| INTRODUCTION
Flamenco is one of the
greatest musical forms of Europe.
The roots of flamenco have evolved in southern Spain from many
sources: Morocco, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Greece, and other parts
of the Near and Far East. How exactly they came together as
flamenco is a subject of great debate and a very interesting
story.
The gypsies from the south of Spain created this music day by
day since their arrival to Spain in the 15th century. Inside and
outside of flamenco it is widely accepted that they came from a
northern region of India, (this territory called Sid belongs to
Pakistan nowadays) which they left in several waves of migrants
because of invasions and wars with foreign conquers. The tribes of
Sind moved to Egypt and stayed in Giptanos until they were thrown
out, and this time their first new destination was Checoslovaquia
in Europe, but they knew that they were not going to be welcomed
anywhere because of their number so they decided to divide
themselves in three groups that moved to different parts of
Europe. The first document to register the arrival of gypsies to
Spain is from 1447.
Those
known as Gypsies called themselves "Ruma -Calk",
( it means man from the plains or runner from the plains)
and spoke "Calo" (from the indian dialect
Maharata); until the end of this century they used to be
nomads, craftsmen and shepherds.
The gypsies have always lived as a nomad culture and when
it comes to music they are accustomed to take the local
music and make their own versions from it. Music is very
important in their celebrations and everyday life. All
they need to start to make music is a voice, and they soon
start to add rhythms with their hands and feet. They have
always liked embellishments, improvisation and virtuosity
and in Andalucía they found a rich ground for their
musicality, fertilized by hundreds of years of high
culture, where not only Morish, but also Jewish, Catholic
and local musical influences mixed.
The Mores had occupied Spain, and particularly the
south, for about 800 years, science, economy and culture
flourished in a rich mixture of cultures. During this time
the predecessor of the flamenco guitar was introduced and
developed. It is believed that the word
"flamenco" is a mis-pronunciation of the Arabic
words "felag" (peasant) and "mengu"
(fugitive). It is known that flamenco began to be used as
a synonymous for "Andalucian gypsy" in the 18th
century.
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It was around the time Gypsies arrived to Spain, that Columbus
set out to the west to establish a new route to the Indies and
discovered an unknown continent (guess what). They came at a bad
time because by then the Catholic Kings were trying to take Mores
out. The city of Granada in the southern region of Andalucía was
the last to fall (1492) and after that, due to the constant
influence of the church, the persecution of the
"non-catholic" went on for more than two centuries.
The Catholic Kings wanted everybody to behave like Spanish
catholic, and the gypsies had their own nomad customs and a
language, Caló, mixed with Spanish vocabulary so they were
forbidden to speak it and forced to have a permanent address and a
permanent job. Nowadays a lot of Caló words are used in the
Spanish language, specially in the south of Spain.
In the following century they worked and died in large numbers
in the mines, lived in caves in the mountains, where hundreds of
Jews, Muslims and "pagan" gypsies had taken refuge from
the forced conversions and clearances effected by the Catholic
kings and the Church, so they had to have celebrations in secret
even when they were being invited to the parties of the rich to
perform their music. Often the songs where about the injustice
done to them by the very same upper-class that couldn't understand
what the Gypsies where singing about. The main flamenco canters
and families are still found today in quarters and towns of gypsy
and refugee origin, such as Alcalá, Utrera, Jerez, Cádiz, and
the Triana barrio of Sevilla.
As time passed, the laws lightened up a little, the Gypsies
sort of adapted, and more people began to take interest in their
music. At some point, after a good mixing of musical backgrounds,
the locals started to adopt and to interpret some of this music,
since then there has been a peculiar feedback between classical
guitarists and flamenco players in Spain.
The first flamenco score was found in an Italian opera ( "The
lucky Mask".Neri, 18th century) and it can be said that at
the end of the 19th century, flamenco had settled in the form
known and performed today, but this has to be understood knowing
that flamenco is a music that have thrived day by day in live
performances since its first steps
Next:
Flamenco music |
