Concurso de Cante Jondo

Falla's purpose

The Spanish classical composer Manuel de Falla (1876–1946), an Andalusian, was the principal organizer of the Concurso. He sought to encourage and enhance the performance of flamenco, which had fallen into a period of decadence. The gaditano Falla recognized in flamenco a musical art form of great value. It was music Falla had spent years studying, having grown up with it, hearing it directly from Gitano friends, cantaores and tocaores. Enlisting the cooperation of Spanish intellectuals was considered crucial, to counteract the antiflamenquismo of the generación del '98; these reformers had condemned the flamenco arts as frivolous and regressive in their sweeping effort to modernize and transform Spain. Thus Falla aimed for an audience encompassing not only flamenco circles, but also to influence the musical world and its culture.

In order to find colleagues to help sponsor and promote the Concurso, Falla gathered together an impressive group of musicians and artists. Included among them was the young poet Federico García Lorca. At twenty-three, the granadino Lorca became an activist in popularizing the Concurso, second only to Falla. Lorca worked to publicize the event by giving oral presentations and publishing essays about the Flamenco arts. A third important figure was the Basque painter Ignácio Zuloaga.

Among the broad array of music figures enlisted were classical composers Joaquín Turina, Federico Mompou, Conrado del Campo, and Óscar Esplá, pianist and composer María Rodrigo, composer and conductor Kurt Schindler of New York, various orchestra directors, classical guitarist Andrés Segovia, Polish singer es:Aga Lahowska, and popular guitarist Manuel Jofré. Andalusian poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (1956 Nobel Prize) joined the Concurso. Writers such as Ramón Pérez de Ayala and Tomás Borrás, surrealist painter Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, and an association assisting the Concurso effort, the Centro Artístico of Granada, contributed. Added support came from two influential professors: philosopher Francisco Giner de los Ríos and Catalan musicologist and composer Felipe Pedrell (Falla's early music teacher). Later came French writer Maurice Legendre, music critics including Adolfo Salazar of Madrid's El Sol, producers, and publicists, with nods from Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky.

Flamenco and Falla

In previous classical compositions Falla often had been inspired by the artistry of flamenco, e.g., in his La Vida Breve (1904–1905, 1913), Noches en los Jardines de España (1909–1916), El Sombrero de Tres Picos (1917, 1919), and El Amor Brujo (1915, 1925). To promote the Concurso Falla wrote an essay, El "cante jondo" (canto primitivo andaluz), in which he held on technical grounds that the primary foreign influences contributing to the origins of Flamenco music and dance in Spain were three: Byzantine church music coming from the eastern Mediterranean; Moorish music from North Africa and Arabia; and especially that distinct music of India and its rhythms brought by the Gitanos who began arriving in Spain over five hundred years ago.

For nearly a century European classical composers had been drawing on the rich heritage of the music of Spain, with flamenco being a favored source. The interest and attention given flamenco by the international music world contrasted unfavorably with what Falla saw as the contemporary debased state of the flamenco arts, and with the lack of respect then shown flamenco by the Spanish cultural elite. In a recent book on Manuel de Falla, the intent of the Concurso has been portrayed as follows:

The cante jondo contest grew out of the conviction--shared by Falla, Lorca, and a host of Spanish intellectuals--that flamenco was being overtaken by urban popular song. The organizers' stated desire to hear the 'admirable sobriety' of classical cantaores shows the extent to which the contest was, in effect, a classicizing gesture... ."

So it was that Falla hoped that the Concurso y Fiesta del Cante Jondo, sponsored by its many musicians and cultural figures, and by the Centro Artístico of Granada, would "restore all the purity to these marvelous songs, that rightly constitute one of the best natural achievements of European music". Yet this "rescue-fantasy" view has also been criticized.

Public funding

Financial support was obtained for the Concurso de Cante Jondo from the City of Granada, but not without spirited opposition. While adherents praised the antiquity and purity of the flamenco art form, whose mysterious source lay in the very fountainhead of the human soul, their critics pointed out the sometimes lesser quality of the music and the mixed milieu of flamenco performances, which at danger's edge could include some notorious venues.

The Concurso supporters, who saw themselves as saviors of the true and vernerable art of flamenco, evidently felt somewhat vulnerable to their opponent's charges. Already, to escape the reproach regarding flamenco's unwanted baggage, the Concurso referred to the art form as Cante Jondo rather than by its more common name flamenco. Here the Concurso followed the lead of Falla the aficionado, whose opinion was: "Queremos purificar y hacer revivir ese admirable cante jondo, que no hay que confundir con el cante flamenco, degeneración y casi caricatura de aquél."

The war of words over municipal financing was inconclusive; the funding continued. Debate over the nature of flamenco in its many guises continues, at times in a cauldron boiling with politically-spiced ingredients: social class, ethnic origins. Yet more commonly-contested are a performer's sound, drama, authenticity, inspiration. As a developed art form with a history, flamenco might provoke different, opposing, conflicting views. Protagonists might be based in local neighborhoods, or be followers of a star performer. Professors, flamencologos, sourced in musicology or ethnomusicology contributed. Although often rife with music-culture controversy, as frequently such disputes are all together ignored.

