Enrique Morente Cotelo (25 December 1942 – 13 December 2010), known as Enrique Morente, was a
flamenco
Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...
singer (in Spanish, cantaor) and a celebrated figure within the world of contemporary flamenco. After his orthodox beginnings, he plunged into experimentalism, writing new melodies for ''cante'' (flamenco singing) and jamming with musicians of all styles, without renouncing his roots in traditional flamenco singing, which he kept on cultivating despite criticism.
"It hasn't been easy. First came the accusations of corruption of the music, of treachery in his struggle to disfigure what was already perfectly coded. When some albums and some categorical evidence of his knowledge of the classical approach laid these malicious comments bare, then came the most twisted condemnations. That the pace of the compás waned (just get a metronome and see for yourself), that he didn't really make you feel (are there really many true aficionados whose hair doesn't stand on end listening to his caña 'Eso no lo manda la ley', 'La aurora de Nueva York' or 'Generalife', to name three markedly different examples) and that kind of thing."
[Álvarez Caballero, Ángel: "Enrique Morente", ''La discografía ideal del flamenco'', Planeta, Barcelona, 1995 ] he was perhaps the most influential contemporary flamenco singer, who not only innovated, but it could also be said that he created tradition: some of his ''cantes'' have been performed by other singers such as
Camarón de la Isla
José Monje Cruz (5 December 1950 – 2 July 1992), better known by his stage name Camarón de la Isla (), was a Spanish Romani flamenco singer. Considered one of the all-time greatest flamenco singers, he was noted for his collaborations ...
,
Mayte Martín
Mayte Martín (born in Barcelona, Spain, April 19, 1965) is a Flamenco cantaora (singer), bolero singer, and composer. She is widely recognized as one of the most important flamenco voices of her generation. She has also devoted part of her care ...
, Carmen Linares, Miguel Poveda, Segundo Falcón and Arcángel. He also is the father of flamenco singer
Estrella Morente
Estrella Morente (Estrella de la Aurora Morente Carbonell) is a Spanish flamenco singer. She was born on 14 August 1980 in Las Gabias, Granada in southern Spain. She is the daughter of flamenco singer Enrique Morente and dancer Aurora Carbonell. ...
. The posthumously published volume of Leonard Cohen's poems, The Flame, includes "Homage to Morente." (pp. 30–31)
Biography
Enrique Morente, born in the traditional quarter of Albaicín in
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
, started to sing as a ''seise'' (a member of a group of children who sing, dance and play
castanet
Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar ...
s on certain religious festivals).
He started to feel attracted to flamenco singing as a child, and had the opportunity to learn at family gatherings and to listen to established figures from
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
like Cobitos, the family of the "Habichuelas", or Aurelio Sellés (Aurelio de Cádiz):
"The cante begins inside you when you listen to the villager's singing, to people in their birthplace. Groups of people that meet in a tavern and start singing, and then you listen to them and start singing as well: you learn that at family parties where everybody sings and everybody drinks, and everybody dances and... Apart from that, it turns out that, of course, you need a technique, you need a school, you need to learn. In order to achieve this, what you need... the main help you can get is to have a liking for it; and then the skill to know who to learn from, and from what sources, where to find the good. Then you are on."[Quoted a]
www.enriquemorente.com
However, this appreciation for the popular side of flamenco does not mean that he considers flamenco as just "an art of the people". A flamenco artist, for him, needs technique and dedication:
"It is us, the professional artists of flamenco, who have to make cante flamenco, and nobody else, Flamenco, like any other art, is an art of professionals, although there are many people who peer at us, with a look as if to say: What interesting little creatures! or maybe: Oh! What music the people are playing! and so on. And people often think that maybe you have to have fingers swollen from picking potatoes to be able to play the guitar with feeling. Look, picking potatoes is every bit as worthy as playing a guitar. But I can tell you that a man -with fine, sensitive fingers is not going to be able to make a go of picking potatoes: and I can also tell you that a man with fingers swollen from picking potatoes is not going to be able to play a guitar because he hasn't got the manual dexterity and he hasn't got the dedication. This is a profession like any other which you have to dedicate yourself to completely. It is an art of professionals."
Still in his teens, Morente went to live in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
to start a professional career as a singer. There he was able to meet some old masters like Pepe de la Matrona and Bernardo el de los Lobitos, and learned as much as he could from them. Pepe de la Matrona took special interest in teaching the young singer: "This interest was raised not so much by Enrique Morente’s intonation, by his registers or by his melismatic as by his attitude towards things, his respect and his learning capacity."
