Date: Tue, 03 Jan 1995 18:33:00 EST
From:Eileen Bauer <ecb@world.std.com>
Reproduced for Dancers' Archive with permission of the author.
(Scanned in from the magazine: JALEO - VOLUME VIII, No . 1)
FLAMENCO: THE EARLY YEARS
by Paco Sevilla
Author's Introduction: This article originally appeared in Guitar and
Lute magazine (Vol. 25, Nov. 1982) and was written for readers who knew
nothing about flamenco. Hence gome of the explanations.
The history of flamenco has always been an imprecise subject. Until
recent times, flamenco artists have not been literate people, and thus
have not provided us with written records of their lives and music.
Although a broken record of the development of Spanish music does exist,
the more intimate aspects of the art of flamenco were not made public
until the second half of the nineteenth century. Composing a written
history of flamenco has, therefore, consisted of making guesses,
colleating and selecting from other people'9 guesses, and then placing
everything in some sort of appropriate sequence. However, research into
Spanish, Arab, Greek, and Roman literature has in recent years provided
new information, as has analysis of related music and in-depth study of
existing cantes (flamenco song) or fragments of extinct cantes. In this
article, I bring together fairly recent research, select among different
theories, and attempt to present a condensed picture of how flamenco
might have arrived at its present stage of development. An understanding
of the evolution of flamenco is one way to begin to understand this
complex and beautiful art form; an understanding of all major elements
of flamenco is essential to an understanding of the flamenco guitar, a
relative newcomer to the music and, until recently, the least
indispensable of its components.
It can be said that there exists nothing in Spain today that is purely
Spanish; in.almost every aspect of its culture, Spain has been an
incredible melting pot, absorbing even todaywave after wave of foreign
invasion. Thus the history of flamenco will necessarily be a study of
invasions and their effects on the music of the Iberian Peninsula, for
flamenco was formed from the fusion of the folk music of southern Spain
with the music that the gypsies created from that same musical
environment. As we shall see, popular folk music influenced the
development of gypsy music but also remained separate from it; in
relatively modern times, the union of the two gave us today's flamenco.
As early as 35,000-15,000 3C, there was dance in Iberia; cave paintings
in northern Spain depict dancers. In 1100 BC, the Phoenicians founded
the city of Cadiz, which they called Gadir. Located on a peninsula on
Spain's Atlantic coast, Cldiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city
in Europe and was an important center of development for Spanish music
and flamenco. There the Phoenicians introduced dances similar to
circle dances still performed in Spain.
By 550 BC, Greeks controlled southern Spain. Greek artwork shows
dancers using arm and body positions similar to those used by Spanish
dancers today, employing castanet-like instruments, and hand clapping to
accompany the dance. Many folk dances in Spain today can be traced to
the Greeks. It is also likely that they introduced the phrygian mode
into Spain. (The phrygian mode, a basic element in flamenco, uses the
typical "Spanish-sounding" scale; an example is the playing of the C
major scale from E to E, rather than from C to C.)
Spain was part of the Roman Empire from 201 BC to 406 AD. Cadiz was then
called Gades and its inhabitants Gaditanos (as they still are today),
while the southern part of Spain became known as Betica. Roman writings
refer to the cantica gaditanae, the songs of Gades, thought by some to
be possible predecessors of the jarchas and zamras (zambras) of the
Arabs when they later occupied Spain. These songs were very popular in
Rome, as were the women of Gades, who danced to the rhythms of crotalos
(bronze castanets) and handclapping. The Romans introduced to Spain the
kithera, a form of zither, which was to develop into the guitarra
latina, a small guitar-like instrument with four sets of double strings.
When the Romans were threatened from the north by hordes of barbarians -
Vandals and others - the Visigoths, also from the north, allied with the
Romans to help repel the invasion. However, by 537 AD, the Visigoths
ended up in control of most of Iberia and, under a Gothic king,
Christianity became the religion of the land. Culturally, the Visigoths
contributed very little.
In 711, Arabs, Syrians, and Berbers - collectively known as Moors -
invaded Spain through Gibralter and, within seven years, controlled all
but the very north. During almost seven centuries of occupation, the
Arabic culture exercised a tremendous influence on Spain, especially in
the south, which they called Al-Andaluz (the land of the vandals) and
made it the cultural center of the Western world. The Moslems brought
poetry, song, and musical instruments - flutes, drums and a lute-shaped
instrument with three single strings that came to be called the guitarra
morisca; this latter instrument, which was plucked, may have eventually
inspired the conversion of the double-stringed guitarra latina to a
single-stringed instrument, which happened by the 13th century. The
Persian poet and musician, Ziryab, who made C6rdoba an important center
for music, is often credited with adding a fifth string to the guitarra
latina.
The Arabs contributed sensitivity and emotionality to the music of
Spain. Writings from this period tell of singers who affected their
listeners so profoundly that, under the influence of tarab - the Arabic
equivalent of flamenco's duende (a state of ecstasy brought on by the
singing) - they would break jars on their heads, rip their clothing, nd
roll %bout on the ground. Many songs that later bec-me important in
Spanish music and flamenco have Arabic names: zambra, zorongo,
zarabanda, and fandango. Originally zamras were groups of musicians or
the gatherings at which they played; today, gypsies in Granada still
call their fiestas zambras. There remain no written examples of Arabic
mu8ic of this period, but certainly the music would resemble some of the
music that exists today in parts of North Africa or th Middle-east;
modern flamenco shares certain elements with this music.
In northern Spain, the unconquered Christians developed their own forms
of music. Wandering musicians in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
sang ballads that were called cantigas. In the centuries that followed,
they would become romances (b ds) and villancicos (religious songs that
are, today, sung as Christmas carols). The Christian forces never
stopped fighting the Moorish invaders and gradually began to push them
south. By the fifteenth century, the Moors had been conquered in all
areas except Granada. Then in 1492 Granada fell and Spain was under
Christian rule once more.
The fall of Granada was not the only important event of the fifteenth
century; in 1447, the earliest surviving record tells us, gypsies
appeared in Spain. In that year, gypsies reached Barcelona, coming from
the north, and continued to enter Spain for the next several hundred
years. They had begun emigrating from northern India in the eighth or
ninth centuries. These dark people were expert metal workers and had a
tradition of music and dance. While it is true that these gypsies, or
gitanos, were very different from the people who had originally left
India, they had preserved some of their language (There are many
similarities between cal6, the language of the gitanos, and the sanskrit
of India.) and their tendencies in the dance, particularly the arm and
hand movements and the footwork common to kathak dance of northern
India. Modern flamenco most notably differs from Indian dance in
flamenco's not telling stories
movements used in the same schooled manner.
It is clear that the gypsies did not bring anything to Spain that
resembled flamenco, for flamenco is found only in Spain, primarily in
Andalucfa, (the southern region of Spain); nothing similar exists among
the gypsies in other parts of the world (except for southern France,
where the gypsies have developed their own music based on Spanish
flamenco). The gypsy found in Andalucfa a land that suited him; there,
he absorbed, preserved, and transformed the music of the region until it
finally emerged as a unique art form - the cante and baile (dance)
gitano. In Andalucfa, the gypsy also found people who were similar to
him: Jews and Moriscos (Moors who chose to stay in Spain after the re-
conquest). The bond, or at least proXimity, of these people was
increased when laws were passed that resulted in severe perseCution of
the gypsies. Between 1449 and 1783, at least eleven mjor sets of laws
were passed that attempted to prevent the gypsies from living their
traditional lifestyle; under threat of punishment that included death,
gypsies were ordered to settle down and to abandon their wandering ways,
their traditional dress, their occupations, and even their language. The
Moriscos were also in the process of being expelled from Spain, so the
two persecuted peoples found themelves with much in common. Jewish music
must have exerted some influence. There has been no definite connec-
tion made between modern flamenco and the music of the Jews, but there
are distinct similarities between some Hebrew chants and certain
flamenco songs.
