After the brilliance of slate recordings of styles attributed to our singer in the first quarter of the last century, her presence began to diminish noticeably. Once again, the figure of Antonio Mairena came to the rescue. The maestro from Los Alcores was aware of the richness of Merced's heritage and turned to its sources with the honesty and rigor that characterized him.
Antonio Cruz García recorded, as far as official albums are concerned, a whopping 146 cantes por soleá. Of which he left us 45 different styles or variations, some of them with personal touches that were never attributed to him. Up to 12 times the teacher leaves his versions of the cantes of La Serneta. The most notable are those recorded in 1976 for the album 'Historical Outline of the cante by siguiriyas and soleares' for the Zafiro label, since in a single cut 'Soleares de la Serneta' impresses 5 lyrics associated with the singer with the guitar of Enrique de Melchor.
Let's look at this quadrant with its Sernetian contributions by year, letter and variant:
1963
The sun rises and hits the glass / Closing or brave Trianero (the so-called 7)
1966
You presume that you are science / Preparation style (1)
Prevelico of the sense / Short Jerez style with Utrera accent (5)
That suddenly felt relief / Brave Jerez style (6)
1972
They tell me if I love you / Preparation style (1)
I am going to serve the king / Short Jerez style with Utrera accent (5)
I would start crying / Brave Jerez style (6)
1976
So that God may forgive you / Preparation style (1)
You know that I love you well. / Short Jerez style with Utrera accent (5)
I would start crying / Jerez transition style (3)
At the foot of the grave / Preparation style (1)
Double fatigues drown me / Brave Jerez style (6)
Without a doubt, maestro Antonio Mairena revived the Serneta soleá in its various styles. Thanks to him, many male and female performers who followed him have incorporated these variations, including the lyrics, into their repertoire. Antonio was the great restorer of some jewels of the cante that were left a little behindWith his mastery, he restored the luster it should never have lost. We will always be indebted to his legacy.
I remind you in this link all the information and registration for the course, which will take place in Espacio expoflamenco from Jerez on July 25th, in a single day:
