The cante flamenco (), meaning "flamenco singing", is one of the three main components of

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

, along with ''toque'' (playing the guitar) and ''baile'' (dance). Because the dancer is front and center in a flamenco performance, foreigners often assume the dance is the most important aspect of the art form — in fact, it is the ''cante'' which is the heart and soul of the genre. A ''cante'' singer is a ''cantaor'' or ''cantaora''. The cante flamenco is part of musical tradition in the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n region of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Its origins are uncertain but scholars see many influences in the cante flamenco including: The traditional song of the gitanos (Spanish Gypsies), the Perso-Arab Zyriab song form, the classical Andalusian orchestras of the Islamic Empire, the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

synagogue chants, Mozarabic forms such as zarchyas and zambra,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

zayal (the foundation for the

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...

), and Andalusian regional folk forms, as well as West African and

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

influences as seen in the '' cantes de ida y vuelta''. Flamenco embodies a wealth of musical cultures — Roma, Arab, Berber, Jewish, and Christian. Flamenco developed into its definitive form during its Golden Age (1869-1910). Beginning in 1910, cante flamenco was popularized by the opera flamenca which included the lighter forms of flamenco such as fandangos and ''cantes de ida y vuelta''. In order to preserve the "authentic" ''cante jondo'' (deep song), Manuel de Falla and

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, organized the Concurso de Cante Jondo in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

in 1922. Singers from all over Andalusia travelled to join in the competition. The first two prizes went to El Tenazas and El Caracol.

Types of cante

There are many variants of cantes or '' palos'' (song forms), each expressing a unique emotion (which shares noticeable resemblance to

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

). The flamenco songs of today may be classified into one of three categories: cante grande, cante intermedio or cante chico.

Cante Grande

Also known as cante jondo and sometimes referred to as cante gitano. Meaning "profound" and "deep," this intensely sad form of cante deals with themes of death, anguish, despair, or religious sentiments and may be sung a palo seco (without guitar accompaniment). Major forms are the '' tonás'', '' martinetes'', '' seguiriya'', '' soleá'', and ''carcelera''. It is said that cante jondo (deep song) is the heart and soul of flamenco: Sample Seguiria describing anguish in Caló, Spanish and English:

Cante Intermedio

Meaning "intermediate," this form is less profound but also moving, sometimes containing an oriental cast to the music. The term (between ''cante chico'' and ''cante grande'' that is) varies according to who is singing and describing the "cante intermedio".

Cante Chico

Literally meaning "little song," this form of cante sings of lighter subjects including love, bawdy humor and happiness to the accompaniment of the flamenco guitar. Festive forms of cante chico include forms such as the '' alegrías'', '' bulerías'' and '' tangos''.

Other classifications of cante flamenco

Cante Gitano

Cante gitano (or the "Gypsy song") refers to the original songs believed to be developed by Gypsies who immigrated in the 15th century. These include the ''toná'', ''soleá'', ''seguiriya'', ''tango'' and ''buleria''.

Cante Andaluz

Cante andaluz began to spread during the middle of the 19th century, and is a combination of other forms of folkloric music from Andalusia which demonstrate a definite influence of Gypsy flamenco music. Cante andaluz genres include the many variations of the ''fandango'' and ''cantinas''.

Cantes Folklóricos Aflamencados

The styles of cantes folklóricos aflamencados are forms of cante that are not considered to be true forms of flamenco by the purists. Examples of these styles include the '' sevillanas'', '' Farruca'', '' Garrotin'', and the '' Cuban Rumba''. These are the folk song and dances from Andalusia, other Spanish provinces including Galicia and

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, as well as South America which have been slightly influenced by traditional flamenco forms.

Lorqueña

Lorqueña is a "aflamencado" that has been made from certain ancient folk songs based on the poems of

. The poet himself collected these folk songs that were included gypsies and flamenco lyrics and gathered in his collection of ancient popular songs. Among these traditional songs were the tunes, bulerías, jaleos and seguidillas that Lorca himself recorded in 1931 accompanying the famous singer " La Argentinita" with the piano. The lorqueña comes from

and is based on the bulería style. The gypsy Pastora María Pavón Cruz known as " La Niña de los Peines" was a very famous cantaora flamenca from

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. She took the poems of Federico García Lorca as lyrics of new songs and was the first person to call it Lorqueña.