Expectations of a larger turn-out grew as the date neared. The venue was changed from the plaza de San Nicolás del Albayzín to the more spacious Alhambra.

Flamenco artists

An announced aim of the Concurso was to discover unknown, unrecognized talent thought to be hidden, perhaps in remote rural areas. As a result, no professional over the age of 21 was allowed to compete for prize money in the Concurso contest. Yet the performance of flamenco is very difficult and demanding; only someone who devotes a great deal of their life's nurture to the art will be able to express its subtleties and nuance, its drama and simplicity. Often but not always such refinement will eventually attract the attention and acclaim of aficionados of the art.

The elimination of all professionals from the contest was considered a mistake by many in flamenco, because there remained established practitioners of 'flamenco puro' who had not fallen to the era's commercial tendencies. The Concurso, however, did directly encourage the song and dance of professionals. The 'jury' for the Concurso was composed of four famous flamenco artists, led by the singer Antonio Chacón; the fifth jurist was the well-known Spanish classical guitarist Andrés Segovia.

Although a diligent effort had been made throughout Concurso activities, few unknowns were found. The poet García Lorca did meet a blind and aged woman who could sing a type of cante (the liviana) thought to be extinct.

Favored styles

Contestants were invited to perform certain palos [styles] of flamenco song, those referred to as Cante Jondo (or Cante Grande), grouped as follows: 1) Siguiriyas gitana; 2) Serranas, Polos, Cañas, Soleares; and, 3) Martinetes-Carceleras, Tonás, Livianas, Saetas Viejas (these last four being unaccompanied cantes a palo seco). On the other hand, flamenco styles explicitly forbidden (e.g., for a perceived lack of antiquity or profound expression) included: Malagueña, Granaínas, Rondeña, Sevillanas, Peteneras.

The audience

The event ran the two evenings of the Corpus Christi holiday. It was attended by about four thousand supporters and aficionados. The large gathering was described as both elegant and jubilant. Its stir and buzz would subside when the performers began. Then the audience might seem to collectively come together, attentive, expectant, focused. A storm threatened the first night, but the air remained light. The second night a rain began to fall, yet the audience remained.

Site of the Concurso

The Concurso was held on the grounds of the Alhambra, at the Plaza de Aljibes on the palace's west end, overlooking the Torre Bermeja and the old city of Granada to the southwest; to the north lay the rising slopes of the Sacromonte (the Gypsi quarter). Perfumed by cypress trees, and with French lavender scattered on the ground for the event, the plaza lay across the crest of a ridge, to which one ascended, entering by way of the Torre de la Justicia. It was decorated for the occasion by the artist Ignacio Zuloaga, whose visual display employed brilliant embroidered textiles and mantones [capes] of Andalucia. After sundown the plaza setting would become a colorful region of lights beside the Arab palace.

Granada had been acclaimed as a fitting place for the cultural event. "La Granada de 1922 era el símbulo de la Andalucía renaciente y fecunda. Un núcleo de artistas, un grupo de professores jóvenes, unas tertulias literarias... ." The initial performance perhaps seemed ironic to some: Falla's classical composition Homenaje a Debussy para la guitarra, played by Segovia. Yet Debussy had led Falla to rediscover his flamenco inspiration.

The contestants

A long-retired flamenco cantaor of seventy-two years, Diego Bermúdez Cala (El Tenazas), became a surprise star of the Concurso. He had walked the hundred or so kilometers to Granada from his home in Puente Genil. Evidently, thirty years before a punctured lung suffered at knife point had forced him to retire early from the flamenco circuit. The Concurso allowed him the "grand moment of his life" in which, very flamenco, he performed old palos that seemed to summon the duende of an earlier era. To many aficionados, Tío Bermúdez appeared as if he'd learned his cante directly from the legend, Silverio Franconetti; although for others he didn't know how to sing, but only flirt.

"El Tenazas knew the old time cantes and was extremely flamenco and true in his interpretations." He sang with a purity not heard in decades, especially his siguiriyas, soleares, and cañas (a Franconetti favorite). Listening to el Tío Tenazas ["Uncle Tongs"] "hurl into the air his song", Antonio Chacón exclaimed, "¡Válgame Dios, lo que oigo!" Falla carried a copy of his recordings (Cantos de Diego Bermúdez) with him into exile in Argentina. El Tenazas enjoyed his sudden renown and celebrity, and on its strength soon made a flamenco tour of Spain; yet sadly the following year would be his last.

