THE LAMENT IN RHYME
Flamenco and poetry
by Candela Olivo

Federico García Lorca

"One of the things that makes cante jondo great, apart from the melodic essence, is the poetry". Federico García Lorca affirmed in this way the tendency in the world of lyrics towards anonymous flamenco verse. In its history, this art has forged a vast collection of lyrics. The depth and beauty of this world has often attracted writers and poets from diverse trends and schools: the romanticist Bécquer is one example. Demófilo, the father of the Machado brothers, was one of the first to compile these verses on paper as a formula for preserving a treasure that oral transmission could possible dilute. Years later, the writers of the "1927 generation" assumed and defended flamenco's intrinsic literary values. Of these writers, Lorca was the most deeply committed to these rhymed confessions of pain of a people enslaved throughout history. "Poema del cante jondo" is the reflection of a passion that would soon produce feed-back. In "La Soleá", the Granada poet wrote:

In the creative process of cante jondo, it is the popular poet who represents the minstrel of the lament, expressing through verse his own feelings. However, with the passing of time, the interpreter has occasionally taken on a new role: the cantaor has at times used the verse of well-known poets to express his message through flamenco. In this type of exchange, Lorca is the poet whose work is most frequently sung. Camarón's "La leyenda del tiempo" or "Omega", by Enrique Morente, are perhaps the most sophisticated cases to be made for this exchange. On the latter recording-incomprehensibly out of print-Morente's voice echoes throughout poems like "Vuelta de paseo", "Vals en las ramas", "Norma y paraíso de los negros", or "Ciudad sin sueño" (Real Audio).

Enrique Morente (Photo: Anahí Cármody)

But Lorca is not the only poet. For example, Morente has put flamenco voice to Nana de la cebolla of the shepherd-poet Miguel Hernández, Vicente Soto Sordera has sung to the Portuguese poet Pessoa (Real Audio), and Calixto Sánchez to Antonio Machado or to Alberti in "De la lírica al cante". And there have been curious hybrids of flamenco-poetry such as the homage to the Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges, performed in song and dance by the flamenco artists of the Maestranza theater of Seville, commemorating the centennial of his birth.

These cross-cultural experiences can only be defined as an admirable example of mutual enrichment, in spite of the seeming stagnation of the modern verse that constitutes flamenco poetry. Upon publication of his "Del Amanecer", José Mercé commented that the times had changed, and that it was no longer possible to sing to the mule that carried jugs of water along the roads. Nowadays, some sing to alkaline batteries; and others, like La Chiqui, sing to the Tele Tubbies por tangos; yet others, like Diego Carrasco in "Inquilino del mundo" (Real Audio), croon "to the cow that squirts milk from its udder".

Lack of inspiration? Lack of artistic quality? Do the contents necessarily degenerate under commercial demands? Does the end justify the means? Mercé is right, but only in part. The social and political context surrounding today's flamenco artists is not the same as that of twenty-five years ago, nor was it the same a hundred years ago, nor two centuries ago. Perhaps the undemanding middle-of-the-road stance that abounds in the existence of modern flamenco no longer inspires any kind of lament. At most, heartbreak will make its inevitable appearance: like death, it overrides politics, economics, and technology.

A historical look at flamenco is, at the very least, revealing. As the most humble sectors of Andalusian society became aware of the existence of social classes, flamenco verse became more and more politically committed. The resigned tone of vented frustration in flamenco's early period-still free of ideological influence-eventually suffered the effects of the widespread commotion of the nineteenth century. Flamenco criticized Bourbon politics, idolized the bandit, and resisted the French invasion, arriving at last in the twentieth century, at times succumbing to bourgeois excesses, and at times waving Republican flags, as in the case of Manuel Vallejo or La Niña de los Peines:

La Niña de los Peines

The final hours of the dictatorship were accompanied by protests, following a long period of silence. The voices of Manuel Molina, José Menese, and Manuel Gerena were tinged red with protest. In "Nuevo día", Lole sang that:

El Cabrero can still be heard today in summer festivals singing against the rulings of the European Union. He has not given up appealing to the conscience through his fandangos. He has sung por Calañas:

This period would be incomplete without the figure of Francisco Moreno Galván. His unsurpassed interpretation of the people's outcry during the transition to democracy was channeled through the quejío of Menese and Diego Clavel. One example among dozens:

Now people are free-or so it is said-, and even the construction workers in Mercé's neighborhood vote conservative. But, when speaking of romance, today's lyrics leave much to be desired. There are many examples that could be cited, but it will be quite enough simply to have a listen to any refrain endlessly repeated over the radio.

Candela Olivo
Translation: Norman Paul Kliman

A bit of bibliography

· Ortiz Nuevo, José Luis. Pensamiento político en el cante flamenco. Editoriales Andaluzas Unidas. Seville, 1985.
· Colección de cantes flamencos recogidos y anotados por Demófilo.
· Larrea, Arcadio. Guía del flamenco. Editora Nacional. Madrid, 1975.
· Letras Flamencas Completas de Francisco Moreno Galván. Published by F. Moreno Galván. Morón de la Frontera (Seville), 1998.
· García Lorca, Federico. Poema del cante jondo. Published, among others, by RBA Editores. Barcelona, 1998.