Elisa Serna (7 March 1943 – 4 September 2018) was a Spanish singer-songwriter, member of the avant-garde of protest song in Spain in the 1970s.

Biography

She began her artistic career integrating herself in the group ''Canción del pueblo'', in her native Madrid, along with singer-songwriters like Hilario Camacho. In 1970, through her friendship with "Las madres del cordero", she joined the independent theater group ''Tábano, during the performances of ''Castañuela 70'' at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid. That same year she settled in Paris, receiving influences of folk music from areas as disparate as the Maghreb, Turkey or India. Her first LP, ''Quejido'', was released in 1972, with a production by

Paco Ibáñez Francisco "Paco" Ibáñez (born 20 November 1934 in Valencia) is a Spanish singer and musician. He never composed his own lyrics, but used famous poems, like those of Federico García Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Rafael Alberti or Miguel Hernández. He a ...

, who had known her when she heard her sing in the Parisian café ''La Contrescarpe''. Back in Spain, in 1973, she was arrested for subversion and upon her release from prison she was

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

from offering concerts and recitals. Her first album could not be published in the Spanish market until two years later, under the title of ''Este tiempo ha de acabar'' (''This time has to end'') and the songs ''Esta gente qué querrá'' (''These people will want'') and ''Los reyes de la baraja'' (''The kings of the deck'') were censored. A key exponent, therefore, of what came to be called Song protest, has worked with

Lluís Llach Lluís Llach i Grande (; born 7 May 1948) is a Catalan singer-songwriter, novelist and politician from Spain. He is one of the main representatives of the ''nova cançó'' genre and an outspoken advocate of the right to self-determination of ...

and

José Antonio Labordeta José Antonio Labordeta Subías (10 March 1935, in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain – 19 September 2010, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain) was a Spanish ( Aragonese) singer, songwriter, poet, writer and political activist. He was described by The ''Gran Enciclop ...

and created the project "Aphrodite" aimed at facilitating the production of women's record.Las armas de la voz
She died on 4 September 2018, at the age of 75, in Collado Villalba.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serna, Elisa 1943 births 2018 deaths Singers from Madrid Spanish women singer-songwriters Spanish singer-songwriters Nueva canción 20th-century Spanish singers 20th-century Spanish women singers 21st-century Spanish singers 21st-century Spanish women singers