The title role of Nabucco (1842) was specifically created by Verdi for Giorgio Ronconi, taking advantage of the singer's extraordinary vocal and dramatic abilities, which established him as the first modern baritone. His unique voice, combining the upper register of the tenor with the lower range of the bass, constituted a novelty in its time-one that Ronconi himself acknowledged when he published a vocal treatise under the suggestive title Il Baritono Moderno (1845). His lyrical register reshaped the vocal and dramatic expectations of the period and made the Italian singer a central figure in the development of baritonal roles in Romantic opera and, consequently, an influence that persists to the present day. The text constitutes a comprehensive approach to Ronconi as a singer, based on an examination of contemporary journalistic sources and the few scholarly studies that provide some information on the first modern baritone, still not recognised as such in international historiography.
The legislative reorganisation of the provincial charitable hospices in the 19th century involved, among other things, the creation of numerous wind bands associated with them as part of the training and educational programme. In Granada, the Provincial Hospice, located in the Royal Hospital, founded its own music band in the late 1850s, participating in numerous events in Granada's cultural life with different bandmasters in this early stage. At the helm of this musical ensemble in the early 20th century was Jos & eacute; Moral Fern & aacute;ndez de Aguilar. In this paper, we will consult various primary sources and specialised literature to learn about the most notable aspects of this figure from Granada, including his chronology, academic training, and musical and compositional activity. Similarly, we will address his relationship with the band, which spanned from 1904 to 1917, highlighting the services he rendered and the problems that arose during this period.
This work aims to map, identify, and analyze, based on a representative selection of texts from Brazilian scholarly music production, the uses, approaches, and meanings attributed to the term flamenco. The study was initiated in 2012 and later expanded and updated in 2020, allowing for the observation of continuities, shifts, and reconfigurations in the treatment of flamenco over time. For the analytical framework, the research adopts the Paradigmatic Scheme proposed by Silvio S & aacute;nchez Gamboa, which enables a systematic reading of the theoretical, methodological, and epistemological frameworks present in this body of literature. From this perspective, the study seeks to gain a more precise understanding of the paths, perspectives, and modes of appropriation through which flamenco has been incorporated into the Brazilian academic-musical context, thereby contributing to critical reflection on knowledge production in the field and to the expansion and qualification of its dissemination.
This research takes as its starting point the case study of accordionist Magin Prieto to describe the historical evolution of the accordion in the valleys of Babia and Laciana. An analysis is carried out linking the above data with the socioeconomic context of these areas and all the information is interpreted within the theoretical framework of cultural hybridity proposed by Peter Burke. Four historical stages are distinguished: the introduction of the accordion (1917-1931); the consolidation of its use (1931-1936); its integration into cultural and social life (1936-1959); and its establishment as a symbol of continuity and resistance (1959-1980). Methodologically, the study combines a review of the literature, documents and newspapers with fieldwork. Finally, the results show that migratory flows and mining development were decisive in consolidating the accordion as a symbol of hybridity.
Flamenco music has traditionally been associated with guitar playing and singing. However, violin has emerged as another solo instrument that enriches the sound palette of flamenco. Piano, flute, saxophone, cello, clarinet, trumpet and harp are other examples of instruments that have been introduced into this genre over the last few decades. Violin's expressiveness and melodic capacity allows it to perform long phrases with emotional intensity along with virtuosic technical passages, adding depth and variety to the repertoire. The artistic discourse that current violinists are developing goes beyond interpreting a beautiful melody, and the techniques used for musical expression contrast with the classic ones. As a result, a new language that sounds like violin and flamenco has been created. Many of the resources currently used have classical foundations; some have been adapted; others are exclusive to this art. The resulting sound is complex, effective, full of different nuances and timbres. Adding that to the interpretative freedom that flamenco offers, makes the flamenco violin suitable for the expression of feelings and emotions.
The figure of Mary Magdalene is re-semanticised within the various arts, coming to be considered the mythological materialisation of penitence and female empowerment, as she underlies a great erotic capital and resilience in the face of public scorn. This article analyses the use of this feminine archetype and its evolution over time within the musical genre of the copla or Spanish song throughout the 20th and 21st centuries through the songs performed by various artists such as Concha Piquer, Lola Flores and Angelillo, who used her figure as a standard that moved between resignation and feminist vindication of their sins.
This article presents a technical analysis of the musical transcription of the bta & iuml;hi "Badal toumou el wasla be soudoud," from the Nouba Raml el Maya, as performed by the master Abdelkrim Dali. The study focuses on demonstrating the performer's rhythmic mastery and vocal technique through the use of digital notation tools and melodic analysis. The research examines the 4/4 rhythmic structure characteristic of the San & acirc;a school of Algiers and analyzes the role of the anacrusis in preparing the accents of the sung verse. Furthermore, it explores the modal transitions between the tetrachords of Raml Maya, Moual, and Mezmoum. The paper concludes that systematic transcription serves as a fundamental didactic resource for the preservation and safeguarding of the Algerian Arab Andalusian musical heritage.
