Two historic nights at the Alhambra

Present
23/03/2026

Present
23/03/2026

Lorca's efforts, Falla and his friends finally reached their goal: The Cante Jondo Competition was held in Granada on the nights of 13 and the 14 June 1922. Ignacio Zuloaga was excited that, those nights, would look, in the Alhambra, a beautiful moon.

Actually, It wasn't like that: the second day, there was storm and rain. That did not prevent the success of the public. The chroniclers speak of the collection of more than 30.000 pesetas, for ticket sales, and the attendance of about four thousand people.

Among them were Zuloaga, Andres Segovia, Santiago Rusiñol, Fernando de los Ríos, Edgar Neville, Ramon Gomez de la Serna, Melchor Fernandez Almagro, Adolfo Salazar, musicologists John B.. Trend and Kurt Schlinder… They did not attend but Pérez de Ayala had joined, Bagaria, Diez Canedo, Julio Camba, Antonio and Manuel Machado, William of Torre, Gutierrez Solana, Romero de Torres…

First session opened Ramon Gomez de la Serna: in addition to addressing the audience present, He also did it to the "wandering Moors" and the "spectral Moorish kings" but the people were not up for speeches., I wanted to hear them sing. (years later, Isabel García Lorca, Federico's sister, I remembered that They interrupted Ramón several times with applause, to abbreviate).

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A tourist and cultural vision of flamenco

Plains and rocky terrain, hills and slopes, cistus and almond trees… Andalusia is a melting pot. When the Despeñaperros gorges send the first beam of light to other people's eyes, the blackness of infinity is reflected in them. But diversity protects that void. Cavernaries, Phoenicians, greeks, Romans, arabs, Christians and converts have trodden the lands of southern Spain. And in their journey they have forged the path of their own expression: the flamenco.

Andalusian art may date its baptism only two centuries ago, As some experts have pointed out. But the singing, the playing and the dancing are much more than the feeling of a people widely scattered around the world and that has only been able to produce flamenco within our faithfuls.. Gypsies are responsible for a generous part of the Andalusian musical heritage, but they are not the immanent piece that justifies its existence. Los "sonidos negros" those that Lorca spoke about in reference to Manuel Torre have been born by the culture of a people with a peculiar history. They are children of folklore, although, like every good descendant, They have known how to fly from the nest to acquire their own identity.

All you have to do is listen to the trill, over whose rhythmic accent always finds meaning the jingle of the mules that once ruled the lands of the farms of Jerez with their work., Utrera or Lebrija. And the tune? Is it not born from the people the sonorous lament of the calamity that so many amphorae modeled in Triana?? Same with the soleá, born from the suburbs to seek fortune in Alcalá de Guadaira, Utrera, Cadiz… Or with the seguiriya, that complaint that settled in the throats of the Planet, the Fillo, Silverio, El Gordo or El Nitri looking at each postulate to the forge master, the weak of the Cava, the jailer and the cabal. Let's see who says that only the people of Almería live in the taranto., or in the fandango but the Tharsis alosnera, or in Cartagena but the Murcian string…

Cádiz is expressed in cantinas; Malaga by jaberas, jabegotes and verdiales; Córdoba by drones and fandangos of Lucena; Grenade by zambras, rose, granainas and stockings. And if there were no heterogeneity, on the other side of the pond they lend us the guajira, the milonga, the vidalita and the rumba so that later Pepe Marchena invents the Colombian one.

Indeed, Andalusia is a melting pot whose understanding goes beyond acorns and chestnuts, of seines and traps. A part of his soul is built on cave melopeas, Phoenician, greek, novel, arabs, Christians and converts, bricks of a musical wall to which the gypsies later added their battlements: the complainer.

The Guitar, last to join.

