«"It's never the same to know the truth for yourself as to have to hear it from someone else" (popular proverb)
What you are about to read, dear readers, is a very brief summary of our research work on the Drone of Puente-Genil [1], focused on the role played by our unforgettable Don Antonio Fernández Díaz 'Fosforito', legend of cante and a universal genius of music. There are many flamenco forms in which the maestro left his creative mark, and one of them is undoubtedly in this type of fandango abandolao.
The drone of Puente-Genil has been a source of confusion and debate among local fans for years. Oral accounts, often lacking scientific evidence, created genuine bewilderment about its nature and origin. Did it originate from... cante From the gardeners? Was it an invention of the Women's Section Choirs and Dances? Was it Pedro Lavado or Maestro Fosforito who created it? flamenco?
Faced with these questions, rigorous research, following the current line of the flamencoThis approach demands that definitive conclusions be drawn solely from evidence. This evidence focuses on recordings as essential documents for musical analysis, while oral tradition, although important, should not be the definitive element. Within this rigorous framework, the figure of Maestro Fosforito emerges as a key protagonist.
The conceptual mosaic of the Pontanese Drone
To understand Fosforito's contribution, it is essential to first differentiate the three musical forms to which the term "zángano" refers in Puente-Genil, all of them framed within the stylistic genre of the fandango:
– The Traditional or Folkloric Drone: It is a light, lively, three-person fandango, related to the verdiales. Oral tradition places its performance in the 18th and 19th centuries by market gardeners on the banks of the Genil River. However, despite the persistence of oral testimonies, no evidence, recordings, or transcriptions have been found to conclusively prove the existence of this traditional zángano—the supposed origin of the zángano. flamenco– in the orchards of Puente Genil. The following link shows a folk drone dancing to the melody of the traditional Verdial song:
– Drone of Choirs and Dances: It consists of a musical form, danced and sung, inherited from the Choirs and Dances of the Women's Section of the Spanish Falange in Puente-Genil, beginning in the 1940s. Although the zángano is associated with a three-person dance—two women and a man—the music is based on two different fandangos. Thus, while the first fandango is a version of the Lucena fandango attributed to Dolores de la HuertaThe second fandango bears a strong resemblance to other fandangos from Coros y Danzas. [2]These fandangos are a more elaborate and polished musical product, with established choreography and richer instrumental accompaniment, moving away from the spontaneity of traditional folklore. Although oral tradition suggests that the zángano of Coros y Danzas is a revival of the traditional zángano, we cannot confirm this as we lack sound recordings or transcriptions of the latter. You can listen to both fandangos at the following link. [3]:
First and Second Drone of Puente Genil of Choirs and Dances
However, regarding the folkloric drone, it is worth noting a piece of information provided after our investigation by Rafael Chaves Arcos In early 2024, upon discovering the existence of a very long-lived local flamenco singer from Puente Genil, Isabel Genil Gálvez or Álvarez (1849-1958), who had lived a remarkable 109 years. This woman, originally from the agricultural areas known as 'Cordobilla' and 'Majada Vieja' belonging to Puente-Genil, was able to transmit the ancient drone and other canteShe joined the Choirs and Dances group, as indicated in the press compiled by Chaves, "the Women's Section of the Falange in this city learned numerous Christmas carols from this lady, whose lyrics and music comprise precious pages of Christmas tradition. She also taught the popular song entitled Drone of Puente Genil"which the farmers of Puente Genil used to sing many years ago." [4]
– Drone Flamenco: cante belonging to the group of the abandolaos fandangos, acquiring its authentic rank flamenco when Antonio Fernández Díaz 'Fosforito' recorded it in 1957. Two variants can be heard – Fosforito's and that of Peter Wash– distinguished primarily by their first melodic thirds. You can listen to the Fosforito variant at this link. [5]:
The birth of cante: the work of Fosforito
Fosforito's importance is vital, as he was responsible for the drone entering the discographic history and the corpus flamencoThe teacher recorded his first drone flamenco for Philips in 1957 with the letter What progress in loving you, being the first one ever recorded. He then recorded three more: Land where I was born (1969) How you are next to me (1969) and Nazarene and Olivares (1971), the latter with the guitar of Paco de Lucia.
