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Paraphrasing the great Woody Allen, this post is about “Everything you always wanted to know about flamenco and never dared to ask”… This major art, this great unknown, and these curiosities of flamenco.<\/p>\n
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The world of flamenco has not only left us artists and songs for posterity: it is also a culture full of fascinating curiosities.<\/strong> Do you know the etymology of the word “flamenco”? The hidden influences of the genre or the amount of clubs that exist? And like these, there are countless other curiosities. Let’s try to solve them!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/allflamenco.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Rafela-carra.jpg” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” title_text=”Curiosities about Flamenco” alt=”Curiosities about Flamenco” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Services” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” custom_padding=”0px|||||” collapsed=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Domine||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”22px” text_line_height=”32em” header_2_font=”Domine|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#000000″ custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” inline_fonts=”ABeeZee,Karla” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are several theories that tell us about the origin of the word “flamenco”, but none definitive.<\/strong> Some attribute it to the relationship with Flanders, either because of the “colorado” color of the Nordic inhabitants or because when a cantaor stood out he was praised for the good reputation of the singers from that part of Europe, who performed in the Spanish chapels during the 16th century. Garc\u00eda Matos attributes it to the slang used at the time to refer to the “ostentatious, boastful or echao p’alante”.<\/p>\n Another theory attributes it to the false belief that the Gypsies came from Germany, and called both the Germans and the inhabitants of the Netherlands Flemish.<\/p>\n Finally, the most curious one for us, says that “flamenco” comes from two Arabic words. One is -(falah): peasant who lives off the land, and the other, -(mankub): marginalised, evicted, humiliated, dispossessed …<\/p>\n In this vein, we endorse the words of the distinguished guitarist Manolo Sanl\u00facar,<\/strong> who wrote: “…Being reproached and even banished, the marginalised, Andalusian natives, Jews and Muslims, Marranos and Moriscos, the marginalised, excluded or dispossessed of their land, were welcomed by other harassed and persecuted, the Andalusian gypsy people, to whom they would transmit the knowledge of the culture and music of the Cante Jondo”.<\/p>\n There is not enough space here to deal in depth with the history of flamenco, its origins, its main creators… but there is room for a very brief review. Not to mention the flamenco curiosities that we want to unravel here.<\/p>\n Flamenco, as we know it today, did not exist before the end of 18th or early 19th century. The elements that make up the style did exist, but not as flamenco, they were not even called that way; they existed as Andalusian dances, gypsy dances, black dances, bolero school, theatre dances, etc.<\/strong> <\/p>\n Although the known documentary history of this art form dates only from the centuries I have mentioned above, i.e. the 18th and 19th centuries, flamenco scholars trace it back to a thousand years before the Christian era to point out the essential characteristics of the Andalusian cultural background, and a number of very important historical references are always cited, such as:<\/p>\n -The Tartessian laws metrocantables We should also mention the influence of the Visigoths, the Arabs with the poetic-musical schools of Medina-Bagdad-Mosul, the ancient carols and the indigenous Mozarabic compositions: moaxaja and z\u00e9jel, as well as the Hebrew influence.<\/p>\n The arrival of the Gypsies in Spain dates back to 1425. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, they travelled all over the country, most of them settling in Andalusia. From this point on, and in order for you to understand better, we could classify the development of flamenco in stages. We start at the end of the 18th century with:<\/p>\n Finally, it is worth mentioning the evolution of flamenco in what is today without doubt one of the world capitals of Flamenco, Madrid (together with Seville, Cadiz, Jerez and Barcelona), which hosts all the branches of this Art, and which is also one of the most cosmopolitan capitals in Europe. In its streets resound Flemish beats, but also those of other places, Indians, Jews, Arabs, Latins, Africans, Central Europeans… Romani blood mixes in its millenary journey with other bloods, other sounds, of which Madrid is a privileged repository. In times like these, when migratory flows are once again reaching historic proportions, it is worth remembering that it is these flows, provoked by the just aspiration of peoples for a better life, that have sown the fruits on which our culture is nourished. Would Madrid be the same today without the Arab, Mozarabic and Jewish influences? Without the Latin American connection? Can Spanish music be understood without the traces of other cultures? We believe that culture, art, should not be thought of as a watertight compartment with no relation to other worlds, but as a melting pot of encounters where the identities that shape us are forged.