The analysis of the guitar in flamenco deserves a different section, since it is the last of the components that the genre acquired but, at the moment, one of the more revalued. According to studies carried out by various experts, Everything seems to indicate that one of the first references is located in “The explanation of the guitar”, work published by Juan Antonio de Vargas y Guzmán from Cádiz in 1773. However, At this time we can only talk about what would later be called the existence of guitarists “por lo fino”.

Actually, the first signs of the approach of the six strings to flamenco come with figures like those of El Murciano, Trinitario Huertas, Bernardo Troncoso, José Toboso and, above all, Julián Arcas from Almeria, father of a soleá that bears his name. To this first era of guitarists still located between the playing “for the fine” and “for the Flemish", They are followed by those of the so-called Eclectic School, in which the inventor of the cejilla stands out, Maestro Patiño -Cádiz-, Antonio Pérez -Seville-, Paco el Barbero -Seville- and Paco el de Lucena -Córdoba-.

From this moment on, the first specialists in the flamenco style began to emerge, as Juan Gandulla Habichuela, from Cadiz, Javier Molina, from Jerez, and Miguel Borrul father, from Castellón. But the great guitarist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is Ramón Montoya Salazar (Madrid, 1880-1948). He is responsible for the creation of the vast majority of flamenco styles for the guitar and is considered the first revolutionary of technique and harmony, to the point where he became the first flamenco concert performer in history. His legacy is taken advantage of by a generation of unparalleled guitarists who have shaped the era of great personal creators..

At this time, Niño Ricardo, Manolo de Huelva, Perico el del Lunar, Esteban Sanlucar, Melchor de Marchena, Sabicas and Diego del Gastor emerged. The greatest teacher of all time is inspired by all of them, Paco de Lucia, undisputed leader of the latest generation of guitarists. Along with him, we must highlight Manolo Sanlúcar and Víctor Monge Serranito, a triangle of players who revolutionized the concept of flamenco guitar by coming into contact, especially in the case of Paco de Lucía, with other music like Brazilian, jazz, rock…

To this school, indisputably, new touch values belong, like Tomatito from Almeria, Gerardo Núñez from Jerez, the Catalan Juan Manuel Cañizares or the Cordoban Vicente Amigo.

The history of flamenco with respect to its geographical distribution

In parallel to the course of the different stages mentioned, flamenco has lived another very interesting story: that of each geographic nucleus. The creation of the different palos is due to the varied ways of expressing oneself musically in each area of Andalusia. That's why, the study of the flamenco allows us to make a classification by provinces.

Almeria
The reason why the westernmost province of Andalusia is an enclave creator in flamenco is absolutely clear and defined: in 1838 The Jaroso vein is discovered in the Sierra de Almagrera, a mining center where multitudes of workers will begin to arrive, and with them, the singing. From there arises the taranta, which is mainly attributed to Rojo the Alpargatero, who probably recast the so-called madrugá songs with other styles from the area and created this free style. Something later it's taranto, which follows the same scheme of the taranta but adjusts to what is danceable. Its origin may be in Pedro el Morato, The Cabogatero, The Blind Man the Beach, Chilares, El Tonto de Linares… Today its greatest representative is José Sorroche.

Cadiz
Cadiz is the mother of cantiñas, name that brings together other songs like the joys, the romera, the mirabrás or the caracoles. In addition, The round-trip styles are due to this province, that entered from America through the Port of Cádiz, and the tanguillos, in addition to the creation of tangos together with Triana. Here there are singing centers like Sanlúcar, Port, San Fernando, the Campo de Gibraltar or Jerez de la Frontera, which, due to its significance, deserves separate mention. Many gypsies ended up in Jerez and its countryside in search of work., situation that led to the arrival of singing more than two centuries ago. In this land the seguiriya is born and, probably, the bulería, and there names like those of Paco la Luz were raised, Crazy Mateo, el Marrurro, Manuel Molina, Sernita, Juanichi the Manager, Maria Borrico, Uncle Gregory, the Pyrenees, Mine, Joaquín Lacherna, Uncle José de Paula, Manuel Torre…