Fosforito himself believes that Nazareno and Olivares is the one that “best represents the drone model” flamenco" [6]Regarding the controversy of whether he learned it from the people or if it was his own creation, the teacher was emphatic when we interviewed him: "Look, Álvaro, that's a false story. If the drone had been something common among the people, why didn't they sing about it? Juan Hierro, The Dry Or the historical flamenco singers of Puente Genil before me? The drone was born with me; it didn't exist before." [7]This is a statement we consider very, very significant, coming from a flamenco singer who has gone down in history as one of the greatest creative geniuses. He created his drone. flamenco based on his life experience and sound environment, grounded in the music of established artists.
Musical architecture: Cayetano and the Rondeña
A detailed musical analysis of Fosforito's four drones reveals that his variant is inspired by two earlier flamenco forms, reinforcing the idea of an original creation. This variant is more structured, offering a melody with a more regular rhythmic fit to the guitar's rhythmic patterns, given its extraordinary sense of rhythm. These two flamenco forms are:
- Cayetano's Fandango [8] (present in the odd-numbered thirds of the drone):
In Fosforito's four drones, the first, third, and fifth melodic thirds are identical, their melodic lines coinciding with that of the first third of the fandango of Cayetano Muriel, recorded almost three decades before the drone flamencoCayetano, a key singer in the development of the Lucena fandango, maintained a great friendship with the singer from Puente Genil. José Bedmar El Seco (teacher of Fosforito and Pedro Lavado), so his fandango was very well known in Puente-Genil and had the same feel as the fandangos of southern Córdoba. Fosforito himself confirmed that he had been inspired by it. «probably unconsciously«, in Cayetano's fandango, because it was a «a universal figure at that time» [9] and a local icon, where he learned to sing. This melodic similarity is the reason why his variant is defined by its beginning with Cayetano's fandango.
- La Rondeña registered in 1954 by Hyacinth Almaden [10], present in the even thirds of the drone:
Regarding the second melodic thirds of the drones, we observe that they are very similar to the second third (“through those seas of God”) of the rondeña recorded by Jacinto Almadén [11]The fundamental difference that Fosforito incorporates is the inclusion at the end of a melodic alteration, called V degree lowered or flattened (sic). This flat [12] It gives the third a distinctive sound and color, a resource inherent to the drone. flamenco which distinguishes it from the aforementioned rondeña. This resource also appears, with varying frequency, in the sixth melodic third of Fosforito's drones. The appearance of this feature suggests an inheritance from the fandango of Lucena or of the cantes from Levante. Fosforito uses the “ay” –where the flat is located– at the end of the second third in two of his drones.
With regard to the melodic fourth thirds, we appreciate that they are similar to the second third of the Almadén rondeña, differing in the falls.
Finally, the sixth melodic thirds are the most musically complex, thirds to which we have found no similarity in any other musical form, so it is possible, in principle, to consider them as original compositions. The flattened fifth degree is also evident in these thirds.
Therefore, Fosforito's drone is defined by the following melodic progression:
First third——-First third of Cayetano's fandango
Second third—–Second third of Rondeña (with a flat)
Third third——–First third of Cayetano's fandango
Fourth third—Second of Rondeña with a different fall
Fifth third—First third of Cayetano's fandango
Sixth third———Of your own making?
Fosforito in front of the Pedro Lavado variant
The other major variant of the drone flamenco It is that of his countryman and contemporary Pedro Lavado [13]:
The fundamental difference between the two variants lies in the first melodic third. Thus, while Fosforito's variant consistently begins with the first third of Cayetano's fandango, Pedro Lavado's variant predominantly begins with the melody of the first third of the rondeña.I got lost while sailing- [14]On the other hand, this variant is characterized by melodic support on the highest note of the first third, giving it a bolder character.
