A response to Norrient’s article “Redefining Englishness” written by Louise Gray on Bishi Bhattacharya work
Castilla y León and Madrid
Castilla y León is a distinct, autonomous region, but historically, they consist of two different Spain zones. They both represented two Kingdoms – the Kingdom of León and the Kingdom of Castilla – from the Peninsula. They were responsible for creating the concept of Spain, founded in 1492 after the end of the Reconquista. León is also significantly related to its northern neighbor Asturias, forming the Astur-Leonese language group altogether. In Castilla was born one of the most spoken languages globally – Spanish or, more precisely, Castillian.
Paloteo – its literal meaning is sticking, but it is perceived as stick dance. It can be found in many places in Iberia. It consists of a rhythmic and playful dance between men striking the sticks at the same time they move. In northern Portugal, there’s the tradition of Pauliteiros de Miranda, which is the same thing but with different, yet similar, clothing.
Tuna – This is an academic musical genre that can be found all over Spain and Portugal – e.g., Student Fado – but in Salamanca, there’s a strong tradition. In both countries, university students wear traditional medieval clothing every day of the working week – in Portugal consists of a full-black outfit with a long cape the covers the whole body. At the same time, in Spain, there are other clothing elements, more colorful. The tradition is considered a little bit controversial because some students take this as a leitmotif to express conservative nationalist ideologies.
Extremadura
This region is very peculiar in terms of sound and musical repertoire. It is considered the most impoverished region in Spain, and the one with the most migrational history in past centuries, with people fleeing to Latin America. It is believed that much of its sonic and musical heritage is far gone in the past. Still, it was with tremendous luck that the American musician Alan Lomax cross this area in the ’50s and happen to gain significant interest in the extremeños. There are very few ethnomusicological recordings of Extremadura’s music culture, being Lomax’s one of the authors – The Spanish Recordings: Extremadura – Alan Lomax Collection. Extremaduran music is very Portuguese influenced and can be connected to its ambiguous borders with the country: in the province of Badajoz, there is a municipality called Olivenza (Olivença) which the Portuguese language is the one who rules those areas as well as in Talega; if we go south, we can find the barranqueño language, which belongs to the Astur-Leonese language group and the Extremaduran dialect group; also up north we have the xalimego or fala language, a Galician-Portuguese language fuse with the Extremaduran dialect; In Portugal, there’s also the Extremaduran region. The peculiarity of this music heritage resides in the many percussion instruments that can be found. It could be considered that these instruments are a response to poverty and the lack of mediums to be entirely eclectic, so many of these instruments are adaptations of culinary utensils and working tools. In 2016, Aquilino Vicente, a private collector from Badajoz, counted more than 100 instruments.
Zambomba: it is various formats all over the world and all over Spain and Portugal – sarronca. It is a friction drum and makes a goofy yet exciting bass sound, producing the treinta y tres rhythm.
El perantón – with a very strange marionettes look, this instrument’s name is a phonetic adaptation that changed throughout the time of Pedro y Antón. The characters are represented in the device with two figures with loose legs. If they are swung up and down on a wooden board, it will make them dance. They were carved with knives by shepherds to sing their songs with a bit of a touch of percussion.
Sárten y dedal: under the premise of reutilization, the sárten y dedal (pan and thimble) are very common instruments in extremaduran music. A spoon would be hit from one side of the pan and the thimble from the inside.
Andalusia & Murcia
This region is probably the most famous and musically developed one after Central Portugal. If Lisbon means Fado, Andalusia means Flamenco. Its origins remain even in its name – Al-Andalus, the far gone Mozarab Kingdom that lasted till the end of the XV century and had most the Iberia controlled. We can still trace Mozarab evidence everywhere daily, through language, music, names of towns, costumes, social traditions, and food. But it is Andalusia where all that Iberian Mozabaric dream becomes real.
Flamenco – this genre turned into a cliché in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s with artists that expanded its legacy to all over the world, such as the guitar player Paco de Lucia, the dancer Joaquín Cortés, and the singers Camarón de la Isla and Carmén Linares. Not to forget that were the Andalusian gipsies who got most recognition as “practitioners” of the art form, but nowadays, everyone Spaniard is part of the movement that is still ongoing under New Flamenco. Nevertheless, nowadays, Flamenco reached an unimaginable level where flamencology is now indoctrinated in schools. The genre is so diverse that each province of Andalusia has its own style and characteristics and spreading to Extremadura, Murcia, Valencia, and Catalonia. New versions and reinterpretations of the genre appeared in the last century, such as the rumba callejera with famous names like Los Chunguitos, Kiko Veneno, and Gypsy Kings – sounds that a foreigner can easily connect to Spain. Flamenco, simply described, is an art form that combines lyrical dance and instrumentation (mainly guitars). The flamenco styles are called Palos, and more than 50 variations differ in rhythm and chord progression. The most famous ones are the bulerías, fandango, seguiriyas, and soleás.
In Andalusia, there’s also copla, a very contemporary genre born at the beginning of the XX century. It got recognition on the first glimpses of Spanish cinema where singers were invited to perform in international films such as Carmen la de Triana (1938), made in UFA studios, directed by Florian Rey, and protagonized by the famous actress and singer Imperio Argentina. It’s mainly a fusion of Andalusian folk singing with a powerful philharmonic orchestra.
Alternatively, Murcia is another region in Spain that is constantly forgotten, like Extremadura. Its traditions relate a lot with Andalusia, not only because of its moor origins but also its musical traditions that are very similar. Although, some peculiarities exclusively belong to the Murcians.
Canto de los auroros – a gregorian-chant-like singing usually accompanied by bells and performed a capella with more than one individual. An auroro is the one who sings the night that died and the day that is about to born. This event usually happens in a religious context during midnight on the celebration of local saints of Huerta de la Murcia. It resembles the southern Portuguese cantar alentejano
Trovo is very similar to the Portuguese cantar ao desafio. The trovo is an “improvisation art” common in various zones of Southern Spain, such as Granada and Almería, with another type of trovo – la alpujarra. It is often referred to as poesia dialogada, dialogued poetry. This type of event was born under the Mozarab rule in that area, which is still very common in Arab traditions. There are two types of trovo: cantao, accompanied with instrumentation -usually, a guitar, a violin, and a bandurria -, and the hablao, a capella – usually when the musicians take some time to rest. The themes sang in a trovo depend on style:
> Phylosofical Trovo: the sources of knowledge of the troubadour and his own personal reflection on themes such as the death of a loved one or someone else’s.
> Present Trovo: political views of the parish, town, region, country.
> Satiric Trovo: when a troubadour challenges someone to a “satiric” battle.
> Burlesque Trovo: with comedic intentions
> Loving Trovo: less aggressive and family-friendly
> Panegyric Trovo: to thank someone for their service or sympathy.