Titles

*''En el café de Chinitas'' ('At Chinitas Cafe') *''Anda jaleo'' ('Come Rise Up') *''Esquilones de Plata'' ('Silver Bells')

Famous ''cantaores''

El Planeta (Antonio Fernández)

Although concrete information about El Planeta is scarce, it is thought he was born around 1770 in Cadiz. He is widely acknowledged as the first famous performer of the cante flamenco. Originally a blacksmith, El Planeta soon became a renowned leader within the Gypsy community, bearing the honorary title of "Count and Prince of the Fraternity." It is believed he usually sang unaccompanied, although he sometimes accompanied himself on the guitar. The oldest siguiriyas in recorded flamenco history are those of El Planeta. He died around 1850, most likely in or around

El Fillo (Francisco Ortega Vargas)

Born around 1820 in Villa Real, El Fillo was the chosen disciple of El Planeta. El Fillo was able to perform all forms of cante, and has thus been known as "the father of cante." His hoarse, harsh voice has become a defining characteristic of cante to this day - this style of singing is described as ''afilla'' in homage to him. It is believed that El Fillo died in 1878 in Seville.

Silverio Franconetti Aguilar

Born 1829, Silverio Franaconnetti was born in Morón de la Frontera was expected to enter the family tailoring business, but would escape to the nearby blacksmith to hear the gypsy singers. Here he met El Fillo and was encouraged to become a singer. He later went to Argentina and Uruguay working as a '' picador'' in the bullrings, and he also served as an officer in the Uruguay Army. Franconnetti was arguably the best non-Gypsy singer of the Nineteenth Century. He died in 1889.

La Niña De Los Peines (Pastora María Pavón Cruz)

Born in Seville in 1890, La Niña de Los Peines is regarded by some as the most exceptional and innovative female flamenco singer of all time. Affectionately called "La Niña," she was known for her interpretation of the tangos, and was often requested to sing siguiriyas at a time when women did not customarily perform it.

Manolo Caracol (Manuel Ortega Juárez)

Manolo Caracol came from an exalted Gypsy dynasty which to this day remains legendary in the arenas of both flamenco and bullfighting. Born in Seville in 1909, it is commonly believed that his ancestral lineage included both El Planeta and El Fillo. Caracol won the prestigious first prize at the Cante Jondo Competition (in 1922) at the age of only 13. During the Spanish Civil War he worked in theaters to survive. Caracol claimed his style of singing was unique. He is remembered for his capacity to evoke overwhelming passions from his listeners. Caracol frequently performed with full orchestras or pianos (much to the harsh remarks made by the purists). Caracol died at the age of sixty-four in 1973 Madrid.

Camarón de la Isla (José Monje Cruz)

Camarón de la Isla was born in San Fernando in 1950, and was the second child of eight to a Gypsy blacksmith and a basketweaver. He received his nickname Camarón (Shrimp) early on due to his thin body, light complexion and blond hair, and began performing at the age of eight. In 1969 he made his first album with Paco de Lucía. Although trained as a traditional flamenco singer, Camarón broke with convention, incorporating new musical instruments including the drums, zither, flute, moog, and keyboards to name a few. In his comparatively short career of 20 years, he and Paco de Lucía revolutionized the art of flamenco, attracting vast new audiences to the art form. Camarón met his untimely death in 1992 at the age of forty-one, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Other famous singers of cante

There are many more famous and influential flamenco singers, including: * Manuel Agujetas *La Repompa de Malaga * Rafael de Utrera * Potito * Remedios Amaya *Diego Carrasco *La Paquera de Jerez * Antonio Mairena * Diego El Cigala * Enrique El Mellizo * Antonio Chacon * Manuel Torre * Enrique El Granaino * Pepe de Lucía * Estrella Morente * Lola Flores (some do not consider her a flamenco singer, although she did sing) * Fosforito * Lebrijano *La Perla de Cadiz *Terremoto de Jerez * El Chocolate *Manolo Leiva * Duquende * Pepe Marchena * Chano Lobato * José Mercé (who, like Camarón, started singing flamenco and then added new elements) * Antonio Molina * Niña Pastori * Mayte Martín * Juan Valderrama * Rocio Jurado

References

Sources

*ALVAREZ CABALLERO, Angel: ''Historia del Cante Flamenco'', Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1981. *GARCIA LORCA, Federico: ''In Search of Duende''. Edition by Christopher Maurer. New Direction Books, New York, 1998. *TOTTON, Robin: ''Song of the Outcast - An Introduction to Flamenco'', Amadeus Press, Oregon, 2003.

External links

English links

Cante...The Song

World Music Central

Spanish links

{{Authority control Music of Spain Music of Andalusia Spanish folk music Flamenco