In Madrid, he started singing at ''peñas flamencas'' (clubs for flamenco fans). In 1964, he signed a contract with the Ballet de Marienma, with whom he then performed at the Spanish Pavilion at the
New York Worlds Fair and at the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC. Later he took part in a flamenco festival at Teatro de los Alcázares de los Reyes Cristianos, sharing the bill with Juan Talega, Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera, Gaspar de Utrera, Tomás Torre and
Antonio Mairena
Antonio Cruz García, known as Antonio Mairena (1909–1983), was a Spanish musician, who tried to rescue a type of flamenco, which he considered to be pure or authentic. He rescued or recreated a high number of songs that had been almost lost ...
. During that year and the following one, he also toured Europe and Japan with different flamenco dance companies, and was employed at several ''tablaos'' (flamenco venues) in Madrid, such as Las Cueva de Nemesio, Zambra and El Café de Chinitas.
First recordings
Morente made his first recording, ''Cante flamenco'' in 1967 with guitarist Félix de Utrera. The recording received a special mention award from the Cátedra de Flamencología, and was followed by ''Cantes antiguos del flamenco'' (1969), with guitarist Niño Ricardo. His first recordings were strictly orthodox and showed deep knowledge of traditional flamenco, a rare quality for singers of his generation.
During this period he also made his first contact with guitarist
Manolo Sanlúcar
Manolo Sanlúcar (born Manuel Muñoz Alcón, 24 November 1943 – 27 August 2022) was a Spanish flamenco composer and guitarist. He was considered one of the most important Spanish composers of recent times, and together with Paco de Lucía, T ...
, with whom he would cooperate on several occasions. Sanlúcar accompanied him in his concert in Ateneo de Madrid, the first occasion in which a flamenco singer performed in that prestigious cultural institution.
His next record, ''Homenaje flamenco a Miguel Hernández'' (''Flamenco Homage to
Miguel Hernández
Miguel Hernández Gilabert (30 October 1910 – 28 March 1942
) was a 20th-century Spanish-language poet and playwright associated with the Generation of '27 and the Generation of '36 movements. Born and raised in a family of low resources, h ...
'', 1971), initiated his frequent use of lyrics by outstanding poets. Later on, he would record flamenco songs with lyrics by
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
,
John of the Cross
John of the Cross, OCD ( es, link=no, Juan de la Cruz; la, Ioannes a Cruce; born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez; 24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591) was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and a Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major fi ...
,
Lope de Vega
Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...
,
Al-Mutamid
Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن جعفر; – 14 October 892), better known by his regnal name Al-Muʿtamid ʿalā ’llāh (, "Dependent on God"), was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 870 t ...
,
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...
and
Manuel Machado,
Jorge Guillén
Jorge Guillén Álvarez (; 18 January 18936 February 1984) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27, a university teacher, a scholar and a literary critic.
In 1957-1958, he delivered the Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard Un ...
, and others.
"The thing that most calls your attention in his first productions is how much care he devotes to the lyrics of his ''cantes''. This is probably the first step in his future career as an innovator in flamenco. The poems by Miguel Hernández, for example, became immortal in his impressive 'Nana de la Cebolla' or 'El Niño Yuntero'. With the attitude he showed, in these poems, against the francoist
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...
regime, he became the favourite flamenco singer for the left-wing opposition in the country, as well as one of the first innovators."
In 1971 and 1972, he toured Mexico with guitarist Parrilla de Jerez and dancer Ana Parrilla, a tour which included his presentation at the Auditorium of the Universidad de las Américas, and performed at
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
(to which he would return to perform at again in 1973) and the Spanish Institute in New York City. In 1972, he was also awarded the ''Premio Nacional del Cante'' (National Award for Flamenco Singing) by the Cátedra de Flamencología in
Jerez
Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...
.
Alternating tradition
Morente arrived back to orthodox flamenco singing with his recording ''Homenaje a Don Antonio Chacón'' (''Homage to Antonio Chacón'', 1977), which obtained the National Award for best folk music album, granted by the Ministry of Culture. In this recording, Morente vindicated the figure of singer
Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón (1869–1929) was a Spanish flamenco singer antaor
Chacón was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz Province. He began earning a living by performing flamenco around 1884. He toured Andalucia with his two friends, the Molin ...
, the creator of the ''granaína'' and a fundamental figure of flamenco in the first decades of the 20th century, who had been, nevertheless, relegated by the views of the 1950s–1970s flamencology, as a representative of the non-Romani (Gypsy) flamenco which that generation considered impure. However, in an alternation between tradition and innovation typical of Morente, the recording was immediately followed, in 1978, by ''Despegando'' ("Taking off"), this time in an innovative mood: the title itself is, in fact, a declaration of intentions.
In 1981 he toured a new show, ''Andalucía hoy'' ("Andalusia Today"), which he would later perform