The gypsy preserved elements of music, that might have been lost in
Christian Spain. Elements of Oriental music that survived to become part
of flamenco include the use of microtones, that is, tones smaller than a
semitone, slides from one note to another, a tendency toward repetition
of a single tone, which gives a hypnotic quality to the music, a
tendency for melodies to flow within a small tonal range, rather than
jump by large intervals, the use of microtonal and semitonal
ornamentation to give exnressiveness to the music, the use of a
descending cadence (in conjunction with the phrygian mode), the lack of
harmonization (the music tends to be melodic, not harmonic), the
complexrhythms and cross-rhythms, a preference for a nasal or even harsh
tone, both vocally snd instrumentally, and an emphasis on the emo-
tional quality of music. There was also the use of verbal encouragement
of performers; at some point, the Allah of the Arabs became the ole of
flamenco (usually pronounced "oh- LAY" at the bullfight, but "OH-lay" in
flamenco circles). In the area of dance, we find the sinuous, sensuous
move- ments of arms, hands, and torso and reduced importance of foot
movements. Moslem tradition dictated that women should not reveal their
legs, so footwork was not part of their dance. Footwork did not become
an important part of the female Spanish dance until the twentieth
century.
In the Spain of the Visigoths and Arabs, music tended to be religious,
academic, and elitist - it was restricted to the courts of the nobility.
However, its restriction from the common people began to change. During
the two hundred and fifty years after the reconquest, the musical brew
in Andalucfa incubated and underwent transformation. The development of
the music "of the people" followed two different paths, with some
interchange between them paths that would continue separately until the
mid-1800's and, to a degree, into the present.
Spanish folk music continued its development with a strong Arabic
influence. Dances in the sixteenth century included the chacona, the
zarabanda, and the fandango; the fandango, changing name and form,
eventually becam differ- ent dances in the different regions of Spain,
including the jot- of the northern provinces and the many variations
found in the provinces of Andalucfa. This music would become the fiesta
music of the Andalucian people, something to be enjoyed outdoor on
holidays, danced by couples and groups and performed by orchestras of
stringed instruments accom- psnied by drums, castanets, and tambourines.
At the same time, the gypsies, suffering severe persecution, were
creating a more private kind of music, a music that was kept within the
family circle and often had an almost sacred quality; the verses of
their songs dealt with their suffer- ing - hunger, prison, and death.
The accompaniment for the song and dance was the rhythm ofhandclapping,
fingersnapping, which the gypsy preferred to castanets, and the rapping
of knuckles on table tops. Gypsy music was deeply emotional. In
contrast, the motivation for the Andalucian folk music was festive joy
and communal celebration.
Apparently, the gypsies did not keep completely to them- selves, for
Cervantes (1547-1616), in his NovelasEjemplares, wrote of gypsies
perforing seguidillas, jacaras, romances, and zarabandas. It would,
therefore, appear that gypsies were incorporating some of the Andalucian
dances and per- forming them for non-gypsies.
Two other influences affected Andalucian music as it pre- pared to enter
the eighteenth century: Beginning in the lSOO's, Spain began extensive
exploration of Africa; Sevilla became one of the largest slave markets
on the Iberian Pen- insula. There are still black families living in
Andalucfa that date back to those times, and Black African music may
have had some effect on Andalucian music. More certain is the role
played by the discovery of the Americas. The phe- nomenon was two-fold.
Most ships sailed from the ports on Spain's southern coast, from towns
like Huelva, Sanlucar, Cadiz, and Malaga. Sailors came to these ports
from all over Spain, bringing with them the music of their home regions.
Andalucian music, ever flexible and open to out- side influence,
incorporated and transformed this music into new forms. The jotas of
Arag6n became the jotas de Cadiz (much later, the alegrfas), while a
dance from Galicia would eventually become the farruca. The other side
of the pic- ture became more evident in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, when Spaniards returning to these same ports, brought with
them music from Latin America, which then became part of the Andalucian
tradition. This is another source of African influence, since Black
culture played a large role in the formation of certain types of Latin
music.
By 1700, the guitar had acquired a sixth string and was played in two
different styles. As a plucked instrument, it had been highly developet
for playing what we now call "classical" music, the music of the
nobility. The popular instrument of the people was played using
rasgueados (strumming with the fingers). While these instruments were an
integral part of Andalucian folk music, it is generally held that they
did not play much of a part in the early development of gypsy music.
Also by 1700, both Andalucian and gypsy music had - acquired
recognizable forms, and references to them began to appear more
frequently in the literature of Spain and other countries. Although
gypsy music was still very private, a ritual of the gypsy families,
gypsies had become a popular theme for theatre works and wete witely
mentionet. The -oldest written example of flamenco is a siguiriya found
in an eighteenth century Italian opera,"La Maschera Fortunata by Neri.
In 1779, Henry Swinburne wrote in Spain in the Years 1775 and 1776 that
the gypsies of Catiz danced an in- decent dance called the manguidoy to
the rhythm of hand- clapping; he al80 mentioned guitars, castanets, ant
rough- voicet singing of polo. Other references speak of the taconeo
(heelwork) ant the seguitillas gitanas. (The seguidillas were live}y
songs, relatet to the sevillanas, not the profount gypsy cante of totay
that has a similar name.) By 1800, references indicate 24 dances that
were supposedly performed by gypsies; most of those no longer exit, and
none of them are specifically part of the gypsy dance we know today,
although some survived in the non- gypsy flamenco, particularly the
fandangos and the segui- dillas (sevillanas).
At the turn of the century, gypsy song was well developed and certain
cantaores (flamenco singers) had established reputations for their
interpretations of the cante. George Borrow, an English adventurer and
author, wrote about his experience with the gypsies in the early 1800's.
He men- tions singing and dancing "a lo gitano" (in the gypsy manner)
and was the first to write that the gypsies were called flamencos and
had been for some time. The music it- self, however, was not yet called
flamenco. The word "flamenco" has long mystified historians who have
demon- strated vivid imaginations in attempting to explain why a word
that means "Flemish" or "flamingo" (the bird) should be used to describe
an Andalucian music form. Some attribute the word to Arab roots, others
to fact that Carlos I brought with him from Flanders (Flanders included
much of what is now Belgium, the Netherlands or Holland, ant Luxemburg)
an entire Flemish court; in atdition, Spain occupied Flanders until
1648. Other origins have been suggested: that because singers in the
court were Flemish, the word came to be asso- ciated with singing; that
Spaniards, especially Andalucians, like to name things by their
opposites, and since the Flemish were tall and blond and the gypsies
short and dark, the gypsies were called "Flemish"; that all foreigners
were called flamencos ant the gypsies, who were still coming in- to
Spain, were includet; that because Flemish noblemen, bored with court
life, used to party with the gypsies, the name eventually transferred;
and that soldiers returning from Flanders associated with gypsies in the
taverns and all were called flamencos.
The problem with all of these suggestions, is that the events which lent
them validity took place several hundred years before there is any
record of gypsies being called flamencos. It is possible that the term
remained localized in some remote area for hundreds of years and later
became widespread. Until better evidence emerges, you can take your pick
of explanations or make up your own.
language, wrote Escenas Andaluzas in 1847. This detailed description of
twenty-two typical Andalucian scenes in- cludes one calledlUn baile de
Triana(A Dance in Triana), in which Calder6n described what we would
call today a fiesta flamenca: In a patio in Triana (Sevilla) were
gathered a number of artists, among them some legendary figures in the
history of flamenco - the singers El Planeta and El Fillo (whose raspy
voice became the prototype for gypsy flamenco singing and gave us the
term afilla to describe that vocal quality) and the dancers La Perla and
El Jerezano. Calder6n writes of the guitar, at first strumming softly
then more strongly, of the suspiro, the singer's warm-up using passages
of "Ay, ay...," and of a number of cantes. (The Spanish word for song in
general is canto or canci6n- cante refers specifically to flamenco
song.) The cantes included cana, polo, polo tobslo, sevillanas,
serranas, jaberas, rondenas, ant corritas (also called romances ant
derivet from the ancient ballats of northern Spain, motifiet by Arabic
meloties, and guardet and spread through the south by the gypsies; this
tradition survives only in remote areas of Andalucfa, although it has
been resurrectet somewhat recently). Also mentionet were tonadas (little
songs), a name that would later be applied in the shortened form, ton5s,
to a group of profound gypsy cantes that are still sung without musical
accompaniment. Names of flamenco song forms often have odd and confusing
derivations. The gypsy siguiriyas are named from the Andalucian
pronunciation of seguidillas, a totally unrelated song form. The solea,
an important cante in flamenco, was named after a woman called Soledad
who sang very well and with great profundity, some songs originally
called jaleos; her version was called soledades, soleaes, soleares, and
most often today, solea.
