Forgotten Sounds of Flamenco

When we talk about flamenco musical instruments, perhaps the best known are the guitar, the cajón, or the castanets, but many other instruments are currently used to make flamenco music. In this episode, we look at how in the 19th century, the piano and the guitar were the protagonists of the flamenco scene. We analyze what role the piano played in that flamenco, in which spaces it was usually use...

In the last years, some artistic proposals appeared combining baroque pieces with flamenco palos. In this episode, we will talk with Emil Rzajev, who has just finished his master's degree in ethnomusicology at the UNAM in Mexico, with a thesis where he analyzes the so-called "barrocho," where baroque pieces are combined with sones jarochos, a phenomenon analogous to what happens in f...

At the end of the 19th century, the guajira flamenca was widely practiced in Cordoba. It is surprising how many references exist about the preference for this song in all social collectives: ballrooms, celebrations, street music, etc.  In this episode we will travel to Cordoba at the end of the 19th century to feel how the guajiras resounded in every corners.

At the end of the 19th century, Oscar de la Cinna, a Hungarian pianist, a disciple of Czerny, Thalberg, or Frank Liszt, lived in Andalusia for many years and composed virtuosic piano works of some flamenco palos. In this episode, we remember who Oscar de la Cinna was, and we listen to some of his incredible piano compositions, probably never recorded before.

Throughout the last decades of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, new flamenco “cantes” (songs) were incorporated into flamenco. The last was the “colombiana”, recorded for the first time in 1931 by Pepe Marchena. In this episode, we review the gestation process of this cante, who probably inspired Marchena, and whether it is related to music from Colombia or other America...

The so-called "género chico" is a musical theater genre that triumphed in Spain in the last three decades of the 19th century, just when flamenco became very popular. In this episode, we analyze how the perfect marriage between género chico and flamenco took place, from which both spouses came out very reinforced. You will also be able to listen to some flamenco pieces included in género...

Throughout history, music has been the protagonist of the "Feria de Abril" (April fair) in Seville, especially flamenco. Although sevillanas and rumbas are danced at the Feria today, among other music, it has not always been so. In this episode, you will learn which flamenco palos were common in the 19th-century Ferias and listen to the music that used to be danced in the "casetas&q...

This episode deals with how the petenera became one of the most fashionable songs in Spain at the end of the 19th century, becoming popular in all corners of Spain, even crossing national borders. A phenomenon with success inversely proportional to the knowledge we currently have of it.

The saeta is a flamenco song related to Holy Week. It is performed in the streets at the passing of the "cofradías" (brotherhoods) and in some acts of Lent. However, in the past, another flamenco palo was also linked in one way or another with the Holy Week. In this episode, you will know what it was and where it used to be heard. You will also be able to listen to some very curious old...

Although the first flamenco recordings appeared around 1895, this episode poses the following question: Could we know now flamenco sounded like before the first recordings? Have you ever thought about it? Some clues are provided so that, at the end of the episode, a more precise answer to this question can be given.

In this episode, we travel to a particular date: the summer of 1878, where we locate the first references of the guajira in different locations in Spain. We present who its first protagonists were and listen to some guajiras of that time that have never been recorded before, and a live performance of a guajira for guitar from this period.

The fandango is considered one of the pillars of flamenco and is currently one of the most performed songs in recitals and concerts. However, there was a time when this palo was hardly performed in the repertoire of flamenco artists. In this episode, we analyze what happened and will listen to some fandangos from the 19th century, which are slightly different from the current flamenco ones.

This episode revolves around the question: Was flamenco in the 19th century really the way it has been told to us? It provides some clues that can help to understand specific processes of 19th-century flamenco, which have only sometimes been considered in the history of flamenco.

In this episode, we remember a flamenco style already in disuse, but that was popular in the nineteenth century, the jarabe. We review how it arrived in Spain from Mexico, where it was considered the national dance, and stayed in the flamenco family for just over half a century. We walk the paths that the jarabe traveled in its flamenco journey, and we listen to some of its forgotten sounds of the...

This episode is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the first news we know of one of the most popular flamenco styles in the nineteenth century, the petenera. We talk about the context where the petenera appears some of that time, as well as the repercussions it had in Spain and Mexico.

On January 6, 2023, this podcast will start. It’s dedicated to remembering the sounds, stories, spaces and characters that were part of the early stages of flamenco. This podcast will be available on the main podcast platforms and can also be seen in video format on the youtube channel "Sonidos Olvidados".