Malagueñas (flamenco style)
Encyclopedia
Malagueñas is one of the traditional styles of Andalusian music (flamenco
), derived from earlier types of fandango from the area of Málaga
, classified among the Cantes de Levante. Originally a folk-song type, it became a flamenco style in the 19th century. It is not normally used for dance, as it is generally interpreted with no regular rhythmic pattern, as a "cante libre". It has a very rich melody with virtuous flourishes and use of microtones. Its guitar accompaniment is normally played in open position first inversion giving E for the tonic, which can be transposed by using a capo.
are still performed nowadays at folkloric gatherings by large non-professional groups called "Pandas", which use a high number of guitars, "bandurrias" (a sort of mandoline), violins, and tambourines.
, Zarzuela
and other classical music styles also played a part in this development.
The oldest malagueña of this type that has been preserved to our days is probably the Jabera . This was first mentioned by writer Serafin Estébanez Calderón, probably in the 1840s. According to this contemporary witness, this type of malagueña would have been created by an artist known as La Jabera. This early malagueña type still preserved a rhythmic pattern as those of later artists like Juan Breva. Most of the malagueña types were created in the last decades of the 19th century.
The third step in the evolution was the total loss of a rhythmic pattern. This development was brought forward by singers like Antonio Chacón
, Enrique el Mellizo
and guitarists like Ramón Montoya
. Neither of had been born in the area of Málaga so they had not grown in contact with the original folkloric fandangos. They were in a sense, creators of a completely new style, fashioned by professional or semi-professional artists.
1. Juan Breva. He recorded three of his malagueña styles personally in the early 20th century.
2. Enrique el Mellizo
. It is often said that he derived his malagueña from the preface to the catholic mass. After his influence, the rhythmic pattern of the malagueña guitar accompaniment was lost and it became a "cante libre". Among the interpreters of this style who helped to establish it we may mention El Niño de la Isla, Aurelio Sellé, Manolo Caracol
and Pericón de Cádiz. Each of them has added personal touches to the Malagueña, so it is difficult to know which one resembles the original model most.
3. El Canario. He created one style of Malagueña.
4. Antonio Chacón
. He was the most prolific creator of malagueñas and the styles he created are probably the most frequent in recordings. The number of the malagueñas he created varies, though, as some have been attributed to him only by tradition. Some of these styles can often be seen as simple variations. Most of these styles were already recorded by him between 1909 and 1928.
5. La Trini. Her legacy was preserved by singers like Sebastián el Pena. Antonio Chacón
created a personal variation of one of her styles.
started introducing classical guitar techniques like arpeggio
, scales
, tremolo
, and enriched it with a wider variety of chord positions. They also started introducing short guitar solos in between verses, called falsetas in the flamenco jargon, following the model of other flamenco songs.
Malagueña is rarely performed as a guitar instrumental piece and very rarely danced.
(tonic
, subdominant
, dominant
), resolving in the corresponding Phrygian mode
of the same scale. The Frigian mode is used for the short interludes after of before verses. The usual progression
is the typical of all fandangos:
To this typical progression other transition chords can be added. For example, D7 is often used in the transition to G Major. A minor often appears in guitar interludes (or even during the singing, as in the case of the Malagueña del Mellizo). These chords can also be transported by using a capo on the guitar, maintaining the same chord positions.
Its melodies are normally lyric in style and very ornate. Malagueña has traditionally been favoured by mellow voices, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Quite often, flamenco singers, after singing a several verses of malagueña in "cante libre" style, link directly with the more vivid styles of Fandangos abandolaos.
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
), derived from earlier types of fandango from the area of Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, classified among the Cantes de Levante. Originally a folk-song type, it became a flamenco style in the 19th century. It is not normally used for dance, as it is generally interpreted with no regular rhythmic pattern, as a "cante libre". It has a very rich melody with virtuous flourishes and use of microtones. Its guitar accompaniment is normally played in open position first inversion giving E for the tonic, which can be transposed by using a capo.
Origins
Malagueñas derive from local variety of the Fandangos, a type of dance that, with different regional variations and even different names, became very popular in great part of Spain in the 18th century. Although nowadays malagueñas are a typical instance of "cante libre", performed at libitum and normally not used for the dance, folkloric fandangos were originally sung and played at a fast speed, with a rhythmic pattern in 6/8, to accompany dance. Some of these primitive fandangos from Málaga, called VerdialesVerdiales
Verdiales are a Flamenco music style, and song form belonging to Canté Chico.Originating in Almogia, near the Spanish port of Málaga in Andalucia, it is based upon the fandango...
are still performed nowadays at folkloric gatherings by large non-professional groups called "Pandas", which use a high number of guitars, "bandurrias" (a sort of mandoline), violins, and tambourines.
Development
Towards the second half of the 19th century, some interpreters gave the first steps in transforming this folkloric songs into real flamenco. They slowed it down (although still keeping the eastern fandango rhythm pattern known as "abandolao"), they enriched the melody with flourishes and ornaments and reduced accompanying instruments to a single guitar. In this process, they were probably influenced by other flamenco styles, but modern research also suggests that the influence of OperaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, Zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
and other classical music styles also played a part in this development.
The oldest malagueña of this type that has been preserved to our days is probably the Jabera . This was first mentioned by writer Serafin Estébanez Calderón, probably in the 1840s. According to this contemporary witness, this type of malagueña would have been created by an artist known as La Jabera. This early malagueña type still preserved a rhythmic pattern as those of later artists like Juan Breva. Most of the malagueña types were created in the last decades of the 19th century.
