Jan 15, 2008

Around The World, (14)

Hello, Around The World finds itself in southern Spain today, Andalusia to be precise, and that means flamenco, gypsy style.

Flamenco was born towards the end of the 800-year Arab rule in Spain and during the Spanish inquisition, serving as a voice of protest and hope for the populations that were being subjugated at the time, including Christians, Arabs, Jews and the Gypsies. Flamenco thrived as a cultural and emotional expression, traditionally harnessing the deep sadness and suffering of a people who had been repressed for centuries. Many of the earliest flamenco songs are said to have been dark and profound in nature, concentrating on events such as bloody encounters, violent death, love and love betrayed, displacement, incarceration, sickness and loss. The cantaores (singers) would voice these experiences through cante, concentrating on communicating and evoking the same experiences and emotions within the listener.

The cante flamenco (flamenco song) is one of the three main components within the expression of flamenco, along with toque (playing the flamenco guitar) and baile (dance). Foreigners generally mistake the flamenco dance as being the essence of flamenco, however it is the cante which actuates the soul of this complex musical and cultural tradition. Originally flamenco was composed purely of cante with the accompaniment of palmas (hand clapping) and knuckle-rapping percussion, and it was not until the 19th century that the toque had been gradually added to the cante. The Gitanos have been fundamental in maintaining this art form, but they have an oral culture. Their folk songs were passed on to new generations by repeated performances in their social community.

Flamenco is expressed through the toque -- the playing of the flamenco guitar, the cante (singing), and the baile (dancing)
The flamenco guitar (and the very similar classical guitar) is a descendent from the lute. The first guitars are thought to have originated in Spain in the 15th century. The traditional flamenco guitar is made of Spanish cypress and spruce, and is lighter in weight and a bit smaller than a classical guitar, to give the output a 'sharper' sound.
The heart of flamenco is the song (cante). Although to the uninitiated, flamenco seems totally extemporaneous, these cantes (songs) and bailes (dances) follow strict musical and poetic rules. The verses (coplas) of these songs often are beautiful and concise poems, and the style of the flamenco copla was often imitated by Andalucian poets
El baile flamenco is a highly-expressive solo dance, known for its emotional sweeping of the arms and rhythmic stomping of the feet. While flamenco dancers (bailaores and bailaoras) invest a considerable amount of study and practice into their art form, the dances are not choreographed, but are improvised along the palo or rhythm. In addition to the percussion provided by the heels and balls of the feet striking the floor, castanets are sometimes held in the hands and clicked together rapidly to the rhythm of the music. Sometimes, folding fans are used for visual effect.

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Fiesta Gitana da Silva - Viva Jaleo ( 92 ^ 99mb)

The jaleo is an essential and complicated element of the flamenco, consisting of hand-clapping, fingersnapping, the accentuation of the rhythm by stamping the feet clacking the tongue, tapping the guitar and crying out exclamations as accompaniments to song and dance. The communal singing of a song with the accompaniment of the above mentioned is often placed between the solo performances of the artists to intensify the mood. The jaleo is in itself an extremely diffecult art form. The hand -clapping is especially complicated and it's almost exclusively the gypsies that command the technique of the ' palmas' . These Jaleodores aren't necessarrily solo artists themselves but they are greatly appreciated in a flamenco performance.



01 - Ritmo de Fiesta Gitana
02 - Jaleo, Todo el cuadro
03 - Tientos gitanos, Cante y baile- La Gitanilla
04 - Jaleo, Todo el cuadro
05 - Fandangos del desafio, Cante- Miguel Maya, El Moro, Patro Soto
06 - Alegrias, Baile- Curro Velez, Cante- Miguel Maya
07 - Verdiales, Baile- Antonio el de Valdepenas, Coralilo de Sevilla, Isabel Romero, Antonia de Triana...
08 - Bulerias, Baile- La Gitanilla, Cante- El Moro
09 - Jaleo, Todo el cuadro
10 - Tanguillo de Triana, Baile- Antonio el de Valdepenas, Antonia de Triana
11 - Farruca, Baile- Curro Velez
12 - Terminal de Fiesta, Todo el cuadro

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Fiesta Gitana da Silva - Duende del Flamenco ( 92 * 99mb)

The meaning of duende as in tener duende (having duende) is a rarely-explained concept in Spanish art, particularly flamenco, having to do with emotion, expression and authenticity. In fact, tener duende can be loosely translated as having soul.

Where the Muse brings golden inspiration, Duende brings blood. The Muse speaks of life, yet Duende sings of death. Duende is not inspiration, Duende is a struggle, a dark force, having very little to do with outer beauty, a struggle present in the artist's soul, the struggle of knowing that death is imminent. It is this knowledge of death that awaits and the despair that stems from it that produce Duende, and Duende will then color the artist's work with gut-wrenching authenticity, painful hues and tones that produce strong, vibrant art.

01 - Seguiriyas (8:24)
02 - Tarantos (18:02)
03 - Caracoles (6:31)
04 - Soleares y La Cana ( 9:18)
05 - Saeta (3:09)
06 - Saeta Martinete (2:39)
07 - Martinete (6:53)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here

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