An Investigation of the Traditional Cante Jondo as the Inspiration for the Song Cycle Five Poems of Garcia Lorca by Elisenda Fabregas

The traditional cante jondo is a song unique to Andalusia as it developed from the "mosaic" of cultures that have inhabited its borders, including Arabs, Jews and Gypsies. The genre expresses the history of the region, reveals the typography of the landscape and cries the tears of its people. "Deep song," the translation for cante jondo, is the forerunner of the flamenco, but it is a communication of a dark soul rather than an exuberant entertainment. The original folk idiom is a medium less concerned with beauty than the cathartic release of pain of every day life. It expresses the soul of Andalusia. This study explores the history and the poetic and musical forms Andalusian cante jondo as the inspiration for the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca set by Elisenda Fabregas in the song cycle, Five Poems of Garcia Lorca (1992). Lorca felt the validity of "deep song" and he was disturbed that it was being corrupted by commercialism and was afraid it would be lost to posterity. His goal was to preserve the essence of the song and lift it to an artistic plain. He saw folk music as the core of the national musical and literary identity in Germany, France and Russia and worked to establish Spain as an artistic equal. Lorca's writings were not imitations of the traditional cante jondo. They echoed the history, the landscape and the tears, but they did so through symbolism and vivid imagery. The poet communicated on several levels, one as a voice of Andalusia, Spain and ultimately mankind and another with his own private message. His life was short, but his legacy is long. Fabregas, like Lorca, has taken a folk medium and expanded it beyond its original boundaries. Being of Spanish heritage, but not Andalusian, she is less committed to the local musical constraints. She felt the humanity in Lorca's poetic cries and expressed them through her own language. As a result her songs are intensely dramatic and are exciting pieces to perform.