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This first anthology was a collection of recordings of the basic flamenco forms of flamenco. This intention was more difficult than might appear at first sight due to the popularity of Opera Flamenco, and its most important representative: Pepe Marchena. A previous attempt had been made to preserve the old traditional otherwise known as the pure, unadulterated forms. This attempt was made by Manuel de Falla and Federico García Lorca in their ‘concurso de cante flamenco’ in 1922. However, this competition had little effect on the growing popularity of Opera Flamenco which obliterated any other interpretation that happened to be in its path.

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The inclusion of Camarón immediately after the sections on duende and voice types in flamenco is because of the revolutionary impact that he had on the flamenco world. Stuffy, secretive and aloof might be words used to describe some of the driest and most earnest flamencos before Camarón. Camarón unwittingly gave flamenco a universal appeal and promoted him to a cult figure in Spanish popular culture. Read the rest of this entry »

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 Read the rest of this entry »

The quality of voice is of supreme importance in flamenco as it can imbue flamenco with one of its most important elements: “el quejio”. “El quejio” is perhaps best translated as a “cry of desperation” and often said to be one of the basic elements of the ”cante jondo”, that is, those palos which are the most profound and deep. Here is a breakdown of some of the major divisions of types of voice. Read the rest of this entry »

There are perhaps two things which immediately seem to come to people’s minds on the first hearing of flamenco: unusual melodic lines and the timbre of the singer’s voice. The crystalline tone developed and favoured in the conservatory or in many types of popular music is not usually the type of voice favoured in flamenco.

Due to mixing of various cultures, flamenco has, to Anglo-Saxon ears, strange and perhaps oriental sounds. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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How was Andalusia at the very beginnings of Flamenco?

Andalusia has always been a melting pot of cultures; Aegean, Asian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic colonizations have all played a part in its development and cultural richness. From the discovery of the “new world” in 1492, Andalusia experienced economic growth. These economic changes were not however reflected on social changes. The ports of Cádiz, Sevilla and Sanlúcar began to grown in importance as a direct result of the American colonies - these Andalusian ports represented a door to the Atlantic. Industry in Cádiz was non-existent; Jerez slowly began the elaboration of its famous wines and sherries. Inland villages and hamlets were agricultural, characterized by an almost non-existent economy.

When the “cante” first appeared in the late XVIII century, Spain’s Latin-American influence Read the rest of this entry »

The Gypsies first arrived in Spain during the XV century and were known by various names: Greeks, Egyptians, Zingaros and Hungaros. Their origin has been demonstrated by linguists to have been north east India.Their arrival in Spain provoked interest among the populace. The king Alfonso V in 1425 granted the gypsies “salvoconductos”, that is, safe conduct around the country. Read the rest of this entry »

For the cultured classes of Spain, until recently flamenco was nothing more than a “thing of the lower classes”; of taverns, violence, riotousness, drunkenness, and in the past, of beggars, thieves, bandits and gypsies. It was not until 1922 that a group of intellectuals (which included the composer Manuel de Falla and the young poet Federico García Lorca) organised a “concurso the cante jondo”. The first time that the intellectuals of Andalucia acted as a group to study, understand and for want of a better word, protect flamenco. At that time famenco had almost completely been forgotten, substituted by a light operatic form known as “opera flamenco”. Read the rest of this entry »