Córdoba
The first great singer known in Córdoba was also a matador of Bulls. His number was Ricardo Moreno Mondéjar, also known as Juanelero el Feo and the first link in a chain of artists known as the “Mediaoreja” or the “Onofre”. This artist collected the solearero style of Triana in Ramón El Ollero's version and adapted it creating a Córdoba style., as also happened with the joys of Cádiz, that Mondéjar qualified to create ones with their own name. But Córdoba also stands out for its wide variety of fandangos, all cut abandon. In Cabra there is a style whose greatest architect is Cayetano Muriel, while that in Lucena you can contemplate a range of songs that differ in the fandangos of Dolores de la Huerta, those of Rafael Rivas and those of Rute Street. All of them have been magnificently interpreted in recent times by Antonio Ranchal and Pedro Lavado. Finally, The drone is created in Puente Genil, piece that Fosforito published in the sixties and that José Vedmar El Seco bequeathed. In addition, In the province of Cordoba there is also an extensive glossary of peasant songs, like threshing, the seasonal and the pajarona. Besides, the creation of the serrana is attributed to this province. Today, with Phosphorite already removed, the most important representatives of This area is El Pele, Luis of Córdoba, Antonio de Patrocinio, The Calli, Inmaculada Aguilar, Concha Calero, Mario Maya or Joaquín Cortés.

Granada
This province deserves a unique study, because there continues to exist an eminently folkloric style that has not yet been elevated to the category of artistic genre: the zambra. In reality, this is the generic name given to both the shows performed by gypsies in Sacromonte and the rooms in which they take place.. One of the first known zambra performers is El Cujón., but you can also talk about the Swallow, I'm sorry Amaya, Lola Medina, Rosa the Guinea Fowl, María la Canastera and, more recently, the beans, saga led by Tía Marina. Also a must-see is the fandango singing created by Frasquito Yerbagüena and, Of course, granaína and half granaína, that although they do not have their origin in Granada, because they were created by Antonio Chacón, Yes, they have been welcomed by the province as songs of the land. Finally, another style with its own stamp of the area It is the tango of Graná, a variant with a slower rhythm and low cadences. At the moment, one of the greatest representatives of this province is Enrique Morente, also highlighting the Eva la Yerbabuena dance.

Huelva
Huelva is the birthplace of fandango. Throughout the province They distinguish several creative nuclei: Alosno -the oldest and head of the entire Andévalo-, the Sierra and the capital. All the rich folkloric heritage of the province began to become an expression of Huelva from the 1800, when the French archaeologist and engineer Ernesto Delgny rediscovered the Alosno mines. From there, an infinite number of different styles have been studied., highlighting four leading artists in its execution: Jose Rebollo, Paco Isidro, Antonio Rengel and Paco Toronjo. Among the best known styles are those of Alosno, the shockers, those of Almonaster, those of Santa Eulalia, those of Cerro del Andévalo, those of Encinasola, those of Calañas and those of Cabezas Rubias.

Jaen
The creative core of the province of Jaén revolves around the Linares axis – Carolina. As in Almería, singing comes to this area thanks to the mining boom., so its main style is taranta, led by Tonto Linares, the Girl from Linares, Basilio, The Cabrerillo, Gabriel Moreno and, at the moment, Carmen Linares. Temporary songs also occur in this area., highlighting the olive tree. One of the most important representatives of its history was the Andújar singer Rafael Romero El Hen.

