Bio
Brief biographic note on
António Variações
The life and work of António Variações (born António Joaquim Rodrigues Ribeiro) seem to have followed in the footsteps of quite a few 20th century artists: a period of intense public momentum hand in hand with a seemingly unstoppable creative spree, as intense as it was short-lived. António would enact, in his own unique way, the myth of the artiste maudit. The dismal tinge of public disregard and solitary genious were, however, absent from such an enactment. In fact, his public appearances were lauded early on by audiences and critics alike, due to both the outlandishness of his artistic persona and the refreshing peculiarity of his sound. Moreover, not having received any formal musical training, his innate talent and musicality could not have flourished without the collaboration of a host of renouned musicians of the day, who would help him shape the sound “between Braga and New York”.
His musical vision would quickly scream out its singularity across the domestic music scene. The profound originality of the postmodern pastiche António Variações came up with – taking elements from folk music, fado and international pop/rock – retains its freshness today and continues to stir interest in his work. The distinctiveness of his music is at the core of the renewed enthusiasm with which his work is revisited, time and again, having established itself as a true landmark of portuguese music. António has left an important collection of unedited homemade tapes, which have served as inspiration for younger artists to revive his legacy. Over the years several artists have either covered songs from his album releases or given new life to many of the drafts António has left on tape. The test of time has confirmed him as one of the major talents of last century's portuguese popular music.
António was born in December of 1944 in the village of Fiscal, township of Braga. At age twelve he leaves for Lisbon, in awe of movie and music stars, possibly already nurturing the dream of becoming one himself. He would perform several trades, from errand boy to office clerk, before serving in the military in Angola, at the time still a portuguese colony. Upon returning from Africa he decides to seek out new experiences and broaden his horizons, choosing London as his destination, where he lives for a few years. In 1976 he returns to Portugal for a short time before leaving again, this time to Amsterdam. The relative ignorance concerning the substance of his stays abroad lets one fathom, nonetheless, the contact with a vibrant artistic and cosmopolitan culture, vastly dissimilar to the backwater reality of his native country during the late seventies. It is abroad that António learns the trade of hairdresser, which was to be his means of livelihood for the ensuing years. Shortly after returning to Portugal he sets up shop in Lisbon, a unisex salon named “Pró Menino e Prá Menina”, frequented by a clientele in tune with the novelties of the boldest fashion and style of the time. António becomes a part of the minute artistic and cultural elite who start to develop symptoms of a civilized, sophisticated and progressive Europe, despite living in a country of provincial status.
This elite started promoting change from within historical venues in Lisbon, today mythical points of reference, such as “Trumps”, inaugurated in 1980 – which was a true launching pad for António's musical career, and a rendez-vous point for various notables from the arts, television and music – as well as “Frágil”, inaugurated in 1981, in a neighbourhood of ill repute which would later become the territory par excellence of avant-garde cosmopolitanism. The onset of the eighties witnessed a true revolution of lifestyles, due in part to the electrifying nightlife which suddenly erupted in Lisbon, bringing winds of change to an otherwise grim and parochial city. António was one of the forerunners of radical change throughout the eighties, effectively introducing modernity in Portugal, a country mostly unchanged in its essence by the “Carnation Revolution” of 1974. The period encompassing the years 1981 through 1984 saw the brief, although intense, unfolding of António Variações' career, given a jump start by Júlio Isidro's Passeio dos Alegres television show appearance in 1981, and finally set off by the edition of his first studio album “Anjo da Guarda” in 1983, several years after initially signing with Valentim de Carvalho.
His early passing in 1984 frustrated what might have been a brilliant career. It was already on his deathbed that António heard the second album, “Dar e Receber” (1984), was to be released – release which only saw the light of day at his request, since EMI were not willing to do so on account of his illness. Despite a short lived career interest in his work has not dwindled down, in great part due to the regular tributes paid to him by several established artists over the last decades. The memory of his songs remains vivid to portuguese people of all ages, bearing witness to the timelessness of his music and lyrics. António, seen from a distance of 30 years, comes clearly into view as one of the founding fathers of contemporary pop/rock music in Portugal. The label may prove to be inadequate inasmuch as it betrays the eclecticism and rich singularity of the songs he has left us. His ghost hovers above portuguese music as an element of connection between a long lost archaic Portugal and a cosmopolitan modernity whose territory was first marked out by António and others like him, a generation with a thirst for change. António was not ahead of his time, as some say, he was in his time and was able to illustrate it remarkably well.
Fernando Conde
May 2014
SCORES ON SALE FOR CHOIR SATB & PIANO:
-CANÇÃO DE ENGATE (CORO) (A. Variações, T. Videira)
-ESTOU ALÉM (CORO) (A. Variações, T. Videira)
-MUDA DE VIDA (CORO) (A. Variações, T. Videira)
-MUDA DE VIDA (CORO) (A. Variações, F. Chaves)
SCORES ON SALE FOR CONCERT BAND:
-REMEMBER ANTÓNIO VARIAÇÕES (RECORDAD ANTÓNIO VARIAÇÕES) (A. Variações, L. Guerreiro)
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