But this is flamenco or not?

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The grandfather in the Alameda de Hércules

Regarding my previous post on the use of the term flamenco Throughout history, I continue with a reflection on the expressiveness of art flamenco At a time when the term was gradually becoming established, at the end of the 19th century, regardless of the perspective of what it is or is not for us, flamenco, according to what criteria.

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Hugo Schuchardt He was one of the first to question the flamenco style of some cantes in his work The Cantes Flamencos (1881). The Austrian considered that what “flamenco music” was had not been defined, describing “what flamenco"as a term that expressed freshness, "pride, haughtiness" and, associated with "the gypsy", the latter form of broader use and used in a metaphorical sense: "cunning, ingratiating". He complained that Demophilus included the peteneras and other cheerful airs in the group of cantes flamencos, when for him those musics did not sound flamenco at all, and he did not understand why the name was not used flamenco seguidilla to refer to the style “jondo" (it was said) Gypsy seguidilla, in use well into the 20th century throughout flamenco discography). However, it did recognize a flamenco music that was identifying with this genre, a special form of accompaniment that made a copla become flamenco and cease to be a song:

“Therefore, if we admit that the gypsy element in the cantes flamencoIf this is fictitious, casual, and extrinsic, then we must conclude that what is specific to these songs is not something inherent to them. If we want to define them, we will have to look for their nature elsewhere. cantes flamencos are songs recited with flamenco music: as we have seen, this has a particularly melancholic character that determines the character of the songs although such determination is not absolute. There are in Demophilus both happy and burlesque songs and sad ones that are not sung in a flamenco, as well as those that admit both tones without the music making a difference. This last phenomenon is linked to the variety of meters, which we will discuss later. For the moment, we must ask ourselves whether flamenco music is strictly demarcated. I am surprised that Demófilo includes the petenera, which I consider very unflamenco. This style is not, incidentally, a specialty of "cantaores" but is sung by everyone, even distinguished ladies at the piano and singers from good theaters during interludes.[1]

The peteneras that Schuchardt refers to were not the model in force today, the style defined by Chacon y The Girl with the Combs, in turn more modern stylizations made on other previous models where they were involved The Blonde from Malaga, Niño Medina y Juan BrevaHugo Schuchardt referred to the style that he left engraved on several occasions Antonio Pozo The Owl, accompanied by castanets and all the cante in time. They can be heard here, on a wax cylinder recording from around 1895:

Hugo Schuchardt did not recognize the same expressiveness in peteneras as in soleares, gypsy seguidillas, martinetes, tonás, etc., the latter being styles of greater depth for him. He described a melancholic character in the genre. flamenco, but at the same time indicated that it was not exclusive, then there was a flamenco which was not associated with depth or profundity. He recognizes the existence of cheerful and burlesque songs in flamenco manifestation environments, that is, in "flamencos”. Again, the flamenco associated with an environment or social group of manifestation, not so much in terms of a closed and defined artistic aesthetic, that is, it was not defined flamenco as aesthetics, but there was a genre flamenco diverse in its manifestation.

Demophilus refers to it as cante flamenco in his book Cantes flamencos of 1881:

“[…] it is true that today it is known by the name of cantes flamencos, not songs or chants, a genre of compositions that range from the solea, properly speaking, called by some third-party, until tona and light which, unlike the previous one, is not danceable, nor is it accompanied by guitar, compositions in which melancholic feelings predominate […]”[2]

After referring to cañas, polos, policañas, gypsy seguidillas, playeras, soleares, debla, etc., he continues:

“To all these special songs, which together receive the common name of cante flamenco, some add singers a series of ditties calls joys y toys, which in his opinion, not ours, should be understood under that common denomination. We, however, disregarding this respectable opinion, because no one knows things better than he who handles them, do not wish to include in this Collection any compositions other than those mentioned, since alegrías are more characteristic of the Andalusian character than of the Gypsy […]”

As we see, Demophilus biases the styles of cante according to your criteria, probably conditioned by expressiveness. Since they do not have the joys and playfulness of the drama of the gypsy character, they cannot be cantes flamencos. Even so, he recognizes that the singers have them integrated into what is known as cante flamenco, but he says it shouldn't be that way. Demophilus imposes a classification that is not based on the reality of what is actually grown in the coffees under the denomination of flamenco, which is the whole variety of musical styles that would include rondeñas, malagueñas, granadinas, javeras, alegres jaleos, and tangos, which we will talk about later, all of them sung in cafes. All this was the Gender flamenco.

