Special feature. Historical report: Castanets
(‘Estampa’, 1931)
Castanets
Flamenco-world.com, July 2008
Translated from a literal
transcript of Madrid's ‘Estampa’
magazine. A special report written by José
Díaz Morales and published on September
26th 1931 |
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THE VOICE OF THE CASTANETS
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María Pagés
with castanets on 'Flamenco Republic'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
My friend chews on his moustache, and
slumps down in his chair, his bald spot reflecting the
lamplight onto the ceiling.
"Manzanilla! Come on, manzanilla!" he says to
me.
The waiter pours us two short glasses of manzanilla sherry.
My friend tastes it, and when he sees I'm all ears he
begins:
"I don't know if you've noticed, but at my age I
certainly have. Baile flamenco is nothing if it isn't
accompanied by the voice of the castanets. The body that
dances, vibrates to the clackety-clack, unable to pull
itself away from their powerful spell..."
My friend is an old guitarist, a retired 'tocaor'. The
years haven't taken away his fondness for cante and baile
flamenco.
"You have to really feel the flamenco to understand
the language of the castanets. The public out there in
the audience think the more long bursts of furious clicks
the better. That's not the way it is, though. What really
matters is the rhythm of the castanets, the soul that
you put into your fingertips..."
TREBLE AND BASS
"Not all castanets have the same
sound," continues my friend. One of them, the one
that's placed in the right hand, is the female one called
'hembra'. Its sound is higher-pitched so it acts as a
kind of treble."
"And the other?"
"It's played with the left hand, and of course it's
called the 'macho'. It acts as the bass. The 'treble'
is used to make a click, and the other keeps the beat."
THE “PALILLOS”
"In Andalucía they're hardly
ever called castanets, they're 'palillos'."
"And aren't there any other names?"
"Not at the moment. Before, in the old days, other
similar instruments called crótalos, marronettes
and crusmatas were used in Greece, southern Italy and
Andalucía. Crusmatas were beautiful. They were
made from sea shells."
"Where do you think this beautiful instrument started
being used in flamenco dance?"
"In Seville. I mean the guitar, tambourine and castanets
are the trilogy of instruments that are genuinely Andalusian..."
"What are they made from?"
"They're made out of ivory, or out of hard boxwood,
ebony or granadillo. The best, for their warmth and their
timbre, are the ones made of granadillo wood."
Luis Ortega with castanets
on 'Sabores', by Sara Baras
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
WHAT THE FIRST 'PALILLOS' COST
"The first castanets were maybe
made from lignum vitae. They used to cost two or three
pesetas."
"And wasn't there a cheaper option for those who
couldn't afford that?"
"Yeah, ones made of jujube wood, that cost about
a peseta. They weighed hardly anything and their voices
were good. And as a matter of fact, in those days, the
Spanish Royal Artillery used lignum vitae for gun carriages
and cannons. Aficionados would try and get someone to
give them a chunk of that wood, then they'd send it off
to make castanets. So of course they worked out almost
free."
THE BEST CASTANET MANUFACTURER
THERE'S EVER BEEN
Blanca del Rey with
castanets por seguiriyas (Photo Daniel
Muñoz) |
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The first 'palillero', without a doubt,
was Romerito. He had an establishment in a house around
Calle Santiago, and when he died it was several years
before castanets were made again. But one day a young
'palillero' came to Seville from Malaga: Francisco Bonilla.
He built his reputation in a workshop on Callejón
de Dos Hermanas. It wasn't long before he'd made friends
with all the dance teachers, and by following their advice
he came to perfect his own 'palillos' until they earned
a reputation as the best. When he died good 'palilleros'
were hard to come by again, and nowadays the best ones
are made in Berlin, at the house of Miguel Martínez
from Seville.
THE FINEST CASTANETS
Three or four adventuring princes and
czars have led to the finest castanets in the world being
made. At a party held after the wedding of Alfonso XII
at Hotel Madrid, in Seville, in honor of prince Mirza
and with all of the Persian embassy present, Natalia Delgado
was called upon to perform. It seems that the prince fell
in love with her and ordered the best castanets in the
world to be made for her. The castanets were bought from
the famous “palillero” Bonilla. They're the
most highly-perfected and polished you'll find. More famous
castanets were given by the Grand Duke Nicholas, later
Czar of Russia, to La Pateri, who danced at the famous
Burrero. They were black, with magnificent bows in the
colors of the Spanish flag. And one evening, amidst the
joy of a party thrown by the duke, he himself gave them
to the beautiful artist as a gift.
THE BEST CASTANET PLAYERS TODAY
"Nowadays," my friend concludes,
"the art of playing 'palillos' has come a long way.
La Campanera, a prodigy in handling and playing castanets,
has developed the art extraordinarily. Today there's more
of a school, more feeling. So we have La Argentina's,
“poema de las castañuelas”, Custodia
Romero's “Venus de Bronce”, Pastora Imperio...
Fortunately, the clack-clack of the castanets is backed
today by the finest muses of flamenco dance.
JOSÉ DÍAZ MORALES
