José Saramago’s relationship with music goes back a long way. Since he was a child climbing into nosebleed section of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, thanks to one of the theatre’s doormen, a friend of his father, and then throughout his life, through listening to different composers, many from the world of classical music, but also many from other musical genres. In his works there are passages in which the music or its interpreters end up leading the reader through movements of different rhythms and sonorities, from Bach to Beethoven or Leonard Cohen, one of his favourite performers outside the classical universe.

But José Saramago was also the collaborator of many Portuguese musicians, who took him from the pages of books to the stage or to recordings on disc. If some of them are no longer physically with us, as is the case of Carlos do Carmo, others continue to perform on national and foreign stages, showing that Portuguese Culture is alive and well.

A few years ago, the Fundação José Saramago, in partnership with Casa Fernando Pessoa, challenged some of these musicians to prepare concerts based on readings they had done throughout their lives, adding to this challenge the challenge of composing themes based on Saramago and Pessoa. This year, in which we celebrate the centenary of José Saramago’s birth, musicians are invited to listen to some of these themes or others they have chosen based on Saramago’s work. A concert in which music in Portuguese intersects with the literature of José Saramago, celebrating his work, celebrating him.

With the participation of: Aline Frazão, Camané, Cristina Branco (vídeo), Luís Pastor, Manuel Freire, Marco Oliveira, Mário Laginha, Martín Sued + Marco Santos: Jangada de Pedra, Mitó Mendes, Paula Oliveira, Rita Maria, Vitorino