The dividing line between flamenco and folklore is, at times, a little too blurry. Sevillanas moves precisely in that tenuous grey area, maintaining its essentially popular character, but without giving up its claim to the expressive richness of flamenco. This is a form which has been handled by voices from la Niña de los Peines up to Camarón, and which finds expression in young throats such as that of Estrella Morente. A form which is still being made, whose continuous transformation has given rise to new styles, and musical and thematic evolution of the verses, creating a rich commercial breeding-ground for Andalusian culture.

Sevillanas is a folksong with a verse similar to the classic Castillian seguidilla, although the passage of time has led to evolution in its metric and musical form. This genre figures as the archetypical flamencoized folksong whose mission has always been to accompany the dance of the same name. J.M. Caballero Bonald includes sevillanas in his classification of flamenco forms, within the category of songs derived from various folkloric sources in Andalusia and La Mancha.

Within this form which Blas Vega characterizes as "gay and gracious, lively, with a dynamic agility", the guitar accompaniment can be in any tone. The dance, which is practically a genetic heritage for the people of Seville, is the "seal of authenticity" which has popularized the vocal form. Sevillanas is danced in couples, in sets of four, at any gathering worthy of mention... fairs, pilgrimages, even discotheques. Each part is choreographed differently, with fixed and unvarying steps, with a silent interval or "estribillo". The most recognizable are the paseos, pasadas, remates and careos. In the last measure of the song, the music and dance stop simultaneously, with the interpreters adopting a pose both "proud and provocative, in keeping with the flirtatious nature of the dance". The flamenco influence enriches the closings with touches of bulerias or tangos, a change which is in line with the nearly total abandonment of castanet accompaniment.

For Blas Vega "sevillanas is one of the forms which has evolved most, in both the musical and literary senses. Nowadays, along with the ongoing enrichment so extensively provided by composers and lyricists, adapting to the compas of the music, they make use of different metric forms to achieve a better and more ample poetic content". Franciso Moreno Galván, painter and poet, composed some sevillanas that were never recorded and which reflect this lyrical evolution:

El río de Sevilla
Ya no es camino
Para barcos de vela
Azahar y olivos.
Porque a sus mares
Andalucía llevaba
Sus azahares

(Seville's river
is no longer a path
for sailboats,
orange blossoms
and olive trees,
because Andalusia
has carried
its orange blossoms
to the sea)

As documented by Carlos Saura in his film Sevillanas (1992), perhaps the greatest tribute which has been paid to this genre in its whole history, there exists a kind of unifying thread. Sevillanas boleras, corraleras (de Lebrija), the cruces de mayo, biblical, maritime, liturgical, of the fair, rocieras, and for listening. A classification previously compiled by Arcadio Larrea in his Guía del flamenco (1975).

The theme of the verses underscores aspects that characterize all that which is Andalusian and, more specifically, Sevillian. The sentiments expressed are normally festive or amorous, with plenty of room for humor. "Me casé con un enano, salerito, pa' jartarme de reír..." (I married a dwarf to get a good belly-laugh) In recent years, even the cult of the Virgen del Rocío is making references to the most typical place for sevillanas, the Seville Fair, or to the capital itself. "A la Virgen del Rocío le gustan las sevillanas, pero como tiene al niño no puede tocar las palmas..." (The Virgen del Rocío likes sevillanas, but since she's holding the child she can't play palmas). This is a theme which abounds in the medley type recordings of the Rocío choral groups of different religious brotherhoods.

Flamenco and sevillanas cannot deny their relationship. Great flamenco artists have recorded versions of sevillanas. La Niña de los Peines, La Paquera, María Vargas, Manuel Gerena, or even Camarón himself, who leaves one of his last interpretations in the Saura film, are just a few of the singers who have sifted this old seguidilla through their throats. Duquende and Estrella Morente are the most recent singers to find room for sevillanas in their recordings. Just as with the danced sevillana which is perhaps the first style to be danced around Seville by beginning dancers. Such recent productions as Antonio Canales' "Raiz" or "Bailaor", Sara Baras' "Sensaciones", or Israel Galvan's "Metamorfosis" make some sort of reference to sevillanas.

And in all that back and forth, the theme sometimes turns dark to embrace flamenco in its tragic view of existence:

Cuando mueren los famosos
Todo el mundo lo lamenta
Cuantos pobrecitos mueren
Y nadie los tiene en cuenta
Yo he visto un hombre morir
Sin nadie junto a su cuerpo
Nadie quien poder rezarle
Ni siquiera un padrenuestro

(When the famous die,
everyone mourns
When poor men die
no one cares
I saw a man die
with no one by his side.
No one to pray for him,
not even a Lord's Prayer)

The above verse has its counterpart in flamenco cante:

Cuando se muere algún pobre,
¡qué solito va al entierro!,
y cuando se muere un rico
va la música y el clero

(When a poor man dies
how alone he goes to his burial!
And when the rich man dies
there's music and priests)

Just like flamenco, sevillanas has been experiencing a revival ever since the sixties, and each spring it figures in the top ten of the most typically Andalusian radio stations, a faithful reflexion of new groups with newly released recordings, and this form is the nearly exclusive domain of such record companies as Pasarela, Senador or Hispavox. From the Reyes and Toronjo brothers on, there has been a steady stream of groups that sing in chorus and are devoted to the interpretation of this specialty. Among them Los Marismeños, Amigos de Gines, Los del Río, or Los Romeros de la Puebla, the latter being the group which holds the record for longevity in international music: more than thirty years together. Also in solo work, following the path of El Pali, the greatest exponent of the intensely Sevillian character of the sevillanas, there have been such singers as El Mani, Rafael del Estad or Manuel Orta.

Should there remain any doubt as to the bloodties that unite flamenco and sevillanas, one example should suffice: Azotea (1988), a recording by the sevillanas group from Cádiz Salmarina, whose fame might well be the envy of the most reknowned flamenco singer. Isidro Muñóz wrote the verses and plays along with Vicente Amigo, Manuel Soler in the dance, palmas and cajón; the bass is Carles Benavent, and José Miguel Évora is at the piano. And if that isn't flamenco...

Candela Olivo
Translation: Estela Zatania

More information

The great paradox: from saeta to bulería