The urgent political need to configure a certain cultural unit at the Andalusian regional level led to the choice and consideration of a few symbols as axes of its articulation. It was the case in the cultural world around flamenco. The haste determined that such references were poorly defined and calibrated in their scope. It was not noticed or perhaps it was not understood that some manifestations, such as flamenco, not only exceeded the limits of the community, since they were part of a much broader identity but not even in all the territories administered by the Junta its expression had the same meaning. The pressure, use, and abuse of these references resulted in a certain rejection, achieving almost the opposite effect to that intended. Although flamenco was not eliminated, since it was part of popular feeling and taste, other music and attitudes that were equally popular, but differentiating and capable of defining the identity of territories that were reluctant to standardize, began to be revalued.
Paco de Lucia's use of rhythmic traits in his compositions in the style of buler & iacute;as reveal an evolution since his encountered with North American jazz pianist Chick Corea. Besides being responsible for this rhythmic evolution, De Lucia introduced the practice of improvisation to later generations of flamenco musicians. Some of these indirect contributions to the nuevo flamenco movement can be explained as a "creative missreading." The transcriptions and analyses included in this study unveil not only some concepts that help clarifying flamenco jazz and nuevo flamenco's history and identity, but inform the reader about the musical and creative possibilities for the future.
With this research, we want to manifest the importance of Sacromonte's dances in the pictorial field as an iconographic motif of the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. These dances, mainly their performers, were used as a source of inspiration to local, national and international artists who put their gaze on them, discovering a different form of expression in these singular dance interpretations. Its origin goes back to the arrival of the members of the gipsy ethnic group to Granada, after the conquest of the city by the Catholic Kings, taking part since the beginning of the events in the Corpus' festivity. Its later decline and its rebirth with the arrival of curious travellers interested in the exotic nature of its performance made it a unique representation that was also present in the Cante Jondo contest of 1922. Thanks to the artistic representations that are preserved of the Zambra, the set of dances, which is an exclusive heritage of Granada, we can analyse, admire and understand how it has developed throughout history.
The aim of this text is to deepen the knowledge of the search for the vernacular carried out by the National Institute for Colonization through the regional dance contests organized between 1958 and 1964. These were a set of four events held in Madrid, emulating the choral and dance contests instituted by "Secci & oacute;n Femenina" in 1942. But they brought together the folkloric groups of the different areas of our country where the INC worked, leaving evidence of the idea of the search for the vernacular and the traditional in the new towns, and thus building a new identity. In this way, the interest of Franco's government to show an image of the rural environment in accordance with the idea pursued at that time, understanding it as the custodian of the patriotic essence of the country and of its musical and folkloric traditions, was evident. However, it is striking how little interest was shown in flamenco, a genre that was used as the prototypical image of the country in its international dimension.
Based on a search of Spanish historical archives, this article looks at the zambra in Granada, from the perspective of literature and the press, in the period immediately before and after the 1922 Concurso de Cante Jondo, in which the gypsy dances of Sacromonte played a prominent role and, as a result of the great media coverage of the event, achieved notoriety throughout Spain. The zambra played an outstanding role in variety shows and & oacute;pera flamenca, and even on the dramatic stage. At the same time, many writers and journalists were attracted by the exoticism and colourfulness of this artistic manifestation, offering a vision of it that was sometimes romantic and sometimes much more prosaic.
On 20 June 1922, as part of the Concurso de Cante Jondo, a concert-conference was given in Granada by Ursula Greville (soprano) and Leigh Henry (lecturer) on English popular song. The programme of the concert focused on popular songs and arrangements of different English composers, a repertoire that would be performed by the singer in her many concerts in Europe and America. The visit of these two musicians, together with that of other musicians and intellectuals, was at the invitation of Manuel de Falla on the occasion of the Concurso de Cante Jondo, in order to achieve greater national and international exposure. The daily press (national and international), the photographs and letters kept by Manuel de Falla in his personal archives, and Ursula Greville's personal writings published in The Sackbut are the fundamental sources documenting the visit. Thus, by analysing the presence of this English soprano in Granada, we can better understand the international dimension that was intended to be given to the Concurso, while at the same time we study the meeting sought between European popular music and the presence of women in this event, so far scarcely investigated.
This paper presnets some of the methodological techniques developed to study the phenomenon of melodic variants in traditional Spanish popular music. We establish a chronology if technical resources that serve to constitute the steps of the study and analysis of the phenomenon in question, based in this particular case on a specific religious musical repertoire: the Rosary of the Dawn. We try to establish a method by deduction which has among its purpose, to elucidate the melodic prototypes of the practice we are investigating.