For song, beside Bermudez, the other first place prize winner was a twelve-year-old cantaor named Manolo Ortega later to be known as El Caracol. Ortega came from a well-known Gipsy family (bullfighting and flamenco). Later he would win great renown, and attract controversy. Another winner was the popular cantaor of Granada, Francisco Gálvez Gómez (Yerbagüena), a friend of bull-fighters and politicians. In an inspired moment he created a lasting impression (he improvised flamenco lyrics in response to news of a local church fire); he was awarded a prize by the Concurso. María Amaya, a relative of then four-year-old Carmen Amaya, won a prize. Two guitarists split the prize for tocaor: Manolo de Huelva and José Cuellar. Altogether there were ten amateur contestants who won prize money of varying amounts, which the ticket sales evidently covered.

The professionals

Active flamenco professionals were honored at the Concurso, although not eligible for prizes. Among those especially acclaimed and invited as guests of honor and as judges: the cantaora Pastora Pavón (La Niña de los Peines), the cantaor Manuel Torre, and the bailaora Juana la Macarrona. Especially esteemed was the cantaor Antonio Chacón, chosen as the presiding judge. These four were then each quite well known, luminaries of the flamenco world. Shown amid several dozen in a contemporary drawing of a crowded performance given before the event's organizers were La Niña de los Peines, the retired Diego Bermúdez (el Tío Tenazas) mentioned above, and Ramón Montoya Salazar, an innovative leader among guitar tocaores. Also chosen as a judge was the popular tocaor Amalio Cuenca, an impresario who managed a flamenco cafe in Paris. Professionals came to the event from all over Spain and from abroad.

During the Concurso the great Manuel Torre sang alegrías to the rhythm of palmas performed by the local Gypsy women of Sacromonte. To Pepe Cuéllar's guitar, María Amaya La Gazpacha sang bulerías and tarantas. Hired by the Concurso were three guitarists who for the occasion became a trio of tocaores: José Cuéllar, the above Ramón Montoya, and the extraordinary Manolo de Huelva. To their music the elder maestra Juana la Macarrona danced, including por alegrías.

La Macarrona, at various moments during the Concurso, would famously cry out, "¡Lapoteosis! ¡Es lapoteosis!", her expression somewhat like crying "thunder strike!" At an early Concurso performance, while Antonio Chacón was singing accompanied by Ramón Montoya on guitar, a poorly dressed, elderly Gypsy woman who had been seen quietly weeping, rose to her feet, drew her head back, and began to dance the soleares with remarkable style and grace. She turned out to be La Golondrina who had been many decades earlier a famous flamenco bailaora.

News of the event

The Spanish press generally spoke in praise of the Concurso, in contrast to the depressing news of the Moroccan war then current. A Madrid magazine published soon after the event described the Concurso as "unforgettable", with its alternating displays of yearning, vehemence, superstition, or fervor, "a simple seduction of sound, rhythms linear in the flesh". About the audience it said:

"The moon didn’t attend, but the place was swarming with gnomes, elves, and even diablos. A huge box-office hit. Not an empty seat. And it was a disciplined, cultured audience dominated by women, many of whom were wearing 1830 dresses, and others were in old trousers, and all of them with that poise which is the privilege of women from Granada. With fans, the crowd rumored and fluttered, unless suddenly a copla paralyzed them with its emotion... ."

La Alhambra of Granada hailed the Concurso as "unas cuantas noches de brillantísima fiesta." In Madrid, press comments included the declaration: "Muy grande ha sido el éxito del Concurso." Nonetheless Manuel de Falla became dissatisfied.

Aftermath

The event's performances were well received and memorable. Although it could be argued that the general results of the Concurso were somewhat mixed, success could well be claimed for the event itself, an enjoyable and seminal gathering of performers and aficionados. In addition, there followed a steady rise in status of flamenco among the cultural and intellectual leaders of Spain. Recordings were made of the various cantes, some little known, some rediscovered. For example, La Caña:

"[A]n ancient cante with religious overtones and chant-like passages that have made it a popular vehicle for the misa flamenca--the catholic mass performed to flamenco music. La Caña had all but disappeared by the twentieth century, but was partially revived after the Granada contest of 1922, when it was recorded by the contest winner, El Tenazas."

On the other hand, the stated aim of elevating the root purity of flamenco performance was not to be achieved as a result of the Concurso. A new era in the art's development was dawning, the period of Ópera flamenca, now often disparaged for its theatrical airs, its brand of syncretism and merger with other musical styles. Hence, with such developments Manuel de Falla, who much admired the pure 'deep song' of flamenco, was not satisfied.

Yet similar flamenco gatherings followed, as that same year both Sevilla and Cádiz celebrated Flamenco Concursos. Several decades later in 1956, the city of Córdoba celebrated the first Concurso Nacional de Cante Jondo. Its "manifesto de convocatoria" expressed reasons and motives similar if not the same as those articulated by the 1922 Concurso in Granada. In 1962 Jerez de la Frontera held its Concurso Internacional de Arte Flamenco. Such events have become a regular feature of flamenco culture.