Regarding the different classifications given to music, if we analyze many of the publications on scores of styles considered "flamencos” or “gypsies” we will find references of this type in 1884:

It is the same to talk about gypsy as to talk about flamenco, Andalusian or Moorish. This Malagueña with cheers de Oscar de la Cinna [3] There's nothing special about it that would warrant these four different classifications, and there are four musical influences to consider. These terms respond to trends and sales pitches to attract the amateur public of the time, and they were frequently used throughout the 3th century. However, the fact that it was "jaleada" and the use of some slurs that give it a certain hemiolia rhythmic character can be pointed out as a measure of flamenco expressiveness, as can its writing in 8/XNUMX time with a "jota"-type rhythmic pattern related to the ancient fandango.

Also in the piece The smuggler de José Giménez Leyva (c.1876)[4] The expressions "Spanish song" and "Andalusian flamenco song" are used simultaneously, being an author's composition without anything musical that reminds of the flamenco, as we understand it now, except for some cadence Phrygian within the musical context of an Andalusian song and a waltz-like rhythm in 3/4 time. This is the cover:

And this is the interior:

Currently the musical expressiveness of the genre seems to be clear flamencoWe say "seems" because it may not be so clear. It may never have been completely defined, at least in many of its aspects, which have changed over time, hence the conflicts with artists among many fans and critics about what is or isn't. flamencoWe will reflect on this at the end of our presentation.

Returning to Demophilus' book, and in relation to the tango, he refers to it indirectly, although he doesn't name it literally. He cites a certain type of "floating poetry" that we believe is related to tangos, since he refers to the famous copla The meringues:

“[…] already in the cafés-cantantes, in some of which they even go so far as to dance the can-can, a dance that no one would certainly describe as flamenco, a series of little songs, popularized by the ever-present jokers of the town, began to be used; little songs that, as they changed and were renewed for short periods of time, constituted a genre of poetry. floating, so to speak, which may serve as a reason for another new book. This genre includes beads, the Malakoff, the gardener, meringues, the yellow, and the well-known one that is sung with the couplet that says:

Saint John with a stiff finger
what a joke it was,
that the boat that fell
did not stop him

A little song that, like almost all the others, comes from the ports, or rather, from Cadiz. [5]

The couplet written by Demófilo was a famous carnival tango that was widely distributed throughout the Americas. It is based on an event that occurred in Cádiz in 1880, which involved the image of Saint John as he was paraded in one of the Holy Week floats. [6].

By Jose Blas Vega we know that Silverio Franconetti He hired the choir on numerous occasions The Rich Old Women to perform in his café. This lyric from 1884, written by Antonio Jiménez y Pedro Roldán Delgado, is significant of their professional relationship:

We come without resting
to the great city of Betis
just to say hello
to Silverio Franconetti.

Since talent remains
of the year seventy-two
art and feeling
He even reached the Indies.

You and your family,
have good health,
May God grant him a long life
to the noble king of cante Andalusian.

The newspaper The tribune from Seville on July 22, 1886 shows the hiring of this group by the Sevillian genius:

“In the living room canteSilverio’s Andalusian dances and songs are being rehearsed to be presented as soon as possible by the company “Las Viejas Ricas de Cádiz” with the new and entertaining tangos “los monos” […]”

And a little later, the diary The Avalanche From Seville on May 12, 1888, he gives this other news:

“Silverio Hall: The owner of this establishment, always wanting to give more variety to his shows, has hired, in addition to the numerous genre flamenco which has, to the Cadiz comparsa titled Old cooperatives, who sing difficult tangos.” [7]

Tangos were gradually incorporated into the artists' repertoire. flamencos of its time, with a sound identified today under the name of “tanguillo,” a term that was not used at that time. Listen to the “tango flamenco" that the composer incorporates Federico Chueca (1846-1908) in his zarzuela Cadiz of 1886:

The libretto and score indicate: No. 6, Prelude and Tango flamenco.

After the introduction the tango appears flamenco:

Probably to us, now, it will not seem so flamenco This tango, and we'll say it's a tanguillo. But this calls for a reflection. If Chueca means tango flamenco in the score is that this is how the tangos would sound, more or less, in the environments flamencos of the time. It would still have to evolve to approach our current concept of tango flamenco, yes, but we cannot ignore this fact.

