January 10, 2003
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Flamenco is a genuine Spanish art, or to be more exact
a genuine Southern Spanish art. It exists in three forms: el cante, the
song, el baile, the dance, and la guitarra, guitar-playing. Gypsies are
very often cited as its originators, and it is at least certain that they
played an important part in its creation. But the popular songs and dances
of Andalusia also had a major influence on early Flamenco.
There were the legendary Tartessos, and seven centuries of Muslim occupation
hardly could have passed without leaving traces. All that, directly or
indirectly, influenced flamenco. The first time Flamenco is reported on
in literature is in the "Cartas Marruecas" of Cadalso, in 1774.
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During
its Golden Age (1869-1910) flamenco was developed in the epoch's numerous
music cafés (cafés cantantes) to its definitive form. Also
the more serious forms expressing deep feelings (cante jondo) dates from
then. Flamenco dance arrived to its climax, being the major attraction
for the public of those cafés cantantes.
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Cante Jondo
Guitar players
featuring the dancers increasingly gained a reputation. From 1910 to 1955
flamenco singing was marked by the ópera flamenca, with an easier
kind of music such as fandangos and cantes de ida y vuelta-the latter
clearly showing South American influences. From 1915 onwards flamenco
shows were organized and performed all over the world. Anyhow, not everybody
was happy with that development and in 1922 intellectuals such as Manuel
de Falla organized a contest in Granada to promote "authentic"
cante jondo.
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Modern-day
flamenco frequently shows influences of other kinds of music, such as
jazz, salsa, bossa nova, etc. Also flamenco dance has changed, especially
female dancers try to rather showcase their temperament than artistry.
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Flamenco guitar, which
previously was just a backdrop to the singing and dancing, came to be
recognized as an art form in its own right, with the virtuoso Paco de
Lucia being the pioneer of that development. Mass medias have brought
Flamenco to the world stage, but a heart it has always been and will remain
an intimate kind of music. You have not heard authentic flamenco if it
was not in a juerga with a small group of friends, at midnight somewhere
in the south of Spain, when there is nothing around but the voice, the
guitar and the body of a dancer moving in the moonlight.
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