Málaga
This province is the most opulent in abandolao styles. Starting from legendary Juan Breva, In Malaga you can review a multitude of good singers, but, first of all, It is necessary to distinguish between the three dominant stylistic groups: la verdial - folk songs typical of Axarquía- the fandango abandolao and the malagueña. In this last song it is necessary to talk about Trini, The Pena, The Canary, El Perote, Master Ojana, Baldomero Pacheco and the Lame One from Malaga, although it is also mandatory to mention other non-Málaga artists such as Peñaranda -Cartagena-, The Little Person -Jaén- o, above all, the Twin -Cádiz- and Antonio Chacón -Jerez-. Nonetheless, In the section on the abandolaos we must differentiate between the fandangos of the mountains - bandolás and small and large rondeña- and those from the coast -jabegote or cante del marengo-, plus another native of the capital: the jabera. As for the festive songs, Málaga is also the birthplace of the Piyayo tangos and some styles of the Repompa.. The creation of polo and cane is also attributed to this province., since Tobalo, the singer who supposedly shaped them, was from Ronda.

Sevilla
in this province, the attribution of the songs is distributed among four large places: Triana, Utrera, Alcalá and Lebrija. The toná comes from the Sevillian suburbs, soleá and its variants, tango and various styles of seguiriya. From there, where they forged their art Frasco el Colorao, the Ollero, the Caganchos, the Andonda, Uncle Noriega, the Matrona, Tomás and Pastora Pavón, the Buttstock, The Sandbox, Marquez the Shoemaker, El Sordillo, Manuel Oliver or Paco Taranto, the singing leaves for other towns, so that in Alcalá a characteristic style of soleá emerges from the hand of the Gordos. Another case is that of Utrera, where Mercé la Serneta from Jerez settles to create a legitimate and genuine soleá melody which is later joined by Rosario la del Colorao or the Perrate, as well as the Girls of Utrera, Fernanda and Bernarda. This population has always maintained direct contact with Lebrija thanks to the railway., hence, For example, the Pinini saga, started by Popá Benito, is divided between both locations. The figures of Diego the Lebrijano or Juaniquín, this last owner of a style of soleá, like those of Antonia Pozo, La Rumbilla -where the Valencias come from-, Malena and the Perrata, mother of Juan Peña el Lebrijano.

Revaluation of flamenco. Third Golden Key of Singing

With “Flamenco Opera” as the common thread of the genre, the 50. 's arrive. Flamenco art is known throughout the world thanks to the “troupes”, which had reduced the density of the songs to facilitate understanding by all audiences. However, as if it had remained dormant, a generation of singers claimed their place and continued to perform the traditional styles in smaller groups. The figures of Juan Talega take special prominence at this moment, Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera, Fosforito, The chocolate, Laces, Rafael Romero El Gallina and Antonio Mairena, among others. It's the time of the tablaos. The Hispavox house publishes the first “Anthology of Flamenco Art”, directed by the Jerez guitarist Perico el del Lunar. In 1958 The Jerez Flamencology Chair is created. The La Platería de Granada clubs emerge, Juan Breva in Malaga and Los Cernícalos in Jerez. Y, above all, in 1956 The First National Flamenco Art Competition is held in Córdoba, conceived by local poet Ricardo Molina, which Antonio Fernández Díaz from Pontan won, Fosforito. Flamenco enters theaters and artists insist on recording old songs that are out of use to perpetuate their art.

In all this context, the genre once again suffers another turning point. Manuel Vallejo died in 1960, The organizers of the Córdoba contest decide to put the Golden Key of Cante into litigation again. Thus, the city of the Mosque welcomes 1962 a historic competition, whose jury included personalities such as Ricardo Molina or Juan Talega. The trophy was disputed by Fosforito, The chocolate, Juan Varea, Pericón, Platero de Alcalá and Antonio Mairena, who emerged as the winner on a transcendental night for the future of this art.

Antonio Cruz García, who until then had dedicated his life to singing back for dancers like Antonio Ruiz Soler, founded, with the key in hand, a school that endures to this day. He was the executor of a new generation of singers committed to Mairenismo to the core.. It is time for the emergence of El Lebrijano, Malena Work, The Nougat, Jose Menese, Miguel Vargas, Diego Clavel, José de la Tomasa or Calixto Sánchez. However, as had happened in all the previous stages, This pole finds its opposite in Cádiz and its bay: Shrimp, Juan Villar, Rancapino, Pansequito and, above all, a veteran Chano Lobato offer another complementary perspective that greatly enriches the genre., in addition to the contribution of other teachers as contrasting as José Mercé or Carmen Linares. Flamenco takes another path: the one of the festivals.

