.
A perfectionist, Paredes never compromised for the sake of ease or settled for mediocrity or the immediacy and pragmatism of commercial conveniences. His ethical and artistic conscience always came first. That is why he was and always will be one of the greatest of all time.
This is the Carlos Paredes to whom we are now paying tribute. This is the Carlos Paredes that democratic Portugal admires and holds dear. This is the Carlos Paredes who will remain immortal in the memory and taste of all those who take a deep, emotional bow of admiration before the brilliance of his creative and performing genius.
Silence, then, as we listen to the movimento perpétuo [perpetual motion] of his art pass by, with o oiro e o trigo [the gold and the wheat] that is eternal and ours.
José Jorge Letria