Rafael Marín In his guitar method of 1902 he did not consider tangos as a style flamenco, although he says that by then it was already considered one of the three types of dance flamenco, along with the alegrías and the soleares [8]This is what he said about tango:

“TANGO.– Like the guajira, is surely Cuban, only in Cadiz they have always had a lot of grace for the arrangement, and in this they have almost always been winning, except now that everything that is sung has less of tango.

[...]

As to Tango, there are those who acquire the name of tango, tango, because they are a specialty in this dance; but generally it is to dance the joys, although everyone knows how to dance more or less well Tango.

Tango dancers are usually among the flamencoIt is what the eccentrics in the Circus are, those who make people laugh with their contortions and their more or less intentional songs, and for which reason they are given a rather strange name, which in their jargon means funny, joker, and these are few. In addition to the dances and canteThey usually perform a kind of pantomime, quite funny, ridiculing singers, dancers, bullfighters, etc.

A very curious thing is happening with tangos today: it seems that Madrid has a fever for them, at night, during the day, and at all hours, you don't hear anything else sung, and for that reason, not twenty-four hours go by without them suffering some alteration, and it being impossible to follow so much variation […]

To accompany the dance of the Tango, it all comes down to doing the strumming; and when the dancer asks falsetto, to do it”

However, the dance teacher Otero (1860-1934) will speak of tango as a style flamenco in his 1912 dance treatise, where he includes a score entitled “Tango flamenco"and tells us:

“Although the Tango This ancient dance has not become widespread until about eight or ten years ago. In Cadiz the dance has always been performed Tango among the artisan people because it was their favorite dance, and here in Seville, in the cafés cantantes, on several occasions dancers have been seen Tango who were from Cadiz, and the last two who came were the churri y Paquiro, who were at the Novedades café. Two kinds of Tango, one who was called the Gypsy tangoVery flamenco, and that one could not dance everywhere, because of the postures, which were not always what the rules of decency required [9], and the other one they called him the Tango of the neighbors o of the corraleras, but among a thousand girls there was not one who dared to dance it, even if they knew how to do the four silly things that the one who was a little careless used to decorate it with.

Today it is one of the most fashionable dances […]” [10]

In just twenty years, tango has established itself as a style flamenco And his music evolved toward other expressive forms that emphasized the melodic character of styles such as soleá and seguiriyas, based on a new rhythmic beat that gradually combined its rhythmic structure, under the name "Tango de los tientos." Again, El Mochuelo demonstrated this style around 1895 in cylinder recordings:

«Today an “orthodoxy” is established in the flamenco that has been created, invented, according to preconceived ideas and interpretations of tradition, followed by many fans and critics, which causes constant wars about what is or is not flamenco, if he flamenco "It may or may not evolve, respect for tradition, etc., all of this is experienced as an immovable dogma of faith, comparable to religious fanaticism."

Closing

As we see, the gender flamenco and the concept of “the flamenco”, with whatever imagery may lie beneath it, is aesthetically redefined over time, according to eras, fashions and other artistic influences to which this manifestation was never alien. Today an “orthodoxy” has been established in the flamenco that has been created, invented, according to preconceived ideas and interpretations of tradition, followed by many fans and critics, which causes constant wars about what is or is not flamenco, if he flamenco It may or may not evolve, respect for tradition, etc., all of which is experienced as an immovable dogma of faith, comparable to religious fanaticism.

We can make a comparison with other equally modern artistic genres, such as flamenco. We are referring to jazz. From the first ragtime artists of the late 1890th century, through New Orleans Jazz (1910-1910), Dixieland (1920-1920), Chicago and New York Jazz (1930-1930), Swing (1940-1940), Bebop (1950-1950), Cool Jazz and Hard Bop (1959-1960), Free Jazz (1970-1970), Jazz Rock and Jazz Fusion (XNUMX), Latin Jazz, Afrocuban Jazz, Jazz Flamenco, Acid Jazz, Electronic Jazz… etc. All these movements continue to be associated with jazz, although aesthetically many differences can be pointed out between them.

