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Flamenco is an art. Comprised of three parts, it exists in all these forms: Cante , the song, Baile, the dance, and Guitarra, guitar playing. Originating in the south of Spain , it is indigenous to Andalusia . In its inception, it was an oral tradition passed on from performer to performer. These performers were a mix of the four cultures that inhabited Spain over the centuries (flamenco dates back to the 16 th Century): the Moors, the Jews, the Gypsies and the Andalusian Spanish.
Although the exact lineage of the art is not known, what is clear is that flamenco in its earliest form consisted only of the song (cante). The roots of the song were in the expression of poverty and oppression as sung by the Gypsies. The Gypsies came to Spain from India and the Oriental influence in flamenco is still evident in its chord structures and progressions.
Historically, the Gypsies in Spain have been (and in some parts, continue to be) social outcasts; Gypsies were often not able to own land and had to work in unskilled labour. Flamenco was sung in the home or at social gatherings as an insular expression of hardship and misery. A lone artist would sing the dismays and losses of his people and add his own variations. Thus flamenco shares much in its originating circumstances and improvisational nature with the African American Blues.
Over the years, the Gypsy’s song was influenced by the Moorish and Jewish inhabitants of the region, and only later, as the music became popular, was it heard by the Spanish. It was then that flamenco incorporated Andulasian folk music and the introduction of the guitar occurred. The presence of the guitar is also thought to have brought about a change to the sad nature of the music, birthing such pieces as alegrías which express happiness and joy, although not replacing the deblas , martinetes, siguiriyas or the soleá which sing of hardship and woe.
Flamenco today is made of hundreds of different generic pieces ( seguiriyas , soleares, alegrías, malagueñas, fandangos, zapateado, rondeña and more ) each with their own mood and thus their own melodic, harmonic and rhythmic structures to express these moods. Hand-clapping, finger clicking and other musical tapping is also used for rhythmic punctuation and considered to be yet another art form of the flamenco.
It was not until the second half of the 19th Century that flamenco reached its height in public popularity. 1842 saw the first café cantante , an intimate forum in which the singer was, initially, at the centre of the performance, but the guitar became an increasing focus. One guitar became two, fostering the sense of showmanship between the two guitarists, each attempting to outdo the other. What this meant for flamenco guitar was a broadening and expanding of skills, and thus a flamenco guitar piece seen today can be breathtaking. It was in the café cantante period that flamenco dance also reached its peak and dance went onto become, for many years, the main drawcard for the public.
Flamenco today enjoys the respect and appreciation garnered in the café cantante era. With a strong international band of superlative flamenco artists, it continues to transform and to touch audience’s souls with its passionate outcries.
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