Although Pedro Lavado once followed Cayetano's model with his drone There's a lovely walk [15]It was Fosforito who first recorded it, establishing the original style. Fosforito's interpretation is more structured and regular in its guitar playing, while Pedro's is freer, following the style of the old masters, based on the meter of the lyrics. Although Fosforito recorded the first zángano, establishing the initial variant of the canteBoth singers –Fosforito and Pedro Lavado– proved crucial to the drone's consecration flamenco as a cante differentiated, each with its own musical variant [16].
"The drone flamenco It is, therefore, a composition that takes fragments from other fandangos. Fosforito being the first to record it and establish its structure, his contribution, along with the variant created by Pedro Lavado, is the reason why this cante has endured in Flemish genealogy"
The debate on origins and the refutation of folkloric evolution
Throughout our research, one of the most difficult points was to dismantle the widespread belief that the drone flamenco It is an artistic evolution of the folkloric drone recovered by Coros y Danzas, specifically from the second of its fandangos, since the first is a version of the fandango of Lucena attributed to Dolores de la Huerta.
The claim that the drone flamenco The claim that the folkloric drone revived by Coros y Danzas is an artistic evolution lacks foundation. The second fandango of the Zángano from Coros y Danzas de Puente Genil bears very little melodic resemblance to the original drone. flamencoThe only clear similarity is in their melodic quarter-thirds. The melody is structured differently, and its rhythm is adapted to dance. [17]The second fandango from the Zángano de Coros y Danzas, as already mentioned, bears a greater resemblance to other fandangos from Coros y Danzas. This leads us to question the possible relationship between them and to consider whether the creators of Coros y Danzas used common melodic patterns from other musical forms performed in the famous competitions organized during the post-war period.
An anecdote from the 1950s illustrates this circumstance [18]During a rehearsal of the Choirs and Dances of Puente-Genil in which they had Fosforito to practice their choreography, the girls could not match the dance steps with the drone that the teacher Fosforito sang, which suggests that what they were used to hearing was rhythmically and melodically different from what the teacher sang to them.
Conclusion: Creative genius and range flamenco
Antonio Fernández Díaz 'Fosforito' is a legend of cante and one of the greatest creative geniuses that the flamencoIts importance to the drone flamenco The most significant contribution of Puente-Genil is having been the architect who elevated it, starting in 1957, in the discography to the category of style flamenco its own, giving it its true rank flamenco.
Fosforito used his intuition and skill to perceive in earlier musical forms—Cayetano's fandango and Almadén's rondeña—material for a flamenco creation. He designed a cante which not only enriches the corpus of the cantenot abandoning them, but rather, by establishing the original variant, he initiated its discographic survival and geographical identity. Fosforito, and he acknowledged this to me on several occasions, created this cante for its people, hence its name. Therefore, we are faced with a fandango of personal creation.
Fosforito's creation is comparable to the work of a composer who takes universal and well-known musical themes and rewrites them in a new art form: he took a melody by Cayetano, which Fosforito himself defined as a universal figure, used a melody from the rondeña, imprinted it with his square rhythmic stamp and the color of the flattened V degree, resulting in a cante perfectly finished.
The drone flamenco It is, therefore, a composition that takes fragments from other fandangos. Fosforito being the first to record it and establish its structure, his contribution, along with the variant created by Pedro Lavado, is the reason why this cante has endured in flamenco lineage. His mastery and rhythmic sense make the drone flamenco a distinctive style.
Our humble contribution has been to open a path to understanding the drone flamencoAlthough we would have liked to answer all the initial questions with certainty, the very nature of this genre, so heavily influenced by oral tradition, makes it impossible. ♦
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Appendix
Documentary The drone of Puente-GenilBy Álvaro de la Fuente
[1] This research appears in our book Flamencum Revolutum. Editorial Greetings Flamencoyes, 2020.
[2] We have found similarities with the Zángano de Motril, Fandango de Antequera, Fandango de la Siega and Fandango de Benalmádena.
