The spirit and passion of Andalucia, Flamenco is truly a wholly Spanish art form. It is both sensuous and captivating, an expression of passion in its three principal forms; el Cante, the song; la Guitarra, the music and el Baile, the dance.
The Roots of Flamenco
The spirit and passion of Andalucia, Flamenco is truly
a wholly Spanish art form. It is both sensuous and captivating, an expression
of emotion in its three principal forms; el
Cante, the song; la Guitarra, the
music; and el Baile, the dance.
Musical Beginnings
Its
origins are said to be Visigoth, Iberian, Indian and Gypsy, with North African
and Jewish influences. Andalucia is from the Moorish word Al-Aldalus, their
name for that region of Southern Spain; from Almeria in the east, to Huelva in
the west.
The
Gypsies were travelling musicians and artisans, originally thought to be from
the Punjab or Rajahstan in Northern India, who reached Al-Andalus via Asia
Minor and North Africa around 1450AD. They were tolerated, along with other
races and religious groups first by the Moors, rulers since 720, and by the
Castillians, who ruled after 1248. Indian Kathak dance and footwork bears
resemblance to Flamenco with its use of heel strikes and flat stamps.
Following
the Christian re-conquest of Granada, the last part of Muslim Spain, in 1492,
toleration ceased and non-Christians were either forced to renounce their
religion, flee, or die by the hands of the Inquisition. The Gypsies were also
subject to the pogroms of the new regime.
This
is part of the great sorrow experienced by the peoples of Andalucia and woven
into their folklore. The early Catholic liturgies and use of Byzantine music
and tonal harmonies added to the richness and depth of the Cante. Jewish chant
and Muslim calls to prayer all have features common to Flamenco.
Much later, and into the early 18th Century and beyond, events that caused sorrow or happiness were included and added to the rich diversity of Folk Cantes for baptisms, lovers, tradesmen, funerals and everyday life, becoming more developed and encompassing. It is this, according to historical writers like Manuel de Falla that eventually bore the fruit of Cante Jondo; Deep Song.
The popular regional folk songs and dances of Spanish peoples can also be traced in their evolution from a vocal art form, where either unaccompanied or accompanied only by rhythmical hand clapping to the more modern interpretation featuring Spanish guitar.
You have not experienced Flamenco until you have gathered in a juerga with a small group of friends, at midnight somewhere in the south of Spain, and given yourself to the spell of beautiful lyrical voices, guitar and the physical passion and precision of the dancer.
Birth of an Art Form
The musical scale used in Flamenco is often referred to as the Phyrigian mode, Jewish, Spanish Gypsy or Ciprian scale. It is of some note that Cipriano de Rore (1515-1565 for whom the scale is named) was a Flemish composer who worked on tonal scales and harmonies for religious chants, and that Flamenco means ‘Flemish’ or ‘Of Flanders’ in the Spanish language. So perhaps
when early singers sang their songs in the Ciprian scale ‘a la
Flamenco’ or in the ‘Flemish’ style, this could be the original source
of the word ‘Flamenco’? or perhaps Blas Infantes interpretation that
the word Flamenco comes from Andalucian Arabic ‘fellah mengu’, ‘escapee peasant’. Whatever the reason, Flamenco is now synonymous with Spain and its peoples, especially those of Andalucia
The earliest mention of what is now known as Flamenco in literature appears in the book ‘Cartas Marruecas’ by in 1774. At this time the art form was referred to as ‘bailes de palillos, ‘bailes Andaluces’ or ‘bailes de candil’, indicating they were danced in Andalucia to rhythmic tapping of sticks and by lamplight.
Recognised by most as the First Flamenco singer Montoya Garcés, or Tio Luis el de Juliana, was a gypsy water carrier born in Jerez de la Frontera in 1760. His styles of song were the most antiquated styles known, performed without guitar accompaniment and with only a stick or bare knuckles to beat out a rhythm in the style known as ‘a-golpe’. The
first known written references to named singers and dancers came in the
1830s when Spanish writers reported on their travels. Serafín Estébanez Calderón wrote in Escenas Andaluces, the only surviving account of El Planeta, in 1831
In a translated extract from his works, Calderón also describes a scene witnessed during a private party in Triana of a ‘baile de candil’. ‘El Fillo and Maria de las Nieves sang Tonadas, Sevillanas and danced Seguidillas and Caleseras, and singer Juan de Dios did the Polo Tobalo’. Other singers of the early period included Silverio Franconetti Aguilar and Tomás de Vargas Suárez ‘El Nitri’. The two of whom were great rivals as El Nitri looked poorly on the half Italian as a payo or non-Gypsy For more information on the history of Flamenco see this site for Flamenco Essentials.