Concurso de Cante Jondo

El Concurso del Cante Jondo (Contest of the Deep Song) was a famous celebration of the art of flamenco, its music, song, and dance, held in Granada, Andalusia on Corpus Christi, the 13th and 14th of June, 1922.^[1]

Falla's Purpose

The well-known Spanish classical composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) was the principal organizer of the Concurso;^[2] he sought to encourage and enhance the performance of flamenco, which had fallen into a period of decadence. Falla recognized in flamenco a musical art form of great value.^[3][4][5] 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.^[6][7] In order to promote the Concurso, Falla gathered together an impressive group of artists and cultural figures, which eventually came to include the classical composers Joaquín Turina, Federico Mompou, Conrado del Campo, and Oscar Esplá, the pianist and composer María Rodrigo, Kurt Schindler of New York, varios orchestra conductors and directors, the classical guitarist Andrés Segovia, the Polish singer Aga Lahowska, the popular guitarist Manuel Jofré, and the two fine poets Juan Ramón Jiménez and Federico García Lorca (the twenty-three year old Lorca becoming very active in the Concurso).^{[8][9][10][11]} Also contributing were writers such as Ramón Pérez de Ayala and Tomás Borrás, the Basque painter Ignácio Zuloaga and the surrealist Manuel Angeles Ortiz, and those in the association focusing the effort, the Centro Artístico of Granada. Later additional support came from professors (e.g., the educational reformer Giner de los Ríos, and the Catalan musicologist and composer Felipe Pedrell), the French writer Maurice Legendre, music critics including Adolfo Salazar of El Sol, producers, and publicists, with nods from Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

In his previous classical compositions Falla had been inspired by the artistry of flamenco, e.g., in his Noches en los Jardines de España (1909-1916),^[17] and in his El Amor Brujo (1915, 1925).^[18][19] In an essay Falla wrote to promote the Concurso,^[20] he held on technical grounds that the primary foreign influences shaping the origins of flamenco were three: Byzantine church music from the eastern Mediterranean;^[21][22] Moorish music from North Africa;^[23][24] and the music of India brought by the Gitanos.^[25][26][27] For over half a century other European composers had been drawing from the rich heritage of the music of Spain.^[28][29] The interest and attention shown by the classical music world contrasted unfavorably with what Falla saw as the contemporary debased state of the art of flamenco, and with the lack of respect shown flamenco by the Spanish cultural elite.^[30]

Publicity

Financial support was obtained for the Concurso de Cante Jondo from the City of Granada,^[31] 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 on the down-side at the fringe would include some notorious venues.^[32] The Concurso supporters, who saw themselves as saviors of the true and vernerable art of flamenco, were somewhat vulnerable to their opponent's charges. Already, to escape the reproach of flamenco's recent past, the Concurso referred to the art form as Cante Jondo rather than as flamenco.^[33] Here the Concurso followed Falla, who 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."^[34][35] The the war of words over municipal financing was inconclusive; the funding continued.^[36] Debate over the nature of flamenco in its many guises continues today, at times in an ideological cauldron boiling with such fiery ingredients. Flamenco displays a variety of reflections; it's often rife with controversies, which are frequently ignored.^[37][38][39]

Events of the Concurso

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.^[40] Although few unknowns were found, a diligent effort was made. The poet García Lorca did meet an blind and aged woman who could sing a type of cante (the liviana) thought to be extinct.^[41][42] The performance of flamenco is very difficult and demanding; only someone who devotes a great deal of their life's nuture to the art will be able to express its subtleties and nuances, its drama and simplicity; this work will often acquire wide notice.^[43] Contestants were invited to perform certain palos [styles] of flamenco song, those referred to as Cante Jondo (or Cante Grande),^[44] grouped as follows: 1) Siguiriyas gitana; 2) Serranas, Polos, Cañas, Soleares; and, 3) Martinetes-Carceleras, Tonás, Livianas, Saetas Viejas (these last being unaccompanied cantes a palo seco).^[45][46]

Torre de la Justicia, the original entrance gate to the Alhambra, built by Yusuf I in 1348.