The great creators. The Golden Age. The Singing Cafes

At the end of the 19th century, flamenco was already a widespread art throughout Andalusia. In Cadiz, mother of singing by cantiñas, figures like El Chiclanita emerge, Dolores and Alonso del Cepillo, José de los Reyes and el Negro del Puerto and singing centers such as Los Puertos are certified, San Fernando, Sanlucar, Chiclana and Arcos.

Jerez de la Frontera deserves a special mention, another of the main points of flamenco, especially through the neighborhoods of Santiago and San Miguel. From there they are none other than Manuel Soto Loreto, The tower, and Don Antonio Chacón.

However, a little before these teachers broke in, the history of flamenco faces a key moment. Singers like Silverio Franconetti coincide at the same time., Tomás El Nitri and Juan Breva. Fierce competition arises between them, to the point where Nitri refuses to sing in front of Silverio so as not to look ridiculous in front of the teacher of Italian descent.. But, on the contrary, the first Golden Key of Cante in history goes to Tomás, who receives the award as a gift for his mastery during a party. All these circumstances could have lit the spark in Silverio, that upon seeing the passions that this art aroused, he decided to set up a Café Cantante in the number 4 from Rosario street in Seville. At the moment, flamenco becomes professional.

However, despite the pull that the aforementioned cafes have in society, a certain sector of the genre maintains the singing in the minorities of yesteryear. Is the case, For example, of the Gordos de Alcalá, a family of Triana origin whose greatest representative is, according to Antonio Mairena, Joaquín de la Paula, or later from Tío José de Paula y Agujetas el Viejo in Jerez.

At this time, Las Coquineras triumphed on stages throughout Spain., The Macarona, Don Antonio Chacón, Francisco Lema “Fosforito el Viejo” - main adversary of the maestro

Jerez-, the Perote, The Owl, The Macaca, The Diana, Cajetan Muriel the Goat Boy, The Canary, Ferdinand the Blacksmith, The Blonde of the Pearls or the Garrido of Jerez, among many others.

We are already in the 20th century. And in the years 20 an unmatched generation takes up the baton of art. The names of Pastora Pavón Cruz “La Niña de los Peines” are already beginning to be heard, Arturo and Tomás Pavón, Manuel Torre, Manuel Vallejo, The Glory, Las Pompis, Juanito Mojama, Bernardo of the Wolves, El Niño Escacena, Pepe the Matrona, Manuel Centeno, The Lame One of Malaga, Juan Varea, Pepe Pinto, Sebastian the Pena, the Child of Marchena, Manolo Caracol, Aunt Anica the Piriñaca, Uncle Gregorio the Borrico and Juan Talega.

Evolution. Hermetic Stage. First singers

Aside from the keys that the history of literature has provided for the study of the origin of flamenco, there is data, many of it still unproven, that talk about ancient flamencos. The reference to two figures who for a long time have been thought to be the first singers in history cannot be left out.: Tío Luis de la Juliana and Junquito de Comares from Jerez, two names that have created many conflicts among flamencologists of yesteryear, since an agreement was never reached as to which of the two was prior to the other. Today that discussion has no relevance., since it still cannot be proven that they even existed.

However, Of those who do have reference to their existence, they are one of the first artists of the 18th century in Triana., which, together with Jerez and Cádiz, is the enclave in which flamenco ceases to be a folkloric expression and becomes an artistic genre.. must be cited, by

example, to singers like El Planeta, Although it seems that he was born in the Bay of Cádiz area - it is believed that in Puerto Real -, He developed all his art in the Sevillian suburbs singing seguiriyas - of his own creation- and by tonas. His main student was El Fillo, gypsy also from Cadiz lands who had a love relationship with Andonda, who was many years apart. This woman was probably the first to sing soleá, although there were also other cantaora families in Triana such as the Pelaos and the Cagancho to whom this style can be attributed.. At first soleá emerged as a dance song, until the potters of the Sevillian neighborhood began to make unaccompanied styles not subject to compass.. At that time, ballads and martinetes were also sung., styles are connected with the toná.