<\/p>\n We are often asked a question: How many flamenco “palos” are there?<\/strong><\/p>\n The answer is not easy, that is to say, it is not a closed number, but we can safely say that the number of clubs exceeds one hundred. But what is a “palo”? Are a “palo” and a “cante” the same thing? What types of variants are there? Let us clarify some principles.<\/p>\n A palo is a style within flamenco that has its own melodic, rhythmic, harmonic and even lyrical particularities. There are festive, happy, slow, fast, deep, light, dramatic styles… with different types of dance formats and, above all, identified and grouped around the type of flamenco singing and the way it is accompanied by both the guitar and the dance.<\/p>\n There are ancient, modern, classical, etc… Binary, ternary, in 4\/4, in 6\/8, with and without hemiolia, with and without amalgamation, in major, minor, modal tones… there is a great quantity!<\/p>\n Furthermore, it is necessary to differentiate between “personal” – that is, variants that a cantaor performed in a particular way and that have remained – and “regional” variants – identified by their place of origin, palos that we can call “thematic”, since they are identified by some part of their lyrics.<\/p>\n Then, we have the intertwined relationships between them, how one develops, intertwines and becomes another, for example, the sole\u00e1 and the buler\u00eda, or the tientos and the tangos, in short…<\/p>\n To illustrate this immense network of palos, we can cite the \u00c1rbol Geneal\u00f3gico del Cante,<\/em> which appears in the book Geograf\u00eda del Cante Jondo<\/em>, by Domingo Manfredi, published many years ago, or the more recent mappings by Faustino N\u00fa\u00f1ez, modern and very complete.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Domine||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”22px” text_line_height=”32em” header_2_font=”Domine|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#000000″ custom_margin=”2%||||false|false” custom_padding=”2%||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n To say “one of the most famous cantaoras of flamenco” would be to go beyond the impossible: the number of cantaoras who have left their mark on the world of flamenco singing is enormous, and a large number of them have never been recorded. Of the oldest ones, we have no sound recordings, although there are echoes of how they performed certain cantes, uses, forms, lyrics… Moreover, on many occasions, they were forgers of cantes that have survived to the present day. To mention just a few names of the most important female flamenco singers in history (in no order or order, old and modern, all legendary, the real list would be endless), mixing current flamenco singers with old flamenco singers, we will mention La Andonda -who bequeathed us sole\u00e1 songs-, La Serneta, Fernanda de Utrera -considered by many to be the best soleares singer of all time-,<\/strong> La Ni\u00f1a de los Peines, La Repompa de M\u00e1laga, Carmen Linares, Estrella Morente, Lole Montoya, Mayte Mart\u00edn, La Perla de C\u00e1diz, La Paquera de Jerez, Juana la del Revuelo, Rita la Cantaora, Remedios Amaya, La Macanita…<\/p>\n The “cejilla” is a movable attachment that can be fixed wherever it is necessary to give each cantaor his or her own tone. It has been used since the last half of the 19th century. Before its use, the guitar only gave the cantaor two tones: E and A, or, in flamenco parlance, “por arriba” and “por medio”.<\/p>\n From C\u00e1diz came Paquirri El Guante, a versatile artist who played the guitar, sang and danced. Together with Jos\u00e9 Pati\u00f1o, he spread the use of the capo. According to Jos\u00e9 Manuel Gamboa, the adoption of the capo was a fundamental step in the consolidation of professional flamenco<\/strong>, as Ferandiere said, one can accompany the guitar without the capo, with a repertoire of chords sufficient to harmonise any melody in any key, transposing the chords. However, our ear is very accustomed to its use, which also brings out the timbral brilliance of the chords with capo on the high frets. Did you know that, when putting the capo on and transposing to another key, flamenco guitarists still call the key by the same name, even if they are in another key? An example of this can be seen i <\/a><\/p>\n Flamenco (or as they say outside Spain, “Flamenco Music”) as a unit of “singing, guitar and dance” is, like all stereotypes, something both real and fictitious. Let us explain: it is true that flamenco has its roots in flamenco singing, with the flamenco guitar as an accompaniment and dance as a popular expression of this music. Also the accompaniment of the palmas and the various zapateados, thus accentuating the rhythmic aspect that is so dear to flamenco and so specific in its conformation.