# El amor brujo songs, what style of singing is this?



## FPwtc (Dec 3, 2014)

I love El amor brujo by De Falla and I am keen to find more vocal music in the style of the three songs in this ballet. What style of singing inspired these songs, is there a name for it? And are there any good albums of this type of singing and other types of Spanish singing I may enjoy please?

Thanks


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

At the risk of offending anyone here who's Spanish, I'd have thought the best description of the singing style is "Flamenco". The work was originally written for a flamenco singer (with smaller forces and narration - I haven't heard that version, so cannot comment on whether the signing style was "de-flamencoed" as the work evolved) and the songs in El Amor Brujo are in gypsy dialect of his native Andalucia.

There are of course "very Spanish" bits in the Three-Cornered Hat as well, and some of the same style is retained in Falla's operas, La Vida Breve and some sections of Atlantida, less so Master Peter's Puppet Show...


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## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

While not answering your question directly, this might be of interest:

http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/falla.html


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

^^^^I would agree with this inasmuch as there is no better one-word description. But we must keep in mind, though, that De Falla, García Lorca, and their fellow flamenco enthusiasts were always on the periphery of flamenco, where flamenco interfaces with the non-Gypsy, non-flamenco public intrigued by the sights and sounds of stage flamenco--the tail end of the _cafe cantante_ era. _El Amor Brujo_ is a wonderful piece, and the 1955 Ernest Ansermet recording with Marina de Gabarain was an early purchase of mine of a composition that is of/inspired by flamenco but is not flamenco.

Here is some flamenco song: Terremoto sings _Solea_, accompanied by Manuel Moreno, "Morao".....


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I think the type of singing here is referred to as _cante flamenco_. I have two different versions of _El amor brujo_ - the original _gitaneria_ version for chamber orchestra, and the orchestral version which de Falla arranged soon after. Both feature a mezzo-soprano singing in _cante flamenco_ style, but, as Robert states above, the original composition specifically called for a 'non-classical' flamenco singer.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

elgars ghost said:


> *I think the type of singing here is referred to as cante flamenco.*I have two different versions of _El amor brujo_ - the original _gitaneria_ version for chamber orchestra, and the orchestral version which de Falla arranged soon after. Both feature a mezzo-soprano singing in _cante flamenco_ style, but, as Robert states above, the original composition specifically called for a 'non-classical' flamenco singer.


Only with the caveats I expressed. The singing in _El Amor Brujo_, lovely as it is, cannot be called cante flamenco, except only with caveats, explanations, history given, etc.

For song in a vaguely similar style to those of El Amor Brujo, you might try Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne, the Bailero especially. Or Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

A recommendation for a really appropriate voice in this repertoire ... Nati Mistral


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## FPwtc (Dec 3, 2014)

Thanks for the info guys cheers!


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## bigboy (May 26, 2017)

Robert Pickett said:


> At the risk of offending anyone here who's Spanish, I'd have thought the best description of the singing style is "Flamenco". The work was originally written for a flamenco singer (with smaller forces and narration - I haven't heard that version, so cannot comment on whether the signing style was "de-flamencoed" as the work evolved) and the songs in El Amor Brujo are in gypsy dialect of his native Andalucia


I was at a performance of El amor brujo featuring a flamenco singer (plus the narration) and overall I enjoyed it, however it seemed to me that the singer was having a hard time with certain passages. Perhaps, someone with more knowledge of flamenco singing can comment on whether or not the writing is truly "idiomatic" for a flamenco singer?

This being said, I found the singer to be mesmerizing and the whole effect was incredibly evocative. I've been on the hunt for a good recording with a flamenco singer ever since...


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I found this Harmonia Mundi recording on Amazon, and have ordered it. Should be the original version you heard, whether or not it has narrator or not....?


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Robert Pickett said:


> I found this Harmonia Mundi recording on Amazon, and have ordered it. Should be the original version you heard, whether or not it has narrator or not....?
> 
> View attachment 110114


That recording has an authentic flamenco singer in Ginesa Ortega and includes narration.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

In which case, I feel I have managed to avoid wasting money! :lol:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Malx said:


> That recording has an authentic flamenco singer in Ginesa Ortega and includes narration.


Ginesa Ortega is an authentic flamenco singer if one assumes that what she sings is flamenco. This issue has dogged discussions of flamenco for decades: has flamenco so "evolved" from its at least century-long period of relative agreement and understanding of what comprises flamenco, that it is now something different and needs a different name? Flamenco internet forums have shattered over such dispute. Ortega's "flamenco" singing has a certain vague resemblance to traditional flamenco, but the overall sound--with chorus, percussion, and the "Brazilian" guitar work--is that of the generic Latin elevator music that flamenco has evolved into. It is ironic in that her "flamenco" has moved almost as far as possible from the authentic flamenco that De Falla would have heard while composing _El Amor Brujo_. This has nothing to do with the musical qualities of _El Amor Brujo_ or of her performance of it; it is only whether it or she are to be considered flamenco. My answer is no. Meanwhile, here is the leather-lunged La Paquera de Jerez, acknowledged as one of the last of the great gitana cantaoras, singing a traditional Bulerias, accompanied by Parilla de Jerez, to show us how it's to sound.....






I again welcome interested parties to visit my thread on flamenco under "Articles":

Thoughts About Cante Flamenco


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Strange Magic said:


> Ginesa Ortega is an authentic flamenco singer if one assumes that what she sings is flamenco. This issue has dogged discussions of flamenco for decades: has flamenco so "evolved" from its at least century-long period of relative agreement and understanding of what comprises flamenco, that it is now something different and needs a different name? Flamenco internet forums have shattered over such dispute. Ortega's "flamenco" singing has a certain vague resemblance to traditional flamenco, but the overall sound--with chorus, percussion, and the "Brazilian" guitar work--is that of the generic Latin elevator music that flamenco has evolved into. It is ironic in that her "flamenco" has moved almost as far as possible from the authentic flamenco that De Falla would have heard while composing _El Amor Brujo_. This has nothing to do with the musical qualities of _El Amor Brujo_ or of her performance of it; it is only whether it or she are to be considered flamenco. My answer is no. Meanwhile, here is the leather-lunged La Paquera de Jerez, acknowledged as one of the last of the great gitana cantaoras, singing a traditional Bulerias, accompanied by Parilla de Jerez, to show us how it's to sound.....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I will quite happily bow down to your superior knowledge of this area of music - I was merely quoting what I had read regarding her.


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## bigboy (May 26, 2017)

Robert Pickett said:


> I found this Harmonia Mundi recording on Amazon, and have ordered it. Should be the original version you heard, whether or not it has narrator or not....?
> 
> View attachment 110114


Let me know what you think when it shows up!


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Arrived today, will do!!


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