El flamenco It was, and is, modern music, formed in the urban centers of modern societies of the 19th century. It follows its path, no matter what happens. Imposing an orthodoxy suffocates the artist's creativity. It's good to know the tradition, of course, just as conservatory musicians study Johann Sebastian Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Schoenberg, Falla, etc. With their musical characteristics according to the eras and aesthetic conventions, the flamencoThey learn the seguiriyas of Silverio, the tangos of Mellizo, the soleares of Loco Mateo, the cante Mary Borrico, the malagueñas of Trini or Chacón, but nothing can prevent an artist from flamenco can find another way to be flamenco without feeling guilty, because we are talking about an artistic genre that was never completely defined aesthetically, not even in its time of maximum splendor, since Silverio returned from America in 1864 and until its consolidation in the cafes in the decades of 1870-1880.

Demophilus and Schuchardt are two good examples of how the criterion of artistic analysis is conditioned by the knowledge of both on the subject. Demophilus is not interested in the classification that the artists themselves make of the cantes, makes his own, based on his personal judgment about their character. Something similar happens to the Austrian, but he is more precise, because he points out that the designation of the melancholic character of these styles is not—and cannot be—exclusive for their classification, recognizing the existence of festive airs; by the way, these are equally present today in an inseparable way with the rest of the styles. It is evident that the gender flamenco It should not only be studied from a musical or poetic perspective, but requires much broader approaches., which address other sociological and anthropological aspects.

Silverio, King of the singers, was censored for his style of singing, unsuitable for a theater, according to the press critic of the newspaper El Guadalete de Jerez on July 22, 1865:

“And the other, inelegant world, oh! That good, simple, and frank people, whose intelligence and tastes seek certain pastures, they are only enthusiastic about great dramas or Silverio.

With Silverio, the singer, not the singer, because God has not allowed the one who gargles indefinable notes, in that monotonous cadence that is precious and full of feeling when it is exhaled from a sweet and harmonious throat, to be called a singer.

But the truth is that Silverio has filled the theater once, twice, three times.

And for three nights the muses and dramatic art have been in mourning” ^[11]

Chacón was also criticized for his preference for malagueñas and airs from the east, and was widely copied. Something similar happened to Marchena, who was criticized for his flamenco aesthetic and who was also followed by many. And let's not even mention Camarón de la Isla in his stage with Paco de Lucía, also not accepted as flamencoThe same thing happened with Enrique MorenteToday almost all artists sound like Camarón, Morente and Paco de Lucía, and nobody says that doesn't sound like flamenco. They are copied and have already become “classics”. ♦

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[1] SCHUCHARDT, Hugo: The Cantes Flamencos, Translated by Eva Feenstra and Gerhard Steingress. Machado Foundation, Seville, 1990. Pages 51 and 52. [1st Edition: The Cantes Flamencos 1881]

[2] MACHADO Y ALVAREZ, Antonio: Collection Cantes Flamencos, collected and annotated by Antonio Machado and Álvarez (Demófilo). DVD editions, Barcelona 1998. 1st ed. 1881. In the prologue, p. 13.

[3] This is the cover for a four-hand edition. Another edition for two-hand piano exists, which says "GENRE pur ANDALOUX (:Gitano:)" without the "mauresque" appellation. Collections of the National Library. Signature MP/257/12.

[4] National Library. Signature MP/2826/14.

[5] MACHADO: Collection Cantes Flamencos, Ibid. pp. 21-22.

[6] Blog The Disembodied Reason Managed by José Morente. Entry dated May 7, 2011. http://larazonincorporea.blogspot.com.es/2011/03/carnaval-flamenco-vi-san-juan-con-el.html

The research is due to Javier Osuna García.

[7] BLAS VEGA, José: Silverio. King of the singers, La Posada editions, publications of the Córdoba City Council, 1995, pp. 70 and 75.

[8] MARÍN, Rafael: Andalusian Airs. Guitar Method by Music and Figure, Society of Spanish Authors, Madrid, 1902. Facsimile edition made by Ediciones de La Posada, Córdoba, 1995. Pages 71 and 177-8.

[9] This type of tango may have a lot to do with the famous Triana tangos practiced by the gypsies and recorded by RTVE in The Angel: “Triana, pure and pure” (1984), Flamenco Vivo Records, 2007 [DVD].

[10] OTERO, José: Treatise on Dances, Manuel Pareja-Obregón Association, Madrid, 1987, facsimile edition of the Seville edition of 1912. Page 223.

[11] The criticism was located by Gerhard Steingress and published in 1989 in his work The appearance of cante flamenco in the 19th century Jerez theatre.