In parallel, Important flamenco centers also develop in Jerez and Los Puertos. The name of Paco la Luz remains in history., mythical seguiriyero from which almost all the great Jerez singers descend, as much as that of Crazy Mateo, Manuel Molina, Diego the Marrurro, Joaquín Lacherna or Mercé la Serneta, which would later move to Utrera. And in the Bay Ciego la Peña makes history, Durse Job, Enrique El Gordo or Enrique Jiménez Fernández, “The Twin”.

However, that stage, called “Hermética” by Ricardo Molina and Antonio Mairena in their book “World and forms of flamenco singing”, remains a mystery to scholars, since there are few written documents that shed light on the analysis.

Shortly after, instead, everything would change. The inheritance that a boy named Silverio Franconetti received from El Fillo in Morón de la Frontera would be key to the future of a genre that until then had not left private festivals..

Origin of the word “flamenco”

Another aspect that makes this art a true mystery lies in defining the exact origin of the term “flamenco”. There are multiple theories about the genesis of this word, although perhaps the most widespread is the one defended by Blas Infante in his book “Orígenes de lo flamenco”. According to the father of Andalusian Autonomy, The word “flamenco” derives from the Arabic terms “Felah-Mengus”, which together mean “wandering peasant”.

The curious theory that stated that flamenco was the name of a knife or penknife also had many followers.. Not in vain, in the skit “The Braggart Soldier”, written by González del Castillo in the 18th century, you can read: “The military, What did he get for my husband?, a flamingo”. In another couplet collected by Rodríguez Marín he says: “If you tell me it’s fishing / and I unsheath my flamenco / with forty daggers / “The story was going to end”.

However, This hypothesis has not been transcended, nor did the one who stated that the name had been given to the genus after the bird called flamingo did so.. The authorship of this precept is also due to Rodríguez Marín, who justified the idea by arguing that the singers practiced singing dressed in short jackets, They were tall and small in the waist, so it resembled the wading bird of the same name.

Like the previous ones, Nor does the theory led by experts such as Hipólito Rossy or Carlos Almendro remain uncorroborated, in which it is stated that the word flamenco is due to the fact that the polyphonic music of Spain in the 16th century increased with the Netherlands., that is to say, with old Flanders. This theory was also defended, although with nuances, by the romantic traveler George Borrow and by Hugo Schuchard, among others. According to these writers, In the past it was believed that gypsies were of German origin, which explains why they could be called flamingos.

Finally, There are two less compromised hypotheses, but quite interesting. Antonio Machado y Álvarez, Demophile, It says that “the gypsies call the Andalusians gachós and the Andalusians call the gypsies flamencos.”, without us knowing what the cause of this name is.”. And Manuel García Matos affirms: “Flamenco comes from the slang used at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century to catalog everything that means ostentatious., pretentious or boastful or, How could we determine in a generic Andalusian way, “echao p’alante”.

Two historic nights at the Alhambra

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Come closer to Flamenco

About the federation

Sevilla

Málaga

Jaen

Huelva

Granada

Córdoba

Cadiz

Almeria

A tourist and cultural vision of flamenco

The Guitar, last to join.

The history of flamenco with respect to its geographical distribution

The present and future of the genre. The Fourth Golden Key of Singing.

The festivals

The Flamenco Opera

Flamenco in Madrid. The Pavón Cup. Second Golden Key of Singing

The contest that took place in 1922 in Granada

The great creators. The Golden Age. The Singing Cafes

Evolution. Hermetic Stage. First singers

Origin of the word “flamenco”

First written references

Musical background