Concerning the dancing, Calderon wrote of the importance o the compas
(rhythm, including meter, accentuation, and rythmic cycles), arm
movements, footwork, rapid twisting and turning of the body, and the sal
(spice) and gracia (humor, wit) of the performers. He names the
following dances, most of which are considered to be Andalucian rather
than gypsy; caa, tiranas, jaberas, malaguenas, bolero, zorongo, ole ole,
la tana, granadina, la yerbabuena, las seguidillas, caleseras, and
zapateado. Of special interest musically is the fact that most of the
songs and dances were accompanied by an orchestra of guitars, bandolins
(most likely ban- durrias, a mandolin type of instrument with double
strings), and violins; this type of accompaniment is not typical of
gypsy flamenco, but survives in Andalucian folk music, espe- cially in
groups called pandas de verdiale8 that perform the songs of the Malaga
area.
Other travelers in the early 1800's tell us that gypsy dancers did not
use their feet, moving only the hips, upper torso, and arms. We also
know from these sources and from song verses dating from the period that
the jaleo (verbal encouragement of the performers) as we know it today
was al- ready in widespread use, including "ole," "anda chiquillo," and
"que toma, que toma" (Spanish equivalents of "go man go!").
The music that was accesible to the traveler in this period was almost
certainly dominated by the Andalucian ele- ment rather than the gypsy.
Gypsies may have performed for the public under certain circumstances,
but reports do not seem to indicate that they were performing what would
appear a few decades later as the highly developed cante gitano (forms
like the tonas, siguiriyas, and soleares). It is im- portant to keep in
mind the differences between these two forms of music, for these
subdivisions of flamenco still exist today. The gypsy cante was private,
emotional and very personal; it used primarily the phrygian mode and
complex rhythm patterns, and was very difficult to sing; the
accompaniment was most often the rhythm of handclapping, fingersnapping,
knuckle-rapping, or the tapping of a cane - even today some forms are
always sung a palo seco (a capella); even when the guitar began to play
a more impor- tant role in flamenco, distinct gypsy and non-gypsy styles
of playing emerged. Andalucian folk music, on the other hand, was very
public music, sung in the major and minor modes and using 214, 314, or
6|8 meter; it was often accom- panied by groups of instruments.
In 1842, events occurred that would change the nature of flamenco and
gave birth to what we now refer to as the "Golden Age of Flamenco."
Certain Andalucian taverns where flamenco was cultivated began to place
more emphasis on the performance of the cante and baile (dance). The
performers were usually not professionals, but performed out of afici6n,
love of their art. On the rare occasion that a guitar was available, it
might have been strummed in an improvisational manner, but the guitar
had not yet emerged as an integral part of flamenco. However, there must
have ben some guitarists starting to develop the flamenco style, for it
would be in widespread use within a few decade. Moreover, the Russian
composer Glinka was entranced by the playing of the gypsy guitarist El
Murciano in Granada, and he wrote down some of the guitarist's
compoitions. In neighborhood patios, country inns, and tiny tJverns,
flamenco made it8 first public appearance and began its emergence from
the private, almost religious position it h-d held in the gypsy f
milies.
The earliest known caf de cante, as the first flamenco
nightclub were called opened in Sevilla in 1842. For the
firt time flamenco arti8ts were paid on a regular ba
Several more clubs opened, but then all were clo8ed down, and it wa-
another twenty years before the great cantsor, Silverio Franconetti,
returnet from South Americ- ant opened the firt cafe cant-nte in Sevilla
and offici-lly beg-n the "Golten Age." The interest in cante ant baile
flamenco must have been builting, becaue after Silverio openet his cafe
in 1860, the public repone rerulted in a virtual explosion of similar
cafes throughout Andalucfa - sometime seven or eight in one city - and
even in other part8 of Spain (espe- cially in Madrid and Barcelona).
Often they were elegant salons with ornate decor, box seats, and a
raised stage. The artists were hired to form a cuadro, a performing
group of several singers, one or two guitarists, and six or seven
dancers, mostly women. There were usually sor star per- formers, mot
often singers, who were hired as the main attractions. The opportunity
offered by the cafes en- couraged many new artit to become professional.
These artists tended to specialize in a few cante and, in doing
so, created new variations ant peron-l style. (Each cante is defined by
its rhythmic pattern, progression of tones, emotional mood, ant content
of the verse. Within those limits, each cantaor can create his own
style; that style is not a "song" in the sense that we think of the
term, because the singer will vary the meloty ant the words each time he
sings and even sing a number of different styles within a ingle
performance of a particular cante.)
The period of the "Golden Age," which la ted until about 1910, gave U8
most of totay's flamenco form (cantes) some of which were found in
greater variety than we know today. In spite of the popularity of
flamenco, certain of the gypsy cantes - the alboreas (wedding songs) and
the romance, for example - did not leave the privacy of the gypsy
circles until well into the 1950'8. From the America came new music
forms that spread from Spain's port towns to the ret of Andalucfa ant
were aggimilatet into flamenco. These cantes, callet cantes de ida y
vuelta (round trip ongs) be- cause they were taken to the New Worlt,
trsnsformet, ant then returnet to Spain, woult eventually inclute the
milonga from Argentina, the colombiana8 from Columbia, ant the guajira
ant rumba from Cuba. The flamenco repertoire wa also increased by the
mixing of the gypsy and Antalucian cante: The fantango evolved into new
and more profound forms such as the tarantas and the malagueaas, which
gra- dually lost their rhythmic musical accompaniment and were
transferred from dance songs into serious cantes for lis- tening. The
alegrfas, originally the jotas de Cadiz, appeared in new forms called
romeras, mirabras, and cara- coles.
Another effect of the cafe cantante period was the break- ing down of
regional barriers. Before themeach province had developed its own styles
of cante: In the gypsy neigh- borhood of Triana (Sevilla), emerged
styles of tonas, caaas, ant soleares- in the Barrio Santa Marfa (Catiz)
were developed the forms of alegrfas and tangos; from the Barric de
Santiago in Jerez, came the siguriyas, jaleos, bulerias, and tonas; from
Granada; Malaga, and Huelva came different forms of the fandangos. In
the cafes, these cantes came to- gether, and singers learned from each
other. Guitarists had to learn to accompany more than just the local
styles, thereby expanding their repertoires.
In the cafe cantante, the guitar became an important part of the
flamenco "show", and guitarists developed rapidly, learning from and
competing with each other. They competed not only with each other, but
also with the dancers and singers. To get attention, guitarists began to
insert more falsetas (melodies) into their playing, taking their themes
from the cante. Soon, each club had a soloist, some of whom resorted to
playing behind their backs, over their heads, or with gloves. An early
soloist, Paco Lucena (c. 1855- 1930), is credited with introducing
picado (rapid melodic passages played with the index nd middle fingers),
three- fingered arpeggios, and tremelo that he learned from a classical
guitarist. Another great guitarist, Javier Molina, was more of an
accompanist, but he helped to mold two of the founders of the modern
flamenco guitar, Ram6n Montoya and Nino Ricardo.
