the History of Flamenco

Introduction | Roots & History | The Musical Essence | Today | The Spread

Early 15thC the Gypsies arrived in Spain and settled in, predominantly, Andalusia.

The existing songs and dances of the region became heavily influenced by the Gipsy population and formed the early cante flamenco.

1765 - the first known flamenco singer was born :Tío Luis el de la Juliana. It is unclear whether he was born in Cádiz, Sevilla or Jerez de la Frontera but the Cante style proliferated here and as such these 3 are oft referred to as the Cradles of Cante.

late 19thC - flamenco became huge in Trina during this era, notably due to El Planeta who was the first cante jondo singer (romances, polos, siguiriyas) and El Fillo, a brilliant maestro who's voice gave rise to the term 'afillá' which is still used today. He was known best for the siguiriya and more importantly perhaps for being a collector and distributer of songs.

1860 - 1910 - this was the so called 'golden age' of flamenco. Where flamenco was common place in cafes and where cantantes flamenco developed into what we know today as the classic cante jondo. The most famous and inluencial of these cafes being the Silverio, Cafe de Chinitas and Cafe de la Marina.

Silverio Franconetti - accepted as a genius of the siguiriya, he was the interpreter of the El fillo and managed to make the publicly performing flamenco an acceptable profession.

1910 - 1955 gave us ópera flamenco which was dominated by the fandangos and cantes de ida y vuelta. They came from Latin American influences and included the forms of the colombiana, guajira, milonga, rumba and vidalita.

1922 gave us, amongst others, Manuel de Falla and Garcia Lorca who organised a competition in Granada to discover new talent in the cante jondo.

Manolito Ortega (Manolo Caracol) - the last in the line from the family Los Ortegas - introduced both piano and orchestra to flamenco which, much to dismay of purists, became incredibly popular with the masses.

1955 - The flamenco renaissance started. Spurred on by the publication of the first Antología del Cante in France and Spain; then by the opening of the first tablaos in Madrid and the publication of Flamencología by Gonzales Climent.

1956 - Heralded the first Concurso de Córdoba

Antonio Mairena drove the popularisation of the classic forms of flamenco

1985 - The new generation of styles appeared from Cádiz, Córdoba, Jerez, Librija, Madrid, Sevilla and Utrera