El Concurso del Cante Jondo (Contest of the Deep Song) was a fiesta of flamenco arts, music, song, and dance, held in Granada in 1922.Manuel de Falla, "La Proposición del Cante Jondo" in El Defensor de Granada (March 21, 1922); included as Appendix III in Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla y El "Cante Jondo" (Universidad de Granada 1962; 2d edition 1988) at 169-175. In Granada it was the custom to hold such events during the fiesta of Corpus Christi, which in 1922 was the 13th and 14th of June. Ibid. at 169. Conceived and initiated by composer Manuel de Falla, it enjoyed early and strong support from the poet Federico García Lorca. The two-day evening event was held outdoors at the Alhambra. The show included the best of well-known flamenco artists, but the contest's prize money was reserved for amateur performers.See source notes it text following.
Producing the artistic event Falla's purpose
The Spanish classical composer Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) was the principal organizer of the Concurso.The idea for the Concurso crystallized one afternoon late in 1921. Falla and Miguel Cerón were on a walk through the gardens of the Generalife in Granada. As they continued with their on-going conversation about the fallen condition of the flamenco arts, Cerón said, "Do you dare put on a concurso?" Falla stopped, looked at Ceron and said, "¡Hombre, Si!" ["Man, that's right!"]. Eduardo Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla y El "Cante Jondo" (Universidad de Granada 1962; 2d ed. 1998) at 49. He sought to encourage and enhance the music of cante jondo (literally "deep song", referring to a key element of flamenco, as opposed to "cante chico", the "lighter" more accessible element), which he sensed had fallen into a period of decadence.Ángel Álvarez Caballero, El cante flamenco (Madrid: Alianza Editorial 1994) at 211. Falla simply recognized in flamenco an art form of great beauty and drive. The composer had devoted years developing his intuitive ability to craft its stream of color, to etch it shimmering contours in classical scores.See below section, "Falla and Flamenco". He had heard its refrains since his gaditano childhood, from friends of the family, Gitano cantaores and tocaores.Manuel de Falla, El "cante jondo" (canto primitivo andaluz), a folleto published in Granada by Urania in 1922 to promote the Concurso; it appears as Appendix V in Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla y El "Cante Jondo" (1962, 1998) at 209–226, with a facsimile of its cover at 96.Eduardo Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla y El "Cante Jondo" (Universidad de Granada 1962; 2d ed. 1998) at 49-51. For example, during 1904-1905 while composing his La vida breve Falla would listen while her mother sang and :es:Pastora Imperio danced, the "soleares y siguiriyas, polos y martinetes". Ibid. at 15-16.Anselmo González Climent, Flamencología. Toros, Cante y Baile (Madrid: Editorial Escelicer 1955, 1964) at 273–275.
The aim of the Concurso was not merely to celebrate the music, but to nourish and elevate it. Enlisting the support of Spanish intellectuals was considered crucial, to counter the then-current flood of antiflamenquismo raised by the generación del '98. These Spanish reformers were activists in the sweeping effort to modernize and transform Spain and its culture, yet in the process they judged flamenco harshly as frivolous and regressive.Paco Sevilla, "Introductory History of Flamenco, Part II" in Jaleo VIII/2, originally published in Guitar and Lute (March 1983), at ¶7 and ¶14. Part I is in Jaleo VIII/1, coming from Guitar and Lute at v.25 (Nov. 1982).E.g., expressing disapproval of flamenco in varying degrees were Miguel de Unamuno, José Ortega y Gasset, Pío Baroja, and Rubén Darío. Félix Grande, Memoria del Flamenco (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe 1979) at II: 425-465, 443.For the Concurso to succeed, Falla aimed not only to produce a stellar musical event but also to attract an influential audience as witness. This included members of the flamenco artistic circlesn its musicians and aficionadosbut, above all, the 'luminaries': leading figures from the wider worlds of art and culture who could subsequently sing the praises of cante jondoManuel Orozco Diaz, Falla (Barcelona: Salvat, 1985), pp. 122-129. afterward.