This article analyses the concepts of "arte jondo" (jondo art) and "baile serio" (serious dance) proposed by Vicente Escudero in the Spanish post-war period, in the context the Francoism and with the help of some data extracted from the correspondence between the bailaor and the Catalan critic Sebasti & agrave; Gasch. Based on sources from the Vicente Escudero Collection that was recently deposited in the Centre for the Documentation of the Performing Arts and Music (CDAEM) and some press material, the national competition organised by the Flamenco dancer in 1948 is reconstructed in detail. This initiative has not been examined in great depth up to now. The competition is compared with the contest organised in 1922 by Manuel de Falla and his collaborators. Several similarities and differences from this model are underlined, particularly in relation to dance.
As an introductory portico and critical synthesis of the monograph Flamenco on the stage since 1922: generic hybridizations, contexts for creation and spaces in movement, this article analyses the identity relevance of flamenco, taking as its central axis the celebration of the Concurso de Cante Jondo (1922) in Granada. In fact, it constituted an ideological-cultural point of reference for both entities oriented towards pedagogical dissemination - thus, the Institucion Libre de Ensenanza or the Instituto Nacional de Colonizacion- as well as for events linked to flamenco (such as the Gran Concurso Nacional de Arte Jondo). The study offers, in short, beyond the assimilation of the state of the art, new critical perspectives and epistemological reflections in the light of conceptual categories circumscribed to such contexts of cultural sociability. Special attention is also paid to the main protagonists of these stage spaces and to the generic hybridizations they carried out as performative practices.
This article aims to analyse a growing trend about the use of cofrade music as a way of giving to Andalusian popular music its own and local meaning. The purpose of the research is to analyse interpretations of the composition Amarguras (1919) by the Sevillian musician Manuel Font de Anta (1889-1936). To achieve this goal, different adaptations of the piece have been located, such as Rafael Riqueni, Enrique Morente, Rafael Moreno, P & aacute;jaro or Joey Deadcat. Once the analysis of Amarguras is completed, it can be verified that, despite having a high number of adaptations, paradoxically these are the most orthodox, faithful and literal to the original music piece. Definitely, the study reflects on a musical trend produced in Andalusia with the aim of appropiate foreign music through the hybridisation of local music linked with the Holy Week and compare them with other music produced by Silvio, C. Tangana or Califato 3/4, which recover cofrade music into the urban genre.
Guitar seems often to inspire Falla's music but his only work for guitar came in 1920 and it was premiered by T & aacute;rrega's student Miguel Llobet. Despite its short duration, Homenaje was meant to be the beginning of a new genre for the Spanish instrument, inspiring the composers of Generation '27 to expand guitar's literature on the "classic" music scene. However, recent editions and research on Falla's archive demonstrate the composer's interest into printed guitar music such as Aguado's method but also to the flamenco style of late 19th century such as Mar & iacute;n and Cimadevilla. Breaking the supposed barrier between flamenco and the concert guitar style, Falla's guitar material gives a number of ideas for historically inspired performances. In a form of artistic research this paper analyzes how practicing early 20th century guitar music and methods on original instruments with gut strings is a way of rediscovering the authentic Spanish guitar in Falla's time. Transferring this empirical knowledge into a form of article and recorded performances we arrive to propose specific solutions to the Homenaje and to more works. Last but not least, this research intends to present the wide guitar panorama of Falla's universe.
Andr & eacute;s Segovia was the most influential classical guitarist of the 20th century, but the flamenco was also part of his extensive artistic career with special connotations which made him, for example, align with some precepts of Falla's ideas about jondo, participate actively in the celebration of the Concurso de Cante Jondo of 1922, or apply compositional resources of this genre in pieces of his own creation. This last facet, one of the least studied of the Linares master, can be followed in pieces such as Fandango de la madrugada, Macarena or the group of solea's falsetas of historical guitarists. The analysis of these sources wants to highlight the creative force of flamenco in the musical universe of Segovia.
The Concurso y Fiesta de Cante Jondo de Granada, held on June 13 and 14, 1922, has been and continues to be studied and investigated from very different postulates, visions and perspectives. This paper focuses on the analysis of different documents and invoices found in the Municipal Historical Archive of Granada related to the role played by professional singers, guitarists and dancers in this event, since, in different aspects, they offer data and readings of great relevance. Despite the fact that the rules explicitly excluded professionals over 21 years of age, in the end some of them participated and performed in the event, although they did not participate in the contest. Thus, the organizing board hired and paid Manuel Torres, Manuel Pav & oacute;n, Juana "La Macarrona", Manuel G & oacute;mez "Ni & ntilde;o de Huelva", Amalio Cuenca, Antonio Chac & oacute;n, Ram & oacute;n Montoya, "La Gazpacha" and the flamenco zambra of Dolores Hidalgo in which Mariano Morcillo collaborated. The guitarist Nicol & aacute;s Martinez was also paid for playing in the Academia del Cante Jondo and in the acoustic test carried out in the Plaza de los Aljibes on dates prior to the contest. In the same way, the recital that the British soprano Ursula Greville performed a few days later at the Alhambra Palace Hotel in the same city was paid for.
