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article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.levinsky.ac.il/subscriber/article/grove/music/09780 Flamenco [cante flamenco] (Sp.).

The generic term applied to a particular body of cante (song), baile (dance) and toque (solo guitar music), mostly emanating from Andalusia in southern Spain. It is also known as cante andaluz, cante gitano or cañi (‘Gypsy song’) and cante hondo (‘deep song’). Although these terms have been used interchangeably, modern studies avoid such nomenclature, except for cante hondo, an important subdivision of cante flamenco. The origin of flamenco has been widely disputed; yet its evolution, its literary and musical genres and orally transmitted styles, as well as its interpreters, are the subjects of a continually growing literature contributed by poets, writers, travellers, musicians, dancers, folklorists, ethnomusicologists and, more recently, by flamencologists, anthropologists and sociologists. Gypsies played an important role in its development and propagation, but they were not its sole creators.

1. Origin and development.

There has been much speculation over the origin of flamenco on philological rather than on musicological grounds. According to Pedrell cante flamenco was brought to Spain by the Flemish (flamencos) immigrants during the reign of Charles V (also known as Charles I, who ruled Spain from 1516 to 1556). Borrow believed that the term characterized the Gypsies who arrived in Spain by way of Flanders. Fernández de Castillejo felt that the term lingered on as an appellative for the corrupt practices of the courtly Flemish who were installed by Charles I in responsible posts. Salillas explained that the term originally applied to men who fought in the regiments of Flanders, leading a wild and quarrelsome life, and that later it was used to describe the life and bravura of the Gypsies. De Onís (see Frank, 1926) ascribed its origin to the ostentatious dress of the courtly Flemish, applying this to the characteristic dress and manners of the Gypsies. Rodríguez Marín saw in the term an element of ridicule, in that it described those who sang with a fixed and erect posture resembling the flamingo (Sp. flamenco). García Matos connected it with the Germanic concept of flammen (‘to be flamboyant’, ‘to blaze’), which could have entered Spain from the north. In general, the term ‘flamenco’ appears to have been linked to a way of life exemplified by generosity, boisterousness and recklessness.

Additional theories included the suggestion that cante flamenco were Arab songs that originated in north Africa and were later adopted by flamencos of the Low Countries, or by flamenco Gypsies who arrived in Spain with Bohemian troupes. Infante took the term for a corruption of the Arabic felagmengu, similar to the Castilian campesino huido (‘fugitive peasant’), while García Barriuso believed it derived from fel-lah-mangu, or, as opined by L.A. de Vega, from felhikum or felahmen ikum (‘labourers’ or ‘songs of the labourers’). Fernández Escalante postulated that the Brahman priests (flámines) brought their sacred formulae, rites and chants to Spain from India, hence the connection between Gypsies and cante flamenco derived from the name ‘flámen’.

Despite the varied conjectures concerning its origin, consensus confines the early history and development of cante flamenco to southern Andalusia, where the Gypsies began to settle in the About the Index latter half of the 15th century. As a persecuted subculture (until 1783, when they were granted Spanish citizenship by Charles III), they developed a song repertory of a specSiahlo cwha rrealcatteerd, tlhineks essence of which, rooted in poverty, expressed the plight of their existence and gave impetus to www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.levinsky.ac.il/subscriber/article/grove/music/09780?print=true 1/11 02/12/13 Flamenco in Oxford Music Online poetic and musical forms that had become prominent around the mid-18th century. The most notable centres for this new art were Triana (the Gypsy quarter of Seville), Cádiz and Jerez de la Frontera. Gypsy songs and dances were becoming increasingly popular at public feasts and taverns. Since bourgeois society rejected this music, its principal interpreters remained the Gypsies and rural people, whose coplas (‘stanzas’) and melodies (primarily fandangos, seguidillas, boleros and zorongos) were adopted by playwrights of one-act plays and composers of the tonadilla, entremés and sainete (popular 18th-century theatrical genres).

In its second phase, from the emancipation of the Gypsies to about 1860, cante flamenco became an important dominant musical genre in Andalusia. In the early 1840s, cante flamenco, with and without guitar accompaniment, became such a popular entertainment in the cafés cantantes (‘singing cabarets’) established in cities such as Seville (the first of which was created in 1842), Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera and Málaga, that it spread progressively throughout the towns and villages of Andalusia. With the cafés cantantes, cante flamenco entered its third phase, which lasted well into the first decade of the 20th century. It was a period of professionalism, when even non-Gypsy performers were on the increase. While the songs of the hondo type predominated, other genres of song from Andalusia, other regions of Spain and Spanish America were introduced and ‘Gypsified’ (aflamencada) to satisfy an ever-growing public.