At some time during this period, the cejilla (seh- HEE-yah; capo) came
into widespread use and made life easier for the singer. Prior to that,
a singer had two basic keys he could sing in, although each could be
major, minor, or phrygian; these were por arriba (above; E) or por medio
(in the middle; A), with the occasional use of the por abajo position
(below; D). The names came from the relative posi- tions of these chords
as seen from the perspective of the cantaor. It has been suggested that
one of the reasons the raspy voice has come to be associated with
flamenco was the limited choice of tones that the cantaores had and the
resultant strain on the voice. (Due to the nature of the guitar and
flamenco, it is not desirable to play the differ- ent song forms in
different keys without the use of the cejilla. The reasons are many: The
accompaniments are often too spontaneous and complicated to be learned
in all keys; some keys are very difficult on the guitar; the
characteristic melodies of a particular form are often molded by the
chord structures of a particular key; the characteristic sound of each
cante, or its accompaniment, depends upon the chords used - unlike the
piano, the guitar does not sound the same in all keys. Modern players
have become much more flexible in this matter but still tend to return
to traditional tones for traditional flamenco forms.)
The dance in the cafe cantante was generally corto, that is, limited in
variety. The primary flamenco dances were, at first, the alegrias,
tanguillos de Cadiz, and soleares for the women, who emphasized the
upper body and arms, with verv little footwork. The men, who danced the
alegrias, farrucas, and soleares, perhaps placed more mphasis on the
feet, but real virtuosity in that area was not to come until the
twentieth century. The real explosion of new dance would also come in
the twentieth century, when cantes that were considered to undanceable
or too sacred to dance would be interpreted by great dancers and added
to the repertoire.
The cafe cantante period was the beginning of what we know today as
flamenco, and the growth of and change in the music were quite dramatic.
In the conclusion of this article, "The Modern Era," we will see how the
many forces acting on flamenco brought it into a state of degeneration. | Date: Tue, 03 Jan 1995 18:37:00 EST
From: Eileen Bauer <ecb@world.std.com>
Reproduced for Dancers' Archive with permission of the author.
(Scanned in from the magazine: JALEO - VOLUME VIII, NO. 2)FLAMENCO: PART II
THE MODERN ERA
[from: Guitar and Lute, March 1983]
In part one of this article, "Flamenco: The Early Years", we saw how the
cafe cantante period (roughly, 1850-1910) produced the foundation of
what we know as flamenco. At this time the private and emotional cante
gitano was first performed in public. It then mixed with the popular
and festive folk music of Andalucfa to produce many new song forms and
styles. Also, the guitar joined the cante and baile to become an
essential component of flamenco. The cafe cantante, a type of nightclub
that presented flamenco entertainment, became extremely popular, many of
them springing up in the major cities of Andaluc;a, in Madrid and
Barcelona, and in oher parts of Spain.
In spite of the impressive growth of the flamenco art, all was not roses
during the "Golden Age." The cante gitano had come out of hiding and
many of the important cantaores were gypsies, but in order to appeal to
a wider audience, most cafes cantantes mixed popular music with
flamenco. One that did not was the Cafe Silverio, the first of the cafes
cantantes. Because Silverio Franconetti refused to oln tne
commercialization, his business eventually suffered; he died poor and
forgotten.
Toward the end of the century, the adulteration of flamenco increased.
The fandangs (a large group of non-gypsy flamenco cantes) became ever
more popular, especially a style from Malaga called malagueilas. A singer
named Juan Breva, a specialist in the malagueilas, transformed the cante
from dance music into a profound song for listening. Hls style created
flamaneco's first fad, for by the end of the 1800's, at least twenty
different styles of malagueilas were being sung. After Breva, Antonio
Chaco~n carried the malagueiia to even greater heights and, as we shall
see, brought about a whole new era in the history of flamenco. Slowly,
the gypsy antaores (Chacon was not a gypsy) began to disappear fron the
stages; in their place came singers of Andalucian canteS who had
smoother voices, sang pretty poetry, used songs to show off virtuosity
and appealed more to the general public.
We have already seen the extremes the guitarists went to in order to
get attention. Apparently it was no different in the dance. In the Villa
Rosa, a cafe cantante in garcelona Concha "la Chicharra" danced a gypsy
dance called "El Crispin" in which, at the end of each set of steps, she
removed an article of clothing until she wore only a petticoat. More
and more dancers of popular non-flamenco dances such as "La Cachucha,"
"La Malaguena" (not the same as the flamenco cante), and "El Jaleo" were
sharing the bill with the flamenco artists. Around the turn of the
century, the "Can-Can" was imported from France, and it spread through
Spain with immense popularity; "La Pulga" (the flea) was sung with
daring lyrics and danced in a suggestive manner by per- formers Wearing
as little as a slip. Dancers began to bandon flamenco in order to
perform Lhrse more provocative and iucrative dances.
Beginning in the late 1800s, intellectual aficionados began to criticize
the cafes cantantes for their loss of purity, for the incursion by
popular Andalucian music, and for the commercialism. To the purists,
flamenco was in a state of decay But the cante gitano had had its time
in the limelight and came away enriched by the addition of the guitar,
the appearance of greater numbers of profesgional artists, and an
expanded repertoire of cantes. The cante andaluz (Andalucian folk music)
had definitely been enriched bv its contact with the gypsies. Without
this natural "adulteration," we would lack half of the flamenco cantes
we have today.
The phenomenon known as "Antiflamenquismo del '98" continued and
expanded the criticism of the cafe cantante. Spanish intellectuals who
were part of the "generation of '98" saw flamenco as a caricature of the
tourist's idea of Spain, and as a music associated with drunks, sleazy
bars, and immorality. Writers like Pfo Baroja, Eugenio Noel, and Unamuno
attacked flamenco with biting satire, parody, and exaggeration. Their
work would have a damaging effect on flamenco for decades to come.
The year 1910 is generally given for the end of the "Golden Age of
Flamenco" and the cafe cantante, although some cafes survived for a
while longer, and at least one, the "Cafe de Chinitas" in Malaga, did
not close until 1941. The non-gypsy singer, Antonio Chaco~n, considered
by some to be the greatest flamenco singer of all time, played a large
role in the transition to the period of the "theater" or "opera"
flamenco, which was to last until the 1950s. Chaco~n, knowl- edgeable in
all areas of flamenco, had a voice unsuited to the cante gitano and,
therefore, specialized in the cante andaluz, improving it and creating
new styles of granainas, tarantas, malaguenas, and caracoles. He was
extremely popu- lar, and his trademark -- a flowery, highly ornamented
style of singing and a falsetto voice - were widely imitated and
exaggerated. In Buenos Aires, Chaco~n became the first to take flamenco
into the theater, starting a new era in which flamenco became a theater
art form Don Antonio Chaco~n - the "Don" being equivalent to "Sir" and
given to him out of respect for his art and his gentlemanly manners -
became flamenco's highest paid artist.
While Chaco~n did not himself corrupt flamenco with his innovations, he
opened the door for a rash of imitators who were less concerned with
tradition than he. The most signi- ficant of these was Pepe Marchena, a
virtuoso who used his abilities to mix flamenco with popular music and
to intro- duce commercial theatrics into his performance. He started the
revolution known as "Marchenismo" or "Opera Flamenca," in which flamenco
was softened, and elaborated with trills to make it prettier. Pepe
Marchena was the first to break with tradition and stand while singing,
and he was the first to sing with an orchestra.
Antonio Chaco~n lived to see what he had started and to suffer from it.
He had substituted the cartagenera and the malaguejia (two forms of
fangangos) for the gypsy siguiriya, and now he saw these songs replaced
by operatic fandangos and Latin American derived milongas and
columbianas. Chaco~n couldn't compete and died in poverty in 1929.
With the cafes closing or changing to other kinds of entertainment
flamenco artists began to work in theaters and with touring companies,
or outside of Spain. (Paris became an important center of flamenco
activity.) By 1920, this trend was in full swing. Flamenco appeared in
zarzuelas (musical comedies), where it was mixed with operatic arias and
often accompanied by piano or orchestra, as well as guitar. Traveling
Spanish ballet companies brought flamenco- styled treatments of Spanish
classical dances and music to theaters in Spain and around the world.
