Part 3c Duende

June 30, 2008 in book by miguel | 1 comment

Duende

The flamenco singer, Manuel Torre (1909-1933), a man who was completely illiterate was eulogized by Federico Garcia Lorca as having a greater and more important culture in the blood. Torre had his own theory on what is known as “duende”. He is reported to have said to a singer: “tu tienes vos, tu sabes los estilos, pero no triunfarás nunca, porque tú no tienes duende” (you have a good voice, you know the styles, but you will never reach the top, because you have no “duende”). The same man, Manuel Torre, is also reputed to have said:-

”In the “cante jondo”, the singer always has to look for “duende”, until he finds it in the blackness of the Faraohs” (Historia del cante flamenco, p.171).”

Another time, after hearing Manuel de Falla play some passages of “Noches en los jardines de Espana” (nights in the gardens of Spain), when he was asked his opinion of what he had just heard he is said to have replied:-

“Everything that has black sounds has duende” (Historia del flamenco, p.171)

The Diccionario de la Real Academia Española defines duende as:

(De duen de casa, dueño de la casa).

1. m. Espíritu fantástico del que se dice que habita en algunas casas y que travesea, causando en ellas trastorno y estruendo. Aparece con figura de viejo o de niño en las narraciones tradicionales.

2. m. restaño¹.

3. m. pl. And. Cardos secos y espinosos que se ponen en las albardillas de las tapias para dificultar el escalo.

4. m. pl. And. Encanto misterioso e inefable. Los duendes del cante flamenco.

andar alguien como un ~, o parecer un ~.

1. locs. verbs. coloqs. Aparecer en los lugares donde no se le esperaba.

tener alguien ~.

1. loc. verb. Tener encanto, atractivo, etc.

2. loc. verb. coloq. Traer en la imaginación algo que le inquieta.

In flamenco terms. to have “duende” is to “have it”, to have magic, to be out of this world (Collins English/Spanish Dictionary). “Duende” is what all the interpreters of flamenco aim to project: a magic that makes time stand still, a certain something that silences talkers, that inhibits one from taking a dring from the glass; it is the essence of all of the best flaneco, whether it be technically polished or not.

Very few singers, dancers or guitarrists will admit to not having “duende”. The truth is that not all flamenco artists are capable of transmitting this difficult-to-define-quality. There are no flamencos who would admit to not knowing what it is, or to not having experienced it at one time or another. Also, there is no professional who can make one believe that “duende” does not make its appearance every night between the hours of twelve and three in the morning when s/he gets up to sing his/her turn on the stage.

There are many tales which are told of this misterious quality. The well known flamencologist Gonzales Climent has written some articles on the arabic word “tarab”, a word which describes the phenomenom that occurs to some listeners of music producing enthusiasm, ecstasy and physical emotions of happiness or sadness. He tells a scene which is described in one of his arabic books:

”In Sevilla, during the VIII century a singer/slave arrived from the Orient, and two sevillanos decided to go and listen to her in her owner’s house. The room in which she was in was a mess, and she was dirty and ugly. When she sang however, the visitors went crazy, one of them, so affected by her singing threw a jug of oil over his head which run down his face… (taken from Historia del cante flamenco).”

Another more modern anecdote was told by the singer Manolo Caracol:

”He and the gaditano singer Chano Lobato were singing in a fiesta “por bulerias”, each one singing a verse, alternating between the two. Manolo Caracol, despite his obesity, broke into a small dance, only to resume his part in the singing seconds later. The electricity between Manolo and Chano increased with each successive verse. One of the listeners, a gypsy who by this time was out of his mind with ecstasy, bit hard into the arm of the person next to him; he did not have to apologise, as the other was so moved and absorbed by the “cante that he did not even realize what had happened. Caracol had lost his head by now, and ripped over his shirt as if offerring his bare chest to the cante…”

Perhaps the best analogy that one can draw to illustrate duende is by making a comparison between flamenco and some gospel music, where many claim to be taken over by spirist, illnesses are cured, etc. The difference is that flamenco duende is a rare occurrence and is only transmitted by the most gifted of flamenco interpreters. Above all, it is not “on tap”, but rather, it simply arrives, and then leaves just as misteriously.

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