Introduction to Flamenco Forms for the Improvising Musician
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Introduction to Flamenco Forms for the Improvising Musician Daniel Lorrain University of New Orleans December 2011 2 Steve Masakowski Give an overview of the history and evolution of Flamenco music. Discuss how this music has influenced you and your music. Also identify prominent jazz artists that may have been influenced by Flamenco music and artists. “Desengañao de la vida, ay, ay, yo busco mi soleá hasta que me llegue el día que Dios me quiera llevar.” (“Disillusioned with life, ay, ay, I search for my solitude until the day arrives that God wants to take me.”) -José Monje Cruz, Camarón Daniel Lorrain 2011 3 Flamenco is an incredibly profound, complex, and expressive genre of music. Regrettably, it is not very well understood outside of the Flamenco world, and the term itself is often associated with ambiguous, pseudo-Andalusian music with no roots in the Flamenco tradition. The genre’s lack of international exposure has precluded it from the kind of fruitful collaborations with outside influences that have been enjoyed, for example, by Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, or Indian Classical music. This paper is written for the Western musician as an introduction into the broad world of Flamenco. After a brief discussion of the history and origins of Flamenco, we will examine the tradition through the study of eight of its most important palos or song forms: Tonás, Seguiriyas, Soleares, Tangos, Bulerías, Alegrías, Fandangos de Huelva, and Rumba. Each of these will be discussed using Western notation and from a theoretical perspective not necessarily intrinsic of the way this oral tradition is traditionally taught. Each palo will be defined by the rhythmic clave on which it is built, and we will identify the basic harmonic rhythm of each as well as traditional cadences typical of each form. Each of these subgenres constitutes a broad family of music spanning across several generational and geographic interpretations; here we will only examine the basic, foundational qualities of each. The material in this paper is not a substitute for the study of the recorded music itself, and, as with any music, Flamenco can only be understood and internalized through extended listening. The introduction to these palos is followed by a brief look at musicians that have worked to fuse elements of Flamenco with Jazz, and the paper concludes with a reflection on the effects that this tradition has had on the music of the author. Daniel Lorrain 2011 4 Flamenco is the international music of the Old World. The heritage of this Gypsy music belongs to Andalusia, a place that has historically been a meeting place of different peoples and cultures. The location of Andalusia on the southern portion of the Iberian Peninsula places it at the meeting place of two continents. 8.9 miles separate Europe and Africa here at the Straight of Gibraltar, where Roman mythology places the Pillars of Hercules and to which Renaissance sailors pinned the name Nec Plus Ultra (“Nothing Further Beyond”), an allusion to the location’s status as a symbolic end of the Western world. The geography of the region made it a cultural crossroads through which East met West and by which the Arab world was connected with Western Europe. Later, the location of the Iberian Peninsula would serve as a connection to new and younger cultures from the Americas. In the 8th century the Moors; Muslims from Northern Africa of Berber, Black African and Arab descent; conquered an Iberia previously ruled by the Germanic Visigoths and the Romans. The Moors would go on to rule Andalusia, Al-Andalus in Arabic, for nearly 800 years, during which their culture—and art—coexisted with that of the Christians and Sephardic Jews. The Moorish influence is critical to the development of the music that would evolve to become Flamenco. Of note are the melismatic vocal styles that Andalusian and Arabic musics share. Also particularly important are the impressions that Arabic modalities would leave on Castilian song forms, an influence of which Flamenco is the most indicative. Arabic music is built on a system of melodic modes called Maqamat (s. Maqam) to which we can attribute much of what separates Flamenco melodies from those of other Western European folk traditions. Together Daniel Lorrain 2011 5 with Western modal customs, two particular Maqamat are likely contributors to the Phrygian-like or “Phrygian-Dominant” qualities that characterize Flamenco tonality. (Manuel, Modal 72) Here we have the Bayati and Hijaz Maqamat illustrated in the key of E. The Bayati mode is congruent to our minor scale. The Hijaz ascends like a Mixolydian scale with a flat 2nd (or a Phrygian scale with a major 3rd and a major 6th) and descending, parallels the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale. The