Falla first gathered together an impressive group of musicians and artists to help sponsor and promote the Concurso. Among them, Federico García Lorca. At twenty-three, the granadino poet became a Concurso activist second only to Falla. Lorca publicized, popularized the event by staging his oral presentations descriptive of Flamenco arts; he also published essays on its dramatic style and little-known history.Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), after Falla the most active in the Concurso, spoke and wrote on its behalf. His "Importancia histórica y artística del primitivo canto andaluz llamado Cante Jondo" was read before a "Conferencia" of the Centro Artístico of Granada on February 19, 1922, and published that month in Noticiero Granadino. It is reprinted now in Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla y El "Cante Jondo" (1962, 1998) as Apéndice IV, at 177-208. Lorca's often lyrical address began at 10 p.m. and was illustrated with guitar music by Manuel Jofré. Molina Fajardo (1962, 1998) at 64-68, 65.Another version of Lorca's February 19, 1922 address has been printed in Federico García Lorca, Prosa (Madrid: Aliana Editorial 1969, 1972) at 7-34, entitled "El cante jondo (primitivo canto andaluz)". Also therein, another two of his essays on flamenco: "Arquitectura del Cante Jondo" (1931) at 35-45, and "Teoría y juego del duende" (read in Habana, c. 1930) at 169-189. Included at 47-90, is a record of Lorca reading from his 1928 long poem Romancero gitano, including his comments and intros.Evidently Lorca wrote his well-known work Poema del cante jondo for the most part in November of 1921, before organizing efforts for the Concurso began in ernest. Yet Poema del cante jondo was not published until 1931. José Luis Cano, "Prólogo" at 7-32, 13-15, to Federico García Lorca, Romancero gitano. Poema del cante jondo (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe 1988), the Poema at 101-197.The next year Falla and Lorca would collaborate in producing a performance of a "Fiesta para los Niños" [Festival for the Children]. Jose Luis Cano, García Lorca (Barcelona: Salvat 1985) at 56-58. A third important figure was the Basque painter Ignácio Zuloaga.D. E. Pohren, Lives and Legends of Flamenco (Madrid: Society of Spanish Studies 1964, revised 1988) at 73.
Among the broad array of music figures enlisted were classical composers Joaquín Turina, Federico Mompou, Conrado del Campo, and Óscar Esplá, pianist and composer María Rodrigo, New York composer and conductor Kurt Schindler, various orchestra directors, classical guitarist Andrés Segovia, Polish singer :es:Aga Lahowska, and popular guitarist Manuel Jofré. A local association, the es:Centro Artístico, agreed in the early stages to assist the Concurso.Eduardo Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla y El "Cante Jondo" (Universidad de Granada 1962; 2d editión 1998, with new preface at ix-cviii by Andrés Soria), at lxi, lxx, and 54-57.Manuel Orozco Diaz, Falla (Barcelona: Salvat 1985), pp. 123-124, 127, 129.
Andalusian poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (1956 Nobel Prize) joined the Concurso. Writers Ramón Pérez de Ayala and :es:Tomás Borrás, and surrealist painter :es:Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, contributed. Added support came from two influential professors: philosopher Francisco Giner de los Ríos and Catalan musicologist and composer Felipe Pedrell (Falla's early music teacher).Betty Keim, "Manuel de Falla: the Guitar and his Music" in Guitar Review (Winter 1976) at 41: 22-23 (Prof. Pedrell). Later came the French hispaniste fr:Maurice Legendre, and musicologist :es:Adolfo Salazar critic at Madrid's El Sol, along with producers, and publicists, and nods from Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky.Eduardo Molina Fajardo, Manuel de Falla y El "Cante Jondo" (Universidad de Granada 1962; 2d editión 1998, with new preface at ix-cviii by Andrés Soria), at lxi, lxx, and 54-57, 103-106.Ángel Álvarez Caballero, El cante flamenco (Madrid: Alianza Editorial 1994) at 212.Félix Grande, Memoria del Flamenco (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe 1979) at II: 481.Manuel Orozco Diaz, Falla (Barcelona: Salvat 1985) at 123-124.Barbara Thiel-Cramér, Flamenco. The Art of Flamenco, Its History and Development until our Days (Lindingö, Sweden: Remark 1990 [Swedish], 1991 [Spanish, German, English]) at 51–52.
Flamenco and Falla