One of the earliest of these companies was that of La Argentina,
although Pastora Imperio had danced in a theater in Buenos Aires as
early as 1915; later, there would be Carmen Amaya, Vicente Escudero, La
Argentinita and, finally, Jose Greco. These CompanieS had a profound
effect on Spanish dance. In the search for new material, cantes that had
never been danced before were chosen for dance interpretation: La
Argentinita first danced la caiTa in the 1930s, Vicente Escudero the
siguiriyas in 1940, to which mode Pilar Lopez was the first to play
castanets; the culmination of that trend was the dancing of the
chant-like martlnetes (blacksmith's song, sung without musical
accompaniment).
Flamenco had been receiving international exposure ever since it had
first been presented at the Paris Exposition in 1889. This exposure
increased dramatically in the early twentieth century. In 1914, a
version of Manuel de Falla's El Amor Brujo" called "Embrujo de Sevilla"
was presented in London and featured important Spanish artists. Later,
De Falla would be commissioned by Sergie Diaghilev to create "The Three
Cornered Hat" for the Russian Ballet (Picasso would do the sets and
costumes). In 1921 a cuadro flamenco performed in Paris in conjunction
with the Russian Ballet season. This type of exposure resulted in the
incorporation of Spanish and flamenco themes in the music of renowned
composers from many different countries. There was, of course, Manuel de
Fall from Spain, along with Albeniz, Turina, and Breto~n, and from
France, Bizet, Ravel, and Debussy, while Russia produced Spanish themes
from such composers as Glinka, 90rodin, and Rimsky-Rorsakov.
Spanish dancers took this "classical" music with Spanish themes and set
flamenco-styled choreography to them; such choreography became the main
repertoire of the touring Spani5h dance companies, along with the
original SpaniSh ballet dances from what is called the escuela bolera
(bolero school of dance). Not only did these "classical" and "theatre"
dances increase the repertoire, but they gave a new dimension and
virtuosity to the dance. Castanets, adopted from the escuela bolera and
the region-l folk dances, were developed into concert instruments and
used more and more in the classical interpretations and even in the
gypsy dances - something that many artists object to even today. The
disci- plined, academy-trained dancers refined the techniques of
armwork, body carriage and turns, but it was a flamenco dancer named
Antonio de Bilbao who dazzled the dance world with the virtuosity of his
footwork; Spanish dance was never the same. The gypsy whirlwind, Carmen
Amaya, did the same for the feminine dance, and soon women were dressing
in pants and pounding their feet furiously. In summation, the Spanish
ballet companies refined, stylized, and civilized the flamenco dance.
In 1922, Manuel de Falla and the poet, Federico Garcfa Lorca, were
instrumental in organizing a contest of cante jondo (deep song; the most
profound of the cantes) in Granada. With the support of many
intellectuals and impor- tant artists, the contest attempted to revive
the disappear- ing gypsy cante by seeking to find in the small towns
noR- professional (and, therefore, supposedly, uncorrupted) performers
who still knew the old traditional songs. The contest did not succeed in
this goal, for the cante gitano is not a music "of the people"; only
professionals who dedicate their lives to it are capable of doing
justice to this diffi- cult art. However, the event was well publicized
and came off with a great deal of ceremony - including guitar recitals
by Andres Segovia, who played soleares on one occasion and served as one
of the judges in the contest. There were some positive results from the
contest: A number of old cantes were recorded and saved for posterity,
and a couple of artists, one in his seventies and the other twelve years
old, were given a great deal of publicity. For the first time,
intellectuals had supported flamenco; no longer could its value as a
musical art form be denied, and the damage done by the "generation of
'98" could undergo the long process of repair.
On the other hand, the contest of Granada may have contri- buted to the
very thing it had sought to counteract, for immediately afterward began
the great touring variety shows that presented the new flamenco and
exploited the winners of the contest, particularly the young gypsy,
Manolo Caracol, who went on to become one of the most successful of the
commercial singers
Flamencologists generally paint a picture of the flamenco opera period
as a time when all that was heard were the falsetto voices of operatic
psuedo-flamenco warblers who elaborately embellished the different forms
of fandangos to the accompaniment of orchestra. One important writer
(Felix Grande, Memorias del Flamenco, 1979) states: "Everything pro-
duced in this period cannot be called nauseating, but a good part of it
can." Manuel de Falla, in a pamphlet written in conjunction with the
Granada contest, summed up the view of many aficionados: "The majestic
canto gravo [cante jondo; profound cantel of yesteryear has degenerated
into the ridi- culous ' flamenquismo' of today. The sober vocal
modulation-- the natural inflexions of the song that result from the
divisions and subdivisions of sound-- has become an artifi- cial,
ornamented trend that is more like the decadence of the worst Italian
epoch than like the primitive cantes of the Orient, with which our songs
can be compared only when they are pure." Creativity during this period
is considered to have been limited, in the cante, to the operatic
fandango, the Latin guajira, columbianas, and milongas, and the
orchestral form of the zambra.
But good flamenco was not completely extinct. Many great artists in this
"era of the NiaOS, as a great cantaor put it (so called for the many
artists who put NiaO before their names - NiaO Marchena, NiaO de Huelva,
NiaO Sabicas, NiaO Ricardo, La Niaa de la Puebla, etc.), were able to
adapt to the new situation and bridge the gap between the old and the
new; some of them became great stars, recorded extensively, and made a
great deal of money. Manolo Caracol ( the contest winner) was one of
them. Another was the great Pastora Pav7n, "la Niaa de los Peines"
("Girl of the Combs," named for a verse she made famous), who is
considered to be fla- menco's greatest female singer - in spite of the
fact that she was extremely popular and commercially successful
throughout the opera period. Pastora gave the public what it wanted,
with fandangos and cuples (pop songs) in the rhythm of bulerfas, but she
almost always included some traditional flamenco on her records -
different styles of soleares, siguiriyas, alegrfas, bulerfas, or tango9.
She made a very large number of records between 1910 and 1940 and was
accompanied by most of the great guitarists, from Luis Molina at the
beginning of her career, through Ramon Montoya and, toward the end of
her career Melchor de Marchena.
Another example is Antonio Mairena, recently deceased in his seventies
and considered by many to be the greatest cantaor of recent times.
Mairena, or NiaO Rafael as he was called in his early years, knew a
great deal of the tradi- tional cante, but was forced to sing pop music
to earn a living. In his book, Las Confesiones de Antonio Mairena, (
1976), he describes a typcial sLtuation: Mairena had been offered the
chance to make four records in Barcelona and had had prepared a program
of flamenco - seguiyira, soleares, alegrfas and tangos. He writes: "But
when I arrived in Barcelona and presented my program, the recording
company told me not to even mention pure cantes, that I had to record
four sides of fandangos and four of cuples por buler;as. That was an
ordeal for me because I was not a fandango singer. Besides that, I had
to learn the words and melodies of the cuples and, in order to avoid
lapses of memory, I had to record with a music stand in front of me,
like some musician or I don't know what!"
The guitar blossomed during this time. At the forefront was Ramon
Montoya (c. 1880-1949), a gypsy who lived most of his life in Madrid and
greatly influenced all guitarists who came after him; both Sabicas and
Mario Escudero played a great deal of Montoya's music on their early
records. He developed his style while playing for singers in the cafes
cantantes, and later, influenced by the playing of the classical
guitarists Francisco Tarrega and Miguel Llobet, he began to incorporate
classical techniques into his playing Montoya is credited with creating
the four-fingered tremolo now used in flamenco and with introducing more
complex arpeggios and picados (single note passages); he also developed
the left hand for playing his many difficult creations. Montoya composed
many melodies that are now con- sidered standard or "traditional" and
was the creator of a flamenco form, the rondeaa for guitar, that is now
part of the standard repertoire. Montoya alternated between accompanying
the great singers in private parties, recording with most of the top
artists, and giving solo recitals around the 3 world. He also recorded
some guitar duets with Amalio Cuenca, a soloist who had been one of the
judges in the Granada contest.
