Flamenco's
origins are a subject of much debate because it has only been
documented for the past two hundred years, and the word
Flamenco, which applies to the song, the dance and the guitar,
did not come into use until the 18th century. Much of what we
know before this time comes from stories that have been passed
down through families, in a similar way to the flamenco song
itself.
Although many of the details of the development of flamenco are
lost in history, it is certain that it originated in Andalusia
and that from the VIII to the XV centuries, when Spain was under
Arab domination, their music and musical instruments were
modified and adapted by Christians and Jews, and later by
gipsies becoming a hybrid music separate from the musical forms
which created it.
Between 1765 and 1860, the first Flamenco-schools were created
in Cadiz, Jerez de la Frontera and Triana (Seville). In this
epoch Flamenco dance started to have its firm position in the
ballrooms. Early Flamenco seems to have been purely vocal,
accompanied only by rhythmical clapping of hands. It was left to dedicated composers, as Julián Arcas, to
introduce guitar playing.
During its Golden Age (1869-1910) Flamenco was developed in the
epoch's numerous music cafés. Also the more serious forms expressing deep feelings date
back to that time. Flamenco dance arrived to its climax,
being the major attraction for the public of those cafés. Guitar players featuring the dancers increasingly
gained a reputation.
The time from 1910 to 1955 Flamenco singing is marked by the
ópera flamenca, with an easier kind of music such as fandangos.
The period after clearly showed South
American influences.
From 1915, Flamenco shows were organized and performed all
over the world. Anyhow, not everybody was enchanted with that
development and intellectuals such as Falla organized in 1922 in
Granada a contest to promote the "pure" flamenco.
In
1955 started a sort of Flamenco Renaissance, with the great
performer Antonio Mairena being its key figure. Outstanding
dancers and soloists soon made their way out of the small
tablaos, successors to the early cafés, to the great
theatres and concert houses. It was at this stage that guitar
players acquired their fame. The Flamenco guitar which formerly was just featuring
the dancers started to be a soloist art form. Great virtuosos
like Paco de Lucia played an essential roll in this development.
Mass media have brought Flamenco to the world stage, but deeply
it has always been and will remain an intimate kind of music.
That's why one of the most authentic Flamenco you may experience
is in a juerga (flamenco party) with a small group of friends,
at midnight somewhere in the South of Spain, when there is
nothing around but the voice, the guitar and the body of a
dancer moving in the moonlight. |