complexities and nuances of Eastern scales are reflected in Flamenco’s intricate melodies that fail to conform to a simple diatonic collection of notes. Ojesto writes that, harmonically, Flamenco can be analyzed as the coexistence of two tonal systems that are simultaneously different from and related to one another. (Ojesto 36) What we find are Arabic-influenced modalities paired with European harmonizations. The traditional Flamenco tonality is harmonized in the following way (in the key of E): E F G Am (BØ) C Dm I bII bIII iv (vØ) bVI bvii Daniel Lorrain 2011 6 From here we derive the classic Andalusian cadence (Am G F E). In the Phrygian-like Flamenco tonality, the bII and bvii chords (here F and Dm) assume the function of the dominant chord. (Manuel, Modal 72) Additionally, we find the use of secondary- dominant harmony, especially preceding the bVI (in E, G7 preceding C) and bII (in E, C7 preceding F) chords. Some have labeled the Phrygian mode with an added major 3rd as the “Flamenco Scale.” Perhaps there is pedagogic value in such a definition, but it is the opinion of the author that codifying Flamenco modality into such a diatonic collection is incongruous to the way in which the music is composed. Flamenco is Gypsy music. In the early 15th century, as Moorish rule in Spain approached its twilight, Romani people began to immigrate to Spain from the rest of Europe by way of the Pyrenees. (Ojesto 21) The history of the Gypsy people is one of exile and marginalization, and Flamenco music is characterized by an underlying, sometimes overwhelming, sense of pain and of suffering. Federico García Lorca called it duende, and it can be compared to the sorrow that permeates blues music or the concept of saudade in Brazilian and Portuguese music. Understanding this theme is central to understanding the music whether as a musician or as an aficionado. Ojesto writes, “deep down, Flamenco is the yell of a rebel, a protest, a grievance.” (22) Daniel Lorrain 2011 7 The Gypsy fusion of musics with Castilian, Moorish, and Sephardic roots along with the influences they brought with them from the rest of Europe and sounds from the New World began to take shape as Flamenco music proper in the 18th century in Andalucía. (Cobo 4) It’s during the late 1700s that we find the first references to “Flamenco” which would become a well-documented genre during the 19th century and be first recorded in the beginning of the 20th century. (Ojesto 11) (Caballero 7) As Flamenco develops so do its various palos, sub-genres based on rhythmic, structural, geographic, harmonic, and thematic elements of the music. These palos evolved from the styles that were performed in different areas of Andalusia, sometimes integrating influences from other regions of Spain or from Spanish colonies in the Americas, and oftentimes originating in a specific city or even neighborhood. There has been much written by flamencologists detailing the chronological development of Flamenco’s palos by region beginning with the a cappella Tonás up through modern fusions with world musics. Here we will focus on a few of the more important palos that are central to the contemporary Flamenco musician’s repertoire and of which a basic understanding is indispensable to the discerning listener. It is important to note that these palos are borne of the various cantes or songs of Flamenco and that the song as performed by the cantaor (flamenco singer) is at the base of each palo, even when interpreted instrumentally. Flamenco musicians are quick to point out that Flamenco is rooted in cante and that the role of the guitar (toque) or dance (baile) did not appear until later. Daniel Lorrain 2011 8 We can classify the palos of Flamenco into four distinct categories or groups, the first of which is formed by the four basic cantes: Tonás, Seguiriyas, Soleares, and Tangos. (Serrano 10) These are followed by cantes influenced by or derived from the four basics of which we will examine the Bulerías, Alegrías. Thirdly, we have cantes derived from the traditional Andalusian Fandangos including the popular Fandangos de Huelva. Finally, we have cantes derived from non-Andalusian influences whether from other regions of Spain or from the music of the Spanish colonies in the Americas. The latter of these are called palos de ida y vuelta (literally “of roundtrip”) of which the Flamenco Rumba has become particularly popular. Tonás “In the beginning there were the Tonás.” (Caballero 7) The progenitor of all subsequent styles of Flamenco cante (cante jondo or “deep song”) is the Toná. (Ojesto 24) This early style, sung a cappella, is a Gypsy derivation of the Spanish Tonadas, a name given to various folkloric and popular songs from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. (Caballero 8) The Tonás were sung in intimate Gypsy circles and family gatherings and reflected the harsh life of the Andalusian Gypsy.