Other guitarists included NiaO Ricardo, one of the greatest influences
on flamenco guitar between Ramo~n Montoya and the moderns. Ricardo made a
living playing with orches- tras and operatic singers, but on the side
he created profound flamenco music. There was also Manolo Badajoz, who
preferred private parties to theatrical performances, Miguel Borrull,
Luis Yance, Luis Marvilla, Esteban Sanlucar, whose flamenco compositions
are still played by concert artists, and even Melchor de Marchena, who
was quite a virtuoSo in his youth, but then became the exemplary subdued
and emotional accompanist in his later years - from the 1950's into th
1970's.
The great guitarist, Agustfn Castellon "Sabicas" brought the music of
Ramon Montoya to the Americas and, probably as a result of his long
association with the gypsy dancer Carmen Amaya, developed a strongly
rhythmic style, in contrast to I Ramo~n Montoya's more free and Iyrical
approach. In the 19409 j and 1950s Sabicas added many new forms to the
solo guitar repertoire that had previously only been sung or danced,
including verdiales, zambra, garrotin, sevillanas, columbianas,
milongas and guajiras.
Under the influence of these guitarists, solo flamenco guitar music
gradually became more elaborate, Ivrical and technical. The trend would
reach its peak in the earlv 1960s, largely outside of Spain, with feeble
attempts to pla j flamenco on classical guitars and to fuse the music
with ja22 3 or rock and roll. But in Spain another force had been
brewing: Manuel Serrapi ("Nino Ricardo") had a stvle of playing that was
very diffrent from that of Ramo~n ontoVa; the technique was equallv
developed, but the sund ac hard and dissonant. Niiio Ricardo's music
would influence a generation of guitarists and eventually mold the early
playing of a guitarist who was to revolutionize flamenCo: Paco de
Lucia.
Not all of the great artists were able to make the tranSI tion to the
new commercial flamenco. As we saw. An!nl Chaco~n fell victim to the very
phenomenon that he helped create. The great, although eccentric, gypsy
singer Manue orre could not sing unless he was "a gusto" (in the mood)
nd thus could not sing in scheduled performances; Torre etired to
Sevilla with the greyhounds, pocket watches, and ighting cocks he loved
so much, earning a meager living from ccasional private fiestas. Another
who could not perform nless conditions were to his liking was Tomas
Pavo~n, the rother of La Nina de los Peines. Many dance stars of an
arlier periodalso fell on hardtimes, including La Macarrona, a Malena,
and La Gamba; these artists were so poor that they ad o rent a dress if
they managed to find a job dancing for private fiesta.
Two guitarists who fell into the category of non-theatrical performers
were Manolo de Huelva and Javier Molina. Manolo de Huelva was called
amazing by those who heard him, but was mystery to most of the flamenco
world because he would not record or teach his music, and he was
reluctant to play in ront of other guitarists. For most of his career,
Manolo layed only for private fiestas and in the latter part of his ife
became even more secretive. Javier Molina was born in 868 and therefore
played at the peak of the cafe cantante eriod. He was instrumental in
the development of modern lamenco, having taught Nirlo Ricardo, Periico
el del Lunar, nd he influenced Ramo~n Montoya, who admired him greatly.
ltough Molina continued to perform until 1940 and taught uitar until his
death in 1956, he never really participated n the theater flamenco and
lived primarily from private iestas.
The most important means of survival for the gypsy artists nd other
flamencos who were not temperamentally suited to ublic performance was
the private fiesta or juerga. Juergas ad existed since the early days of
the cafe cantante. Most afs, a Yell as many bars and inns, had backrooms
called eservaos that could be used for private parties. A table nd a few
chairs or benches created the environment for atherings of four to
seldom more than fifteen people -a gui- arist or two, a couple of
cantaores, and a few aficionados, ncluding those who would pay for the
artists and supply the rinks; seldom were dancers involved - the dance,
if it ccurred, would be sponaneous. The juerga would typically egin at
two or three o'clock in the morning, after the ormal nightclub
perform-nces were over, (most flamenco show n Spain today still begin
after 11:00 p.m.) and would ontinue until the following morning or the
next afternoon, r go on for several days. Many flamencos were known for
heir ability to go for days without sleep and to drink lmost
continuously. The artisti, often through drink or xhaustion, would
sometimes exceed their normal capacity and each heights of creativity
that drove the onlookers to tear nd states of ecstacy. These supreme
moment9 of flamenco, hen the duende (spirit or "soul") is present and
the music uts straight to the heart, are what aficionados and artists
onstantly seek and strive for. The juergas were an impor- ant source of
income for flamenco artists, but also involved xhausting and degrading
work, as well as making the artists ependent upon the wealthy seoritos
for their existence. In odern times, the juerga has lost its popularity
as a way of ife.
There were some attempts to revive traditional flamenco in he public
eye. Several contests were held prior to the panish Civil War that began
in 1936. In one contest, the Llave del Oro" (Gold Rey) was awarded to
the popular singer anuel Vallejo, and in another the jury included
singers Pepe I de la Matrona and Fernando el de Triana, the author of
the irst collection of flamenco biographies. (Flamenco artists ake their
names in many ways; in these two cases, Pepe took he name of his mother,
Manolita "La Matrona," and Fernando ook the name of his home town,
Triana.) Prizes went to the raditional cantaor, Perico~n de Cadiz, and to
other singers or fandangos. Whatever their intentions, these contests
warded prizes primarily to commercially successful fandango ngers.
nother typical attempt to present the "pure" flamenco was touring
company that included La Nia de los Peines, the uitarists Ramo~n Montoya,
Luis Yance, and Nino Ricardo, and he dancers La Macarrona and El Cojo de
Malaga (The Lame one rom Malaga). However, the show, which was presented
in ullrings, was of the "opera" variety.
After the Civil War, the singer Conchita Piquer revived a how called
"Las Calles deCadiz" (The Streets of Cadiz) that ad first been conceived
and performed by La Argentinita in 1933. The show featured old-time
performers, some of whom had to come out of retirement, in a re-creation
of the street9 of the flamenco barrio of Santa Marfa in Cadiz at the
turn of the century. The revived version included many fine artists: La
Nia de los Peine9, her husband Pepe Pinto, Perico~n de Cadiz, dancers La
Malena and La Macarrona (then in their sixties and seventies), and the
guitarists Melchor de Marchena and Nino Ricardo. For five years the show
toured throughout Spain - demonstrating that this type of flamenco still
had an audience. But even shows of this type were in- fluenced by the
modern style (Pepe Pinto, for example, wa a fandango singer), and it was
only away from the public lime- light that the traditional gypsy cante
was preserved - in the bars and taverns and in the family gatherings,
baptisms and weddings.
The final force in the internationalization of flamenco was the Civil
War, which forced many artists to leave Spain: Carmen Amaya and her
family went to South America, where they were a big success; the great
guitarist Sabica- joined the Amaya company and did not return to Spain
until the 19609, making his home in Mexico and the United States; Carlos
Montoya came to America with a dance company and remained in New York;
Vicente Escudero was in Pari and then America; Ramon Montoya gave guitar
recitals in Pari8, London, Switzer- land, Brusselg, and Buenos Aires.
Many dance companie- appeared in the year that followed the war,
including thoe of La Argentinita, Pilar Lopez, and Ro8ario and Antonio.
Eventually foreign dancers created their own dance comp-nie and achieved
international renown: From Mexico came Luiillo, Roberto Iglesias, and
Ximenez-Vargas, and from the United States, Jose Greco. The
international popularity of Spanih dance indirectly helped to bring this
"theater" epoch to an end.
The decadent "theater-opera" period of flamenco began to lose steam in
the late 1940 and gradually caoe to an end in the 1950s. This decline
was due to everal factors. The foreign public had responded to the
emotional impact of the flamenco dances presented by the Spanih ballet
companie, and consequently, the companie began to feature oore flamenco.