The third step in the evolution was the total loss of a rhythmic pattern. This development was brought forward by singers like Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón was a Spanish flamenco singer [cantaor].Chacón began earning a living by performing flamenco around 1884. He toured Andalucia with his two friends, the Molina brothers - dancer Antonio Molina, and guitarist Javier Molina. He was later hired by Silverio Franconetti for his café in...
, Enrique el Mellizo
Enrique el Mellizo
Enrique Jiménez Fernández , known as Enrique el Mellizo was a famous flamenco singer, the most influential one in the development of the Cádiz flamenco styles. Together with Silverio Franconetti and Antonio Chacón, he is considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of...
and guitarists like Ramón Montoya
Ramón Montoya
Ramón Montoya , Flamenco guitarist and composer.Born into a family of Gitano cattle traders, Ramón Montoya used earnings from working in the trade to buy his first guitar...
. Neither of had been born in the area of Málaga so they had not grown in contact with the original folkloric fandangos. They were in a sense, creators of a completely new style, fashioned by professional or semi-professional artists.
Malagueña styles
Some of the traditional malagueña styles (melodic schemes) more frequently performed are listed below. Many though, have been omitted as they are rarely performed or are just variations of other main styles.1. Juan Breva. He recorded three of his malagueña styles personally in the early 20th century.
2. Enrique el Mellizo
Enrique el Mellizo
Enrique Jiménez Fernández , known as Enrique el Mellizo was a famous flamenco singer, the most influential one in the development of the Cádiz flamenco styles. Together with Silverio Franconetti and Antonio Chacón, he is considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of...
. It is often said that he derived his malagueña from the preface to the catholic mass. After his influence, the rhythmic pattern of the malagueña guitar accompaniment was lost and it became a "cante libre". Among the interpreters of this style who helped to establish it we may mention El Niño de la Isla, Aurelio Sellé, Manolo Caracol
Manolo Caracol
Manuel Ortega Juárez. , was a flamenco cantaor.Born in Seville, Spain, he was descended from a long line of flamenco artists including Enrique Ortega and Curro Dulce, and he was possibly related to El Planeta and El Fillo...
and Pericón de Cádiz. Each of them has added personal touches to the Malagueña, so it is difficult to know which one resembles the original model most.
3. El Canario. He created one style of Malagueña.
4. Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón was a Spanish flamenco singer [cantaor].Chacón began earning a living by performing flamenco around 1884. He toured Andalucia with his two friends, the Molina brothers - dancer Antonio Molina, and guitarist Javier Molina. He was later hired by Silverio Franconetti for his café in...
. He was the most prolific creator of malagueñas and the styles he created are probably the most frequent in recordings. The number of the malagueñas he created varies, though, as some have been attributed to him only by tradition. Some of these styles can often be seen as simple variations. Most of these styles were already recorded by him between 1909 and 1928.
5. La Trini. Her legacy was preserved by singers like Sebastián el Pena. Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón was a Spanish flamenco singer [cantaor].Chacón began earning a living by performing flamenco around 1884. He toured Andalucia with his two friends, the Molina brothers - dancer Antonio Molina, and guitarist Javier Molina. He was later hired by Silverio Franconetti for his café in...
created a personal variation of one of her styles.
The guitar in the malagueña
Originally the guitar was, together with other instruments, already part of the accompaniment of folkloric fandango of Málaga. At that time its function was merely rhythmic and limited to the use of one technique, the strumming pattern called "abandolao". As malagueñas slowed down their tempo and professional guitarists came into place, short solos and ornaments were incorporated. The great revolution of the malagueña guitar playing came together with its transformation into a "cante libre": flamenco virtuosos like Ramón MontoyaRamón Montoya
Ramón Montoya , Flamenco guitarist and composer.Born into a family of Gitano cattle traders, Ramón Montoya used earnings from working in the trade to buy his first guitar...
started introducing classical guitar techniques like arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
, scales
Musical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
, tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
, and enriched it with a wider variety of chord positions. They also started introducing short guitar solos in between verses, called falsetas in the flamenco jargon, following the model of other flamenco songs.
Malagueña is rarely performed as a guitar instrumental piece and very rarely danced.
Musical analysis
The singing develops on a major modeMajor scale
In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...
(tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
, subdominant
Subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
, dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
), resolving in the corresponding Phrygian mode
Phrygian mode
The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...
of the same scale. The Frigian mode is used for the short interludes after of before verses. The usual progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
is the typical of all fandangos:
- First line of singing: G7, C Major
- Second line: C Major, C7, F Major
- Third line is just a repetition of the first
- Fourth line: C Major, G7
- Fifth line: G7, C Major
- Sixth line: C Major, C7, F Major, G Major, F Major, E Major
To this typical progression other transition chords can be added. For example, D7 is often used in the transition to G Major. A minor often appears in guitar interludes (or even during the singing, as in the case of the Malagueña del Mellizo). These chords can also be transported by using a capo on the guitar, maintaining the same chord positions.
Its melodies are normally lyric in style and very ornate. Malagueña has traditionally been favoured by mellow voices, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Quite often, flamenco singers, after singing a several verses of malagueña in "cante libre" style, link directly with the more vivid styles of Fandangos abandolaos.
Sources
- MARTÍN SALAZAR, Jorge: Los cantes flamencos, Diputación Provincial de Granada, 1987
- ÁLVAREZ CABALLERO: 'El cante flamenco', Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1998
- ROSSY, Hipólito: 'Teoría del cante jondo', Ayuntamiento de Córdoba, 1998