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).^[47] Perfumed by cypress trees, the plaza lay across the crest of a ridge, to which one ascended, entering through the Torre de la Justicia. The plaza was decorated for the occasion by the artist Ignacio Zuloaga, who employed brilliantly embroidered textiles and mantones [capes] of Andalucia, artfully displayed; at night the setting would become a colorful region of light beside the Arab palace in the shadows.^[48][49] The jury included Andrés Segovia and the flamenco singer Antonio Chacón. The inicial performance was perhaps ironic: Falla's classical composition Homenaje a Debussy para la guitarra, played by Segovia.^[50]

A long-retired flamenco cantaor of seventy-two years, Diego Bermúdez (el Tío Tenazas), became a surprise star of the Concurso. He had walked the hundred or so kilometers to Granada from his home in Puente Genil.^[51] 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" where he performed soleares, cañas, and siguiriyas. For many Tío Bermúdez sounded as if he had learned his cante directly from the legendary Silverio Franconetti; although for others he didn't know how to sing, but only flirt.^[52][53] Listening to el Tio Tenazas ["Uncle Tongs"] "hurl into the air his song", Antonio Chacón exclaimed, "¡Válgame Dios, lo que oigo!"^[54] Falla carried a copy of his recordings (Cantos de Diego Bermúdez) with him into exile in Argentina.^[55] Tío Tenazas enjoyed his sudden fame, and soon made a tour of Spain; yet the following year would be his last.^[56]

The other first place prize winner was a twelve-year old cantaor named Manolo Ortega (El Caracol), from the well-known bull-fighting and flamenco Gypsi family, who later won great renown as well as controversy.^[57][58] A popular cantaor of Granada, Francisco Gálvez Gómez (Yerbagüena), a friend of bull-fighters and politicians, in a moment had 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.^[59] Altogether there were ten contestants who won prize money of varying amounts.^[60]

Active flamenco professionals were honored at the Concurso, although not elgible for prizes. Among those shown on a contemporary drawing while at a performance before the event's organizers: the quite famous cantaora Pastora Pavón (La Niña de los Peines); the retired Diego Bermúdez (el Tío Tenazas) mentioned above; Ramón Montoya Salazar, an innovative leader among the guitar tocaors; El Niño del Barbero; and La Niña de la Aguadera.^[61] Also present were the celebrated cantaors Manuel Torre and Antonio Chacón, and the young bailaora Juana la Macarrona. To Pepe Cuéllar's guitar, María Amaya La Gazpacha sang bulerías and tarantas. To the rhythm of palmas by the local Gypsi women of the Sacromonte, Manuel Torre sang alegrías.^[62] At an early Concuso performance, while Antonio Chacón sang accompanied by Ramón Montoya on guitar, a poorly dressed, elderly Gypsi 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.^[63]

The Spanish press generally spoke in praise of the Concurso, in contrast to the depressing reports of the Moroccan war then current in the nation's news. 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."^[64] Nonetheless Manuel de Falla became dissatisfied.^[65]

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,^[66] success could well be claimed on account of the long-term rise in status of flamenco among the intellectual and cultural leaders of Spain.^[67] Also, recordings were made of the cantes, some little known.^[68] 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."^[69]

On the other hand, the stated aim of elevating the purity of flamenco performance was not to be achieved, as the period of Ópera flamenca (with its theatrical airs and its brand of syncretism and merger with other musical styles) was dawning.^[70][71]

Other similar flamenco events followed. Later that same year both Sevilla and Cádiz celebrated Flamenco Concursos.^[72] 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.^[73] In 1962 Jerez de la Frontera held its Concurso Internacional de Arte Flamenco. Such events have become a regular feature of flamenco culture.^[74]

Reference Notes