Tourist began to flock to Spain, expecting to %-e the exciting "Gypsy"
dance. In 1950 the fir8t tabl-o de flamenco, El Cortijo del Guajiro,
opened in Sevilla. The tablao was 5imilar to the old cafe cantante in
that it pre- sented shows of flamenco dance, song, %nd guitar. One
difference was that the dance was the center of attention; the cante and
guitar served primarily to support the baile. In 1954, La Zambra opened
in Madrid. The Zambra was a tablao that attempted to preient the purest
pos8ible foro of flamenco. In that sense, one is reminded of the caf6
cantante of Silverio - one of the first to pre8ent pure flamenco, but
then eventually to close, unable to compete with the more commercial
establishments; the Zambra closed in the mid-1970s.
The Zambra and many other tablaos that opened soon after were only one
element in a sudden surge of interest in "pure" or "traditional"
flamenco. Two contests in Cordoba, one in 1956 and another in 1959,
revealed some new and some old cantaores who could majestically perform
the traditional cante; young Fosforito, who would be an important figure
for decades to come, showed himself to have an encyclopedic know- ledge
of the cante, while the gypsies, Juan Talegas and Fernanda de Utrera,
revealed the pure cante gitano that had been hidden from public view for
so long. These contests showed the way to many others, and eventually to
the pheno- menon of the festival.
In 1955, a French recording company asked the guitarist at the Zambra,
Perico el del Lunar, to help them record an anthology of pure cante
flamenco. The resulting collection of nearly forgotten cantes, sung by
some of the most knowl- edgeable cantaores of the day, won the prize for
best record in France and sold successfully around the world. The next
decade saw the recording of many anthologies (studious collections of
cantes on two to seven records, often with one or two whole sides
devoted to different styles of a single cante).
An American, Donn Pohren, wrote two books, The Art of Flamenco (1962)
and Lives and Legends of Flamenco (1964), that presented a strong case
for the traditional or "old- style" flamenco, and when they sold widely
outside of Spain, these books helped to fee the fire of "purity".
Enthusiasts began to come to Spain looking for "authentic" flamenco.
Travelling dance companies, particularly that of Jose Creco, began to
bring high qualilty noncommercial flamenco artists to the audiences of
the world. Thus, a kind of renaissance of flamenco occurred in the 1950s
and 1960s. Flamenco was popular around the world, records of
traditional cnte were available in American supermarkets, and no "coffee
house" was complete without a resident flamenco guitarist.
In Spain, at the same time, recordings were preserving manv of the old
cantes for posterity, and intellectual aficionados were writing books
that dealt seriously with flamenco, tracing its origins and analyzing
its forms. Antonio Mairena, considered by many to be the most important
cantaor of our time, and writer Ricardo Molina wrote in their definitive
ercyclopedic study of flamenco, undo y Formas del Flamenco, 1964): "The
regression of the fandango and the cuple and the growing rise in the
traditional flamenco cante is an undeniable fact. Each day, the
atmosphere of aficion is better."
When tablaos opened up all over Spain, tourists flocked to them to see
the "real" flamenco. In the early 1960s, Donn Pohren opened a ranch near
Sevilla where foreigners could go to experience and learn flamenco and
to listen to the guitar playing of Diego del Gastor, an eccentric genius
with his own style of playing. Diego had been virtually unknown outside
of the local area, but soon became probably the most widely recorded
flamenco guitarist who has ever lived - although only on the protable
tape recorders of the foreigners who went to Moro~n de la Frontera to
hear him, for he would not make records.
During this twenty year renaissance period, the emphasis was on the
rediscovery and preservation of the old flamenco that had been in danger
of being lost. Flamenco clubs called penas flamencas began to spring up
all over Spain; in the penas, the aficionados gathered to listen to
cante - live or recorded - and to discuss the relative merits,
interpretation or history of each style, or each letra (verse). The 1958
founding of the Catedra de Flamencologia in Jeres de la Frontera
established a center for the study, preservation, and promotion of
flamenco in its purest form; in addition to maintaining the center and a
flamenco museum, the Catedra has each year since sponsored flamenco
courses in guitar and dance, presented flamenco recitals and concerts,
and awarded national prizes to the top artists and flamenco media
(books, records, radio shows).
In spite of this great emphasis on history and tradition, a number of
elements were coalescing that would bring about a revolution in
flamenco. The tablaos had a profound effect on the art. Many, if not
most, of today's top artists started their careers in the tablaos.
Because of the emphasis given to the dance, the cante and guitar
developed in a manner that was suitable for dance. For the cante, that
meant becoming more markedly rhythmical and cuadrao, that is, having one
line of song to one compas or rhythmic cycle, instead of stretched out
over two or more compases as it had been in the old cante; that meant
the cante was less free and less subtle than in the past. This way of
singing has been highly criti- cized by the older cantaores, but has
become the most common and acceptable manner of singing today. There has
also been a clarification of cante styles in reCent years. (The cante
has always been the basis for classifying flamenco forms; the guitar and
dance forms are based on the cante.) ames have been standardized, and
distinctions between cantes have been made more definite. An example
would be the tangos and tientos, which were practically
indistinguishable twenty years ago and were called tangos flamencos,
tangos gitanos, tangos canasteros, tientos canasteros, tientos antiguos,
and tientos por zambra. This clarification was encouraged not only by
the tablaos, but also by the tremendous amount of recording that had
been done, and by the study and writings of intellectual aficionados.
The guitar also felt the impact of the dance. In order to accompany song
and dance in noisy tablaos without amplifica- tion, the guitarist
developed new, more powerful strummin techniques which emphasized
rhythm. A leader in this area was a guitarist out of the caves of
Granada, Juan Maya "Marote," who did a great deal to popularize a
strongly rhythmical approach to dance accompaniment. However, the
guitarist of the 1980s seldom takes the liberties with rhvthm that were
the trademarks of great song accompanists of the past like Ramon Montoya
or Melchor de Marchena; the result has been a certain loss of
expressiveness. This loss was made up in other areas. As dancers
searched for ever more complicated steps, guitarists learned from them
and vice versa. The result was a mutual exchange in' an era of great
counter-time complexlty.
A number of important guitrists emerged on the Spanish scene in the
1960s. Sabicas, who had been away from Spain for thirty years, was
exposed to Spaniards by American guitarists, through his records, and
finally with his triumphant return to his native land in the late 1960s.
