This
generic term covers a broad range of music
and dance.
It is rooted in the cante hondo (deep song)
of gitanos of
Andalucia and probably influenced
by North African
rhythms (or, indeed music of Andalus).
The poet Garcia
Lorca and composer Manuel
de Falla helped keep the genre alive
with their grand competition in 1922,
but by then it had already had a well-established
history. The gitanos
had settled in Andalucia
early in the 15th
century, and by the end of the 18th
century several centres of cante
hondo (also known as cante
jondo) had emerged, among the Triana
area of Sevilla.
The guitar
was invented in Andalucia:
its origin lay in Arab
lutes and about the 1790s a sixth
string was added, probably in Cadiz
by a guitar maker called Pages. In the 1870s
Antonio de Toress of Almeria
gave the instrument its modern shape and
sonority.
The melancholy
cante hodo is performed by a singer,
who may be male
(cantador)
or female
(cantora),
to the accompaniment of a
blood-rush
of guitar from the tocaor. Although in its
pure, traditional form this is sometimes
a little hard for the uninitiated to deal
with, it is difficult not be to moved by
the very physical
experience.
The accompanying dance is performed by one
or more bailaores.
The sevillana (Andalucian fold dance) closely
resembles, but should not be confused with,
the bailaores dance. Girls
all over the country try to learn the sevillanas
at some time during their school careers.
It is impossible in this limited space to
delve into the intricacies
of the various orthodox schools
of flamenco
that have emerged over the past century
(schools of Cadiz,
Sevilla,
Jerez,
Cordoba
and so on) or of the different kinds of
song
(palos)
and music.
They range from the most anguished siguiriyas
and soleass
to the more lively bulerias,
boleros,
fandangos,
alegrias
and farrucas.
Suffice to say that there is more to it
than meets the eye.
Although
flamenco’s home turf
is in the south, many artists
establish themselves in other major cities,
especially Madrid,
with its gitano
barrios
or districts and long-time flamenco
bars.
Indeed, the 1950’s
musicians streamed in from the impoverished
south to seek a better life in Madrid.
One of the best-known dance studios in the
country is the Academia
Amor de Dios,
south of the Lavapies
area.
Some of
the greatest
figures
around the turn of the 19th century, to
some the Edad de Oro (Golden
Age)
of flamenco,
include the
guitarist Ramon Montoya
(1879-1949 and singer Silverio
Franconetti
(1831-89), Manolo
Caracol
(1909-73) joined the great singer Lola
Flores
(1923-95) to introduce theatrical elements
and even orchestral accompaniment, which
injected new life into the genre but was
not welcomed by purists.
Flamenco’s
real golden age
may well be opening up before us. Never
has it been so popular both in Spain and
abroad, and never has there been such innovation.
Strangely, among the most successful proponents
of modern
flamenco
(or flamenco style) music are the Gipsy
kings,
who are from southern France
not Spain.
Paco
de Lucia (1947-) is undoubtedly the
best-known flamenco
guitarist internationally. He has
virtuosity few would dare to claim they
can match and is the personification of
duende,
that indefinable capacity to transmit the
power of flamenco.
Or of wealth of albums to choose from, the
double album Paco del Lucia Antologia
is a good introduction to his work from
1967 to 1990.
Paco de Lucia spends more time abroad than
in Spain, but plenty
of other good musicians fill the gap
at home.
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