[3] This recording belongs to Popular Dances of Cordoba Vol. 1 (Sound Recording)Fonoruz: C-138. 1984. The first fandango –It just came out– we can hear it at 0:30, the second fandango –I am a gardener, gentlemen.– at minute 01:20.
[4] Collected by Chaves from page 8 of issue no. 6.088 of the newspaper New Rioja from Logroño, on page 5 of issue no. 3.817 of Lanza. Daily Newspaper of Ciudad Real and on page 3 of issue no. 41.458 of The North of Castile. Valladolid Daily in their respective editions of Wednesday, January 29, 1958.
[5] This drone –Nazarene and olive groves– It was recorded by the maestro for Belter in 1971 with Paco de Lucía's guitar.
[6] In our book Flamecum RevolutumEditorial: Greetings Flamencos. Page 367.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Fandango They tell my mother about it (1930). Cayetano Muriel. ODEÓN (182.964). Minute 01:48. This musical kinship was already pointed out by Paco Vargas in El flamenco in Malaga. History and current state of its cante and artists. Almuzara, 2010, p. 55, states the following: “'El Zángano de Puente Genil' is a fandango clearly inspired by another of Cayetano's styles, the one that responds with the lyrics 'Se lo cuentan a mi mare'. In both cases, however, we find the hand of the artist, who with his creative ability adapts cantefamiliar songs are given new nuances, however subtle, until a change is achieved that eventually becomes the norm. In this particular case, that artist is Antonio Fernández Díaz, 'Fosforito', the latest recipient of the Golden Key of the Canteand a renowned maestro who imprints his own character on everything he sings.”
[9] Ibid.
[10] This woman from Ronda (I got lost while sailingIt was recorded in 1954 for the Hispavox Anthology. However, there is a clear precedent for this cante in the recordings of The Lame Man from Malaga in 1924 for the Gramophone company labeled as Fandanguillos del Cojo and with the verses: The watermelon's color… y The hair pulled back…(AE 1.273 and AE 1.316), and Foam carried by the river… (AE 1.297).
[11] They are also very similar to the second third of the new fandango of Juan Varea (My joy was taken away)
[12] The musicologist Guillermo Castro It is considered to be a melodic characteristic that appears in: the canteIt appears in miners' songs, some fandangos from Jaén, fandangos from Lucena, verdiales, some flamenco malagueñas, jaleos from Extremadura, and some fandangos from Granada. We find it interesting that it appears in the fandangos of Lucena, due to its geographical proximity to our drone. flamenco. In Musical Genesis of the Cante Flamenco, Libro con Duende, 2014, p. 257.
[13] This drone –I like my Mariquilla– was recorded in 1964 with the guitar of Melchor de Marchena On the disk Café de Chinitas. Selection of Cantes of Malaga for Hispavox, in a recording that begins with the verdial from Lucena. And she died without being mine. We can hear it starting at minute 02:05
[14] This musical kinship was pointed out by the great fan Daniel Pino on your blog Corral of Cante-http://corraladelcante.blogspot.com/2016/07/zanganos-de-puente-genil.html - on July 8, 2016 as follows:" I would dare to call him the brave drone. As he sang shorty, it is a 'cante of power'. To create this version, Pedro Lavado used the first third of the rondeña (version transmitted by Almadén, not the one from Rafael Romero). "
[15] This is a live recording of Pedro's participation in the VI National Art Competition Flamenco From Cordoba, published by Ariola in 1971 with Rafael Muñoz on guitar The Tomato.
[16] Pedro Lavado's immediate family tells us that he was the one who created the drone. flamencoIn an interview with his son Paco Lavado He told us that the drone flamenco It was created by his father, who, in turn, learned it from his grandmother Pura – Pedro's mother – a native of the Alpujarras region of Granada, who brought very similar music from those lands. Flamencum Revolutum, regards Flamencos, 2020, p. 370.
[17] In Rafael Chaves' opinion, it bears a strong resemblance to old dance rondeñas, identified by the repetition of the first verse to form the first two thirds.
[18] In our book Flamecum RevolutumEditorial: Greetings Flamencos. Page 270.