Victor Monje "Serranito," a musically complex flamenco gui- tarist,
created an awesome, innovative technique (among other things,
three-finger picados and plucking with back or up strokes of the thumb)
and very complex contrapuntal music. (Flamenco is traditionally linear
or melodic rather than harmonic.) Even Diego del Gastor made himself
felt, in part through his nephew, Paco del Gastor, who took the highl
improvisational, flowing style of playing that was character
istic of Diego to Madrid, where it was admired by the younger generation
of guitarists. Paco de Lucia hd been acquiring a reputation from the
time he was twelve years old, and the appearance of his first solo album
in the late 1960s marked the real start of the flamenco guitar
revolution. We can never be certain where Paco's ideas came from, but
this record showed the flamenco world a technique unmatched in the
history of the art and a new music that would eventually incorporate new
ideas in counterpoint and countertime, lush harmonies and suspended
tones, and finally, jazz and Latin melodies, scales, and chord
structures. Paco redefined che rhythms of bulerfas, tangos, and rumbas
in a flurrv of records that followed. He brought flamenco to national
attention in Spain with a hit recording of a rumba, "Encre Dos Aguas,"
and then co the whole world through his colla- borations with the rock
group "Santana," and with Larry Coryell, Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and
Chick Corea. Equally important was Paco de Lucia's collaboration with a
young genius of the cante, Camaro~n de la Isla, who became che most
influenial singer of the 1970s. Camaro~n sang like nobody before him,
wich a great knowledge and incredible sense of rhythm, with charisma and
a style that had strong Arabic overtones, a wailing lament, dissonant
and sorrowful. Paco and Camaro~n made a dozen or so records that licera
rewrote the book on flamenco. They became bigger than life "stars,"
worshipped and imitated by the younger generation
So much happened at once: Gypsy youth who had been exposed ; to the hard
rock music of Che 1960s began to play eleccric j inscruments and
rock-influenced music; this made possibl flamenco with electric bass,
flutes, drums, and synthesi
Marijuana and cocaine replaced alcohol in many flamenco circles. Gypsies
began to speak out about the Centuries- long persecution of their race;
Andalucians, long the underdogs in Spain, cried out for their rights;
all of Spain entered a new stage of political awareness with the demise
of Franco. All of this led to the appearance of political an social
issues as themes of flamenco songs. The epic Story of gypsy persecution
was told by cantaor, El LebrijanO. in his theatrical production and
record "Persecucion," and J!S Menese followed with the record
"Andalucia: 40 Ailos" (Anda- lucia: the last 40 years). The jaZz trained
gypsy baila!r'
Mario Maya, created the theatrical dance productions. "Camelamos
Naquerar" (gypsy language for, "We want to speak") and "Ay!" Other
avante-garde dance productiong followed, and in 1982, dancer Antonio
Gade9 used flamenco in 8 dance ver- sion of Garcfa Lorca's "Bodas de
Sangre" t"Blood Wedding"), which later became an internationally
acclaimed film. Also in 1982, the cantaor Enrique Morente sang flamenco
in a pro- duction of "Oedipus Rex" in the Roman ruins of Merida, Spain.
During the 1970s, the phenomenon of the festival emerged and exploded in
popularity. Such concerts, held outdoors in a bullring or stadium, or
indoors in a theater or sports arena, features generally eight to
fifteen cantaores (occa- sionally as many as twenty-five), who sing
three songs each, accompanied by one of three guitarists. Frequently a
dancer will be featured in one or two numbers at some point in the
evening, often at the end. Festivals normally begin around 11:00 p.m.
and often last until dawn. Held only during the summer, these festivals
became so popular that, by 1981, there was one almost every night
somewhere in Andalucfa, with attendance of two or three thousand people
t each one. Flamenco artists could finally make a decent living, and
ela- menco reached a broader audience than ever before. But it was a new
environment for flamenco: Intimacy and spontaneity were out,
professionalism and commercialism were in. An artist performed not when
he felt overwhelmed by the need, but when his turn came up. Since duende
doesn't appear on command, it stands little chance in the festivals.
Related to the commercialism of the festivales is the commercialism of
the recording industry. Beginning about 1970, a flood of flamenco
records began to pour forth, and the popular cantaores had to
frantically search for new material to record. Enter song writers. At
this point, instead of singing traditional melodies and verses, flamenco
artists were singing catchy melodies and trite love songs with a chorus
after each verse, gimmicky introductions and orchestrations. A song
became a hit one day and was passe the next. Today, it seems that each
cantaor follow8 the same pattern: His first record features primarily
good traditional flamenco and establishes his reputation; the second
recording contains traditional flamenco, but has an extra dose of
popular bulerfas and tangos; the third record is mostly cuples, composed
bulerfas and tangos; the fourth record is orchestrated, and the singer
may even croon a few pop songs. A singer or a guitarist can only have
so much traditional or high quality original flamenco in him, it seems,
and then he has to turn to gimmicks to sell more records.
The flamenco life style is gradually disappearing. Flamenco artists do
not often live from juergas as they did in the past. Young artists do
not particularly like the hard work of the juergas and prefer to look
for work in the festivales, in the tablaos, or in recording. Rural life
is being replaced by urban life. More gypsies are joining the mainstream
of Spanish life, marrying outside their race and gradually being
assimilated. Yet, surprisingly, the distinction between gypsy and
non-gypsy flamenco still exists. Gypsies still tend to prefer and excel
in their cantes - the bulerfas, tangos, siguiriya and soleares - while
the non-gypsies often prefer and perform better the many fandangos
styles.
Gypsies have their own way of dancing and playing guitar as weII. One
significant difference between the "opera" period and the present is
that it was the payo or non-gypsy who corrupted flamenco in the past,
but today it i the gypsies who are leading flamenco into new areas Paco
de Lucfa and Manolo SanlGcar, neither of whom is gypsy, started the
guitar revolution, but now it is gypsy guitarists like Raimundo Amador
and Diego Cortes who are using flamenco in their rock groups: Camaro~n,
Lebrijano, Lole and her family, Los Montoya, who are rvolutionizing the
cante; and Mario Maya who is the vanguard of change in the dance.
Not only have the gypgy-Andaluz distinctions survived, but there is
still - miraculougly in this age of mass media - some stylistic
differences between the flamenco from differ- ent parts of Andalucfa. It
is possible, for example to dis- tinguish guitar styles from Jerez and
Sevilla.
In the 1980s, we find a flamenco that i very theatrical and commercial
and that explores new channels of expresion in rock, jazz, theater,
film, and complex instrumentation. There have been incredible technical
advances in all apect of the art. Along with technique comes comcercial
exploita- tion. In the "opera" period, Manolo Caracol and La Nia de lo
Peine8 were capable of singing great fl-menco but choe to sing operatic
fandangos and cuple wih orche-trJl accomp-ni- ment; today, Chiquetete
and La Sui do the 8ame thing, but the reigning flamenco form are the
much abused bulerfa, tangos, and rumbag, with almot everybody singing
cuples in these rhythms. The critics say that trJditional flamenco i
being lost, ruined, and left behind.
Does some of this sound familiar? It hould, for the scenario is very
similar to that of the end of the 1800 and later, the opera period. The
same thing probably happened many times before, with the precursor8 of
flamenco. Flamenco was created by successive invasions of extern-l
influences, whether Arabs or rock group8. Critic8 have alwJys felt that
flamenco was at its best in an earlier period and is corrupted in the
pre8ent. Ironically, the "pure" flamenco of the pat is, in reality,
nothing but the corruption of an even earlier state of "purity." The
best flamenco we hJve tod-y i the product of many 8uch corruption-.
Flamenco eem to go in cycles of obsession with purity alternating with
periods of revolution/decadence. It may be that period of revolution/
decadence are essential in order to dirupt the stagnJtion of routine and
orthodoxy, to inject new life blood into the Jrt form, and to attract a
new audience a the old one get older.
In the cafe cantante period, the cante wa the mot 8igni- ficant element
in flamenco and made gredt advance. In the opera period, it was the
baile that made the greJtest tech- nicsl advances and wa8 the focus of
attention, especially internationally. Throughout the history of
flamenco, with minor exceptions, the guitar played a secondary role and
stayed in the background. In the modern era, however, the guitar is
receiving full attention, both in Spain and in other countries. Guitar
solo record albums and concert per- formances were tremendously popular
in the 1950-1960 period. Guitar techniques and musical sophistication
have advanced very significantly in the last twenty years. But the real
change, in the era of the guitar, is in the attitudes of per- formers
and aficionados. Two examples: In 1977, in a festival outside of
Malaga, the guitarist Paco Cepero received as many ovations for his
guitar playing as did Camaron de la Isla, the singer Cepero was
accompanying; many in the audience felt that was the reason Camaro~n cut
short his per- formance and stalked off stage. In 1982, while Enrique
Melchor, son of Melchor de Marchena, was playing for the singer,
Turronero, in the middle of a profound tientos,
Melchor played a very fast scale run that was originally recorded by
Paco de Lucfa, and the audience applauded wildly;
Turronero grabbed Melchor by the shoulder of his jacket, dragged him
from his chair, and forced him to take a bow. Such a thing would have
been unheard of ten years ago.
Today, the guitar and flamenco are obviously out of control. But
flamenco is amazingly resilient. It follows fads until they go too far,
and then snaps back and goes in a different direction. It bends, but
does not break. It survives. |