<\/p>\n Following this line, we could find the purest cantes a capella, such as the Ton\u00e1s, the Martinetes (accompanied only by the clattering of an anvil in the smithy or two stones clashing) or the cantes de Trilla. However, flamenco has been introducing different instrumental elements since the beginning of the 20th century, although it was not until the 1970s, with Paco de Luc\u00eda, Camar\u00f3n and later the “Nuevos Flamencos” under Pacheco’s Nuevos Medios label, that the incorporation of instruments such as percussion, strings, winds and piano began to become massive. We therefore like to distinguish two stages: the early 20th century, with experiments such as those of the saxophonists “El Negro” Aquilino and Fernando Vilches, in the 30s and 40s, with great commercial success, or the first flamenco pianos of Arturo Pav\u00f3n (nephew of Tom\u00e1s Pav\u00f3n and La Ni\u00f1a de los Peines) and Jos\u00e9 Romero Jim\u00e9nez. The other stage would already be from the 1970s onwards, with the very rich timbral contribution of Paco de Luc\u00eda’s sextet and Camar\u00f3n’s experiments with La Leyenda del Tiempo, <\/strong>incorporating rock and jazz sonorities, opening the door to an unstoppable opening of timbre that has brought us up to the present day.<\/p>\n From those early days, we should mention the Sole\u00e1 on saxophone by Pedro Iturralde and the instrumental ensembles of the dance companies of the 80s, where the members of Camerata Flamenco Project<\/a> who sign this post come from,<\/strong> with flamenco flute, percussion, flamenco piano, flamenco cello and violin as the main contributions to the cast of guitar and vocals plus corps de ballet, with their castanets and palmeros. A serious study of the evolution of the flamenco guitar -both as accompaniment for singing (and dancing) and the more recent flamenco concert guitar- would be a separate chapter, as it has a depth and complexity worthy of study.<\/p>\n Today, can we say that flamenco is universal? We understand that there are several paradoxes here. It is true that it has an exposure that it has never had before, it is true that there is flamenco in Japan, where it has been consumed regularly and very popular, and also that there are specialised festivals and a lot of flamenco in the USA. (like Monterrey and others with a lot of pull), but… universal?<\/p>\n We think that there is still a long way to go for flamenco to have the international and national weight it deserves. There are very important international elements that moved flamenco around the world, especially during the dark cultural journey of Franco’s regime in Spain. Thus, the immense Carmen Amaya<\/a> or the guitarist Sabicas settled in the USA, or Jos\u00e9 Molina toured extensively in North America or Antonio Gades -who took flamenco to the theatres- all over the world since the 60s. And many others! Antonio el Bailar\u00edn, the tablaos “El Flamenco” in Tokyo and Osaka (where the members of Camerata Flamenco Project were in the 90’s), the Ballet of Cristina Hoyos or the travelling dance companies of the Nuevo Ballet Espa\u00f1ol or Joaqu\u00edn Cort\u00e9s, among many others. To this should be added the interest that flamenco awakened in the 1960s in the USA, thanks to Gil Evans and Miles Davis (unforgettable The Saeta <\/em>by album Sketches from Spain, <\/em>for example), flooding Spanish harmonies and melodies into the jazz that was making its way into modernity.<\/p>\n However, from a more realistic point of view, we think that there is still a long way to go, opening up the festivals to flamenco music abroad (not only to the most commercial products) and, especially, inland, taking this incredible art to all levels of our country, where, despite appearances, it is still largely unknown.<\/p>\n1\ufe0f\u20e3 Do you know the meaning of “flamenco”?<\/h2>\n
2\ufe0f\u20e3 Flamenco: an art that comes from many cultures<\/h2>\n
-Phoenician colonisati
-the Greek colonisation of Andalusia
-The C\u00e1diz Cantica
The Spanish-Pagan-Latin canticle<\/p>\n\n
-The Golden Age (the caf\u00e9s cantantes appear, the fundamental styles are fixed and flamenco becomes professionalised).<\/li>\n3\ufe0f\u20e3 Flamenco singing and flamenco styles<\/h2>\n
4\ufe0f\u20e3 One of flamenco’s most famous singers<\/h2>\n
5\ufe0f\u20e3 The importance of the use of the capo when playing flamenco<\/h2>\n
6\ufe0f\u20e3 The use of other non-traditional instruments in flamenco<\/h2>\n
7\ufe0f\u20e3 Flamenco is now universal. United States and Japan<\/h2>\n
By Ramiro Obedman, member of <\/span><\/em>Camerata Flamenco Project. <\/a><\/span> <\/h4>\n