The origins of the dramatic musical form so closely associated with Spain are shrouded in mystery. One strand was brought by the Arabs and Berbers (otherwise known as Moors), who arrived in Andalucia in southern Spain via north Africa, beginning in the 8th century A.D. Moorish kingdoms were gradually brought under Christian control over the next six centuries, but the unique Moorish Phrygian mode (which can be played on the white notes of the piano from E to E), remained. However, the people who took the modes and used them for their wildly haunting music were the gypsies, who may have arrived in Spain via Flanders, thus giving flamenco its name and its tone of nostalgic homelessness.
Flamenco music evolved in the underworld of itinerant tradesmen, prostitutes, criminals, and locals in the inns and taverns of the early 19th century. It then gradually became an accepted form of entertainment at feasts and weddings. As travel and interest in folk genres became more popular throughout Europe in the mid-19th century, flamenco became more respectable and was introduced into upmarket cafés, both in Spain and beyond. More and more performers turned professional and, with the advent of mass tourism and theatrical and televised performance in the early 20th century, flamenco lost much of its early wildness.
The music was given back some of its original vigour by the enthusiasm of modern composers, among them Manuel de FALLA and Joaquin RODRIGO, and the establishment of flamenco festivals in Granada and Cordoba. There was a parallel revival in interest in Spanish and classical guitar playing, and the most famous guitarist of the 20th century, Andres SEGOVIA, introduced flamenco into the concert hall.
Musicologists also began to take folk idioms seriously and to characterise the types of flamenco: the singing style is often hoarse, highly ornamented and with characteristic slides; the guitar accompanies the singer with rapid strumming, alternating with improvised interludes; and the dancers maintain upright torsos while pounding out seemingly impossible rhythms with their feet. Hand-clapping, finger-snapping, and castanets are contributed by the other members of the ensemble, and the audience, too, may join in.
Study revealed several basic pahs or styles of flamenco: soleares, siguiriyas, tangos, and fandangos, which in turn spawned some 30 variations, distinguishable by rhythm, tempo, and lyrical content. In the 1960s and 1970s, the palos endured adaptations and fusions as part of what has become known collectively as New Flamenco. Paco de Lucia, on his way to making a name in the arena of jazz, shifted the traditional position in which the flamenco guitar was held (nearly vertical) to accommodate expanded technique. Newly composed songs appeared alongside the old classics.
Popular flamenco ensembles are characteristically large, 20 or more players not being unusual in large venues. In the late 1980s, the Gipsy Kings, raised in caravans in the south of France, broke the rhythm of flamenco by placing a rock rhythm section behind their massed acoustic guitars, but the passion of flamenco was still responsible for much of the group’s success in recordings, global tours, and even music videos. Flamenco subsequently arrived in the contemporary market on the strings of such non-Spanish acts as Ottmar Liebert, and Strunz and Farah, Meanwhile, back home in Spain, flamenco has been updated in ensembles that incorporate ethnic melodies and instrumentalists from west and north Africa and India. This renewed awareness of flamenco’s historical Moorish roots has given the music a fresh dimension and a richer musical interest.
Jeff Kaliss
SEE ALSO:
AFRICA; AUTHENTIC PERFORMANCE; FOLK MUSIC; GYPSY MUSIC; MIDDLE EAST.
FURTHER READING
Mitchell, Timothy. Flamenco Deep Song (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994);
Washabaugh, William. Flamenco (Washington, D.C.: Berg, 1996).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Rodrigo & Remedios Flores: Flamenco Caravan; Ketama: Con Alma.