In the early 20th century, particularly with the first flamenco operas around 1920, much of the current repertory became theatricalized and commercialized. Even the attempt by Manuel de Falla and others to revitalize the tradition at the famous competition in Granada (1922) did not prove successful in combating this trend, which continued during and after the Spanish Civil War (1936–9). From then on the flamenco repertory continued to be ‘Gypsified’ by performers on radio and film, while other artists could not eke out a living. Notwithstanding the earlier effort by Falla, it was not until 1957 that the chair of flamencology was created at Jerez, preceded by the first reinstated competition and festival of song at Córdoba (1956). These events marked a renaissance for flamenco and the rise of a new generation of performers.

2. Classification.

An indiscriminate classification of the cante as hondo or flamenco neglects the fact that cante hondo constitutes a major flamenco category. Nonetheless, two basic divisions of cante flamenco appear to have gained wide currency: the first, twofold, with cante grande comprising songs of the hondo type, and cante chico the remainder; and the second, threefold, with the category cante intermedio inserted between grande and chico. While there is wide disagreement as to which cante belong to the intermedio, the hondo and chico categories represent the most and the least difficult cante respectively in terms of their technical and emotional interpretation. Moreover, various cantes have achieved prominence by their links with individual singers (e.g. soleá Tomás Pavon, siguiriya El Manolito) or by their stylistic amalgamation with other cante (chuflas por (‘sung in the manner of ’) bulerías, fandanguillos por soleares, saeta por siguiriya etc.). In more recent studies, the chico category has been further enlarged to include popular flamenco (flamenco árabe, flamenco pop and nuevas canciones andaluzas), which takes into account current commercial repertories at theatres and night clubs (explained in greater detail by Manuel, 1989).

Table 1, comprising a selection of 44 cante, represents songs of the ‘classical’ flamenco repertory together with songs which have enjoyed a peripheral association, although many no longer exist. If the table were extended to encompass cante from the many subdivisions, it would exceed 300 items and variant forms. While the derivations of numerous cante have been firmly established, the identity of musical precursors for the remainder, as well as related forms, has been problematic. In some cases two or more derivations have been suggested for particular cantes. The caña, fandango, polo, soleá and toná constitute the most basic songs in the flamenco hierarchy. Such cante as the mariana, murciana, palmares, policaña, roás, rosa, temporera and tirana were once prominent but now either no longer exist or are in the process of extinction. The songs grouped under the generic name www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.levinsky.ac.il/subscriber/article/grove/music/09780?print=true 2/11 02/12/13 Flamenco in Oxford Music Online cantiñas comprise those with a smaller number of coplas.

Table 1

TABLE 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1 Alegría 37 • • • • • • 2 Bulería 37 • • • • • 3 Cabal var. of 36 4 Calesera (afl) 34 • • • Cantes de 11 (includes nos. 8, 15, 19, 23, 31 and 40) Levante Cantiñas (includes 1, 2, 6, 24 and 30) 5 Caña Uncertain ? • • • • • 6 Caracoles * • • • • • • 7 Carcelera 42 • • • 8 Cartagenera 11 • • • • 9 Colombiana 38 • • • • • (afl) 10 Debla 42 • • • • • 11 Fandango • • • • • 12 Fandanguillo • • • • • • 13 Farruca (afl) 38 (de • • • • • Cádiz) 14 Garrotín (afl) 13 • • • • • • ? 15 Granadina or 11 • • • • granaína 16 Guajira (afl) 38 • • • • • • 17 Jabera 11 • • • 18 Jaleo • • • • 19 Liviana 42 • • • • • ? • ? 20 Malagueña 11 • • • • 21 Martinete 42 • • • • 22 Milonga (afl) 38 • • • • 23 Minera 11 • • • 24 Mirabrás 37 • • • • • 25 Nana (afl) • • • • 26 Petenera (afl) ** • • • • • 27 Playera Identical to • • 36 28 Polo • • • • • • 29 Romances • • (corridas) 30 Romera 37 • • • • • • 31 Rondeña 11 • • • • • 32 Rumba • • • • • • 33 Saeta 42 • • • • 34 Serrana (afl) 36 • 35 Sevillana (afl) Seguidilla • • • • • manchega 36 Siguiriya • • • • • 37 Soleá (pl. • • • • • soleares) 38 Tango • • • • • 39 Tanguillo 40 Taranta 11 • • • • • 41 Tiento 38 • • • • 42 Toná 29 • • • • 43 Trillera (afl) 37 • • • • 44 Verdiales 11 • • • • • www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.levinsky.ac.il/subscriber/article/grove/music/09780?print=true 3/11 02/12/13 Flamenco in Oxford Music Online *Its creation attributed to Tío José el Granaíno

