Part 3: El cante - an introduction

The only person to proclaim himself a flamenco singer (”cantaor”) in the census initiated by king Carlos III in 1783 was the gypsy Tio Luis el de la Juliana. This allows us to surmise that the “cante” did not begin to really develop until the end of the XVIII century; despite constant searching on the part of flamencologists, no document has been found which verifies the existence of “cante flamenco” before the second half of the XVIII century.

The “cantes” of this first epoch were the various “tonás”, “playeras” (later known as “siguiriyas”), “cañas”, “polos” and a form known as “corridas”. For a long time the “cante was maintained almost secretly, was sung in a few gypsy homesteads, camps and “ventas”. It is imagined that only on extremely rare occasions did the embryonic “cantes” leave the family circle.

The enforced mixing of “payos” and “gitanos” (due to an edict of Carlos III) encouraged the diffusion of these early “cantes” which culminated in the second half of the last century in the popularisation of the “cante”. Slowly they became a part of “show-business” on the stages of the “cafes cantantes”, and where at the same time they were forced to develop into the “cantes” that have been sung during the whole of the XX century. The “Jotas de Cadiz”, “Malagueñas” and other regional folksongs became flamencofied in the mouths of the predominantly gypsy interpreters, whilst at the same time the older, more primitive “cantes” such as the “polo” and “cana” were undergoing changes.

This definitive integration of the “gitano” and “andaluz cantes”, more often known as “gitano-andaluz”, consitutes the basis of all the “cante” which is known today. Although known as “cante gitano-andaluz” or flamenco, there remains, in spite of the passing of almost a century, clear distingctions between the two. Roughly speaking, the two forms of “cante”, “payo” and “gitano”, can be represented thus:-

The above representation was qualified with the word “roughly”, and with good reason. Due to the integration (however successful or unsuccessful) of the “gitano” and “payo” society, those “cantes” which are known as “cantes gitanos” have much in them which is Andaluz and vice-versa. This is especially true when one refers to the modern “flamenco joven” where previously separate “palos” are now mixed; thus, for example, El Duquende sings a “solea por fandangos”, or El Dieguito sings a “taranta por solea”. A second reason to justify the use of the word “roughly” is that there have been many gypsy singers who have been able to interpret the “cante andaluz” with great effectiveness, and many non-gypsies who especialize in the “cante gitano”.

Nevertheless, one can safely say that the “cante gitano” is more “compás” based, whilst the “cante andaluz” is based on the “cantes libres”. It is possible to be more specific: the “cante gitano” originated in Cadiz, whilst the “cante andaluz” developed from “fandangos” and “malagueñas” from Malaga.