When did the seed germinate that would eventually sprout into the forms we recognize today as flamenco? Everything points to a genre of music and dance that we would identify with the flamenco The current form of Andalusian music doesn't go back much further than the mid-19th century. The 1840s provide clear evidence of how certain Andalusian rhythms transitioned from songs to... cantes. Therein lies, in my opinion, the main distinguishing feature of flamencoa genre that does not cultivate songs, as jazz or Cuban son, Argentine tango or bossa nova, French or Neapolitan chanson do, but cantes, melodies that have been created by specific performers on a rhythmic/harmonic framework that we commonly call palos and which, in a more academic sense, we can call styles. These frameworks, for example, the soleá, with its twelve-beat rhythm and a chord progression based on the harmonic mode flamencoThe mode of E, also known as Phrygian, determines the structure of the style. A few chord progressions support multiple melodies, which we can call variations of the style, created by masters of the past such as Joaquín el de la Paula, Enrique El Mellizo, Mercé la Serneta, el Fillo or la Andonda, Frijones or Paquirri el Guanter. CanteThese are soleá songs, many of which are at least a century and a half old and are still alive and kicking in the repertoire of performers of all kinds and conditions to this day. It is therefore the flamenco a kind of classical music, with the freedom imposed by oral tradition music, a popular art based on the recreation of classical models forged by the great masters of the past.
That seed, the fruit of the most exquisite cultural alchemy that melted a thousand metals to obtain one precious and of many carats, germinated in the province of Cádiz, grafting its cuttings onto Seville and Málaga, and from there to Córdoba, Jaén, Granada, Almería, Huelva, Murcia, and Extremadura. Thus managing to plant an orchard full of succulent fruits in the form of tangos, fandangos, seguiriyas, soleares, and tonadas without guitar accompaniment. The great family of styles flamencos, related to each other to a greater or lesser extent.
"Purity as an ideal: to sing, play, and dance without deceit—true art. That’s where purity lies. Not in purity of blood, something impossible among a mixed people, but in truth laid bare; in elegance that never panders to the audience—the greatest temptation among flamencos"
For that seed to bloom, the flamenco aesthetic first had to take shape as a distinct way of expressing the deepest emotions through la queja—the cry that gives musical form to a painful, often tragic past—and el jaleo, the festive and exuberant counterpart of clapping, shouting, and stamping feet. El jipío con sentimiento, as Gamboa called it: the heartfelt wail, the linking of melodic phrases in a single breath, the joy and sorrow of a people old and wise. And the voice—with all its timbral nuances, a kaleidoscope of colors reflecting the cultural diversity it embodies: thin or raspy, agile or languid, transparent or opaque, bright or shadowed with soníos negros. A native cry of protest that affirms a culture as mixed as it is unique—stamped with a distinctly Gitano accent, free and defiant, Andalusian through and through, Spanish by vocation, and the fruit of the most sophisticated Hispanic heritage.
From that seed rose a magnificent tree—colorful, solid, and steadfast—like the great ficus trees of the Alameda in Cádiz, their roots forming majestic buttresses while their branches reach toward the sky. The trunk we see is what we now call flamenco; its roots run three thousand years deep, nourished day by day, verse by verse, by a repertoire of incomparable richness. Flamenco encompasses a wide range of rhythmic forms—binary, ternary, and the most genuinely flamenco of all, which merge both. And then there is the blessed Spanish guitar: an instrument essential to the very creation of the genre. Had the piano taken its place instead, the art form we know today would likely be unrecognizable.
A bare voice, austerity as its banner—handclaps, finger snaps, heels and toes. An art made “with whatever’s at hand,” achieving the maximum with the minimum: no ornament beyond the skillful use of voice, hands, and feet. From its beginnings, it has been extraordinarily difficult—raw, alive, and utterly human. Then there’s the way flamenco artists measure their music—how they phrase, how they play with time. The most fiery, impassioned climax can emerge from a tempo so slow the pulse is barely perceptible, all within the same style.
"The seed of flamenco, planted in fertile soil and watered with the tears and blood of millions who passed through that crossroads of humanity that is Lower Andalusia—the western threshold, the Garden of the Hesperides—which, in just ten years, went from being the end of the ancient world to the center of the modern one, protagonist of a history decisive not only for Spain but for all humankind. And the exquisite fruit of so many centuries, peoples, and places is flamenco"
Also important is the theatricality inherent in this cultural and artistic expression that we call flamenco. His performance is pure theater. The lyrics of the canteIt serves as a plot, a story concentrated in three, four, or five verses, and a way to externalize feelings that many are convinced are so deeply felt. And each cante a letter and a specific argument, and the following cante Another one. There, as we pointed out before, the main difference between cante and song: the song tells a specific story, a series of canteIt tells as many stories as it has letters. And all of this is done while gesturing the content of each verse.
Purity as an ideal: to sing, play, and dance without deceit—true art. That’s where purity lies. Not in purity of blood, something impossible among a mixed people, but in truth laid bare; in elegance that never panders to the audience—the greatest temptation among flamencos. You must convince your audience that what you sing, play, and dance comes from your soul. And for that, the machinery must be well-oiled. Knowing how to communicate is the essential mark of any artist worthy of the name.
The seed of flamenco Planted in fertile soil watered with the tears and blood of millions who passed through that crossroads of humanity that is Lower Andalusia, the western threshold, the Garden of the Hesperides, which in ten years went from being the end of the world to its center, protagonist of a history full of decisive events for the future not only of the Hispanic world but of all humanity. And the exquisite fruit of so many years, people, and places is the flamenco. And then a tsunami of utter ignorance comes along and belittles him. Good heavens! Good heavens!