**Its creation attributed to La Petenera, born in Peterna de Rivera (Cádiz) afl = aflamencada (‘gypsified’) ? = uncertain

KEY 1. Derived from or 8. Celtic 15. Accompanied simlar to influence by guitar 2. From the liturgical 9. Hondo or 16. (a palo seco) tradition Grande Unaccompanied 3. From the folkloric Cante 10. Intermedio 17. Grande tradition 4. Andalusian origin 11. Chico Toque 18. Intermedio 5. Andulusian gypsy 12. Grande 19. Chico origin 6. Hispano-American Baile 13. Intermedio 20. Fell origin into disuse 7. Arabic influence 14. Chico

The earlier inclusion of the alboreá (or alboleá), a Gypsy wedding song, is questionable as is the case of the extremely popular Gypsy songs cachuca, mosca and panadero. Songs and dances which have been associated with the repertory include the bambera, bolera, camparsa, cantes de trilla (work songs), chufla, danza mora, macho, media granaína, medio polo (hondo type), olé (hondo type), panadero, rociera, seguidilla gitana (=siguiriya), soleariya, taranto(= taranta de Almería and other localities), vidalita, villancico, vito, zambra and zorongo.

The cantes aflamencadas of Hispanic American origin, mainly associated with dancing, include danzón flamenca, habanera flamenca, punto de La Habana, rumba flamenca, tango cubano and vidalita flamenca. Additional cantes religiosas aflamencadas include the campanillero and villancico (mainly those sung for Christmas), whereas examples of cantes folklóricos aflamencadas (of Andalusian origin) comprise the unaccompanied nana (lullaby), temporera (work song) and pajarona (work song), as well as the sevillana (a species of the seguidilla castellana) which accompanied the dance. While the relationship of cante flamenco to Gypsy traditions has been more thoroughly investigated than the Arab and Celtic, the two principal streams from which the cante developed were the liturgical and the secular.

The predominant textual unit for the cante is the aforementioned copla, which varies according to the number of lines and syllable count. The popular octosyllabic and hexasyllabic quatrain structures, with second and fourth lines rhyming in assonance, point to the romance (‘traditional ballad’) as a significant antecedent. Also popular is the seguidilla strophe, with alternating hepta- and pentasyllabic lines.

3. Andalusia’s musical foundations.

Andalusia has long been a melting pot for varied musical traditions and systems, brought from the remote corners of the Mediterranean by Greek, Carthaginian, Roman and Byzantine settlers. In Visigothic Spain, Seville was one of the main centres for what later became known as Mozarabic chant. The Islamic invasion in the early 8th century may not immediately have added substantially to the musical traditions. However, with the arrival of the famous Baghdad musician Ziryāb, who founded a singing school at Córdoba during the reign of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān II (822–52), Persian music became influential. During the 10th century, under Umayyad rule, the Arabs began to cultivate a musical tradition that later rivalled those of the eastern caliphates of Damascus and Baghdad. Muslim and Jewish poets shared the splendour of the Andalusian courts, where they composed many of their poems on existing popular tunes. With the Spanish reconquest, well under way by the 13th century, the influence of Christianity brought with it the Gregorian musical www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.levinsky.ac.il/subscriber/article/grove/music/09780?print=true 4/11 02/12/13 Flamenco in Oxford Music Online system which undoubtedly assimilated with the indigenous styles. (To what extent Jewish liturgical music played an important role throughout the region has been difficult to determine.) Even as Castilian was making inroads in southern Spain, much of the popular music then current was being transformed; by 1492 and the achievement of Spain's Catholic hegemony, which brought about the expulsion of Muslims and Jews, the music of Andalusia had a characteristically synthetic style that set it apart from other regions. The question remains whether the Gypsies, on their arrival in Spain around the mid-15th century, brought with them a new musical tradition or whether they simply nourished their own tradition from this synthesis. Some scholars believe that the Gypsies brought the flamenco style from North India, the region of their origin. Such arguments issue from the strong resemblance found in the singing of rāgas as well as in the nuances of the dance. Similar arguments have pointed to strong Arab influences in terms of performing practices and modal theories.

4. Musical characteristics.

While generalities abound concerning the musical style and characteristics of flamenco, and several studies have concentrated on particular cante, no exhaustive study of the repertory had been attempted by the end the 20th century. Such an undertaking will require the gathering of notated examples from 19th- and 20th-century cancioneros (‘song anthologies’) and comparison with transcriptions made from field recordings as well as commercially recorded data. A search for possible melodic and structural antecedents in earlier Iberian musical sources is also a task still to be undertaken.

As in the popular music of Andalusia, the scales used for flamenco mostly exhibit an affinity for three principal types: firstly, the medieval Phrygian (or Greek Dorian); secondly, a modified scale resembling the Arab maqām Ḥijāzī; and thirdly, a bimodal configuration alternating between major and minor 2nds and 3rds (ex.1). The melodies are predominantly diatonic, with occasional leaps of 3rds and 4ths, and the Phrygian cadence (A–G–F–E) is a common feature. According to the individual cante of the flamenco repertory, the use of ornamentation varies from light to heavy, and ascending or descending appoggiatura-like inflections are commonly used to accentuate certain notes. Such inflections are microtonal and are a particular feature of cante hondo. It is here that comparisons with North Indian and Arab modal practices appear valid. The flamenco repertory incorporates many metres: binary, simple and complex; ternary; and combinations of both. Polyrhythmic passages also occur in which the vocalist, singing in binary metre, may be accompanied in ternary metre. Additional cross-rhythms are provided by taconeo (heel-stamping), palmas sordas (hand-clapping) and pitos (finger-snapping). Songs of a purely parlando-rubato nature are usually sung a palo seco (without guitar accompaniment).

Ex.1 The main scale-types of flamenco

5. The zambra, juerga and cuadro flamenco.

Seville was the cradle of the Gypsy zambra (from Arabic sāmira, ‘festival’), which may have been patterned on the all-night soirées that were popular in Muslim Spain and included singing and dancing. The juerga (‘spree’, ‘carousal’), another type of gathering both informal and spontaneous, at which wine flowed freely and the merrymaking rose to a state of licentiousness, came to be regarded as infamous by Spanish society. The juerga assumed a new role during the period of the cafés cantantes, when it became a commercial enterprise revolving around cante flamenco. The high-spirited intimate settings of the ‘closed door’ flamenco sessions (sesiones a puertas cerradas) took over the informal role of the juerga.

The café cantante period also gave birth to the cuadro flamenco which comprised a group of singers, dancers and guitarists who sat in a semicircle on a tablao (‘slightly elevated platform’). www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.levinsky.ac.il/subscriber/article/grove/music/09780?print=true 5/11 02/12/13 Flamenco in Oxford Music Online This ensemble has continued to be the most popular throughout the Hispanic world, although much of its traditional repertory has changed. A notable addition is the use of castanets, not originally a Gypsy practice (the introduction of which is attributed to the Sevillian dance instructor José Otero Aranda). Besides performing as a group, each member of the cuadro flamenco takes a turn as soloist while others in the ensemble provide the accompaniment; even during the group singing and dancing, each member performs as an individual. The performances usually begin with some form of jaleo (‘shouts of encouragement’), arousing the enthusiasm of the audience by eliciting their verbal participation. The guitarists always provide a tiento or temple (introduction or prelude) for singing and dancing to create the proper atmosphere and mood. While preparing to sing the more traditional cante, particularly those of the hondo type, the singer literally tunes the voice (temple) before entering into the vocalized melismas (salidas), on the syllable ‘ay’, preceding the first line of the song. A good guitarist seems to know intuitively what the singer is going to do. The hoarse, nasal timbre (rajo, a voz afillá) of the voice is still highly respected in some circles, vocal quality being one of the most distinctive features of flamenco. The guitar, tuned in 4ths, plays a dual role as solo and accompanying instrument, but is chiefly used as a rhythmic instrument, providing three basic types of accompaniment: rasgueado (strumming), paseo (spritely melodic passage work) and falsetas or rosas (improvised melodic phrases between the sung strophes, including a prelude). Cuadro flamenco performances usually end with the fin de fiesta, a combination of songs and dances, which creates exciting and spectacular entertainment. Allied to the art of flamenco are the various classes of enthusiasts, ranging from aficionados and entendidos to cabales, who either practise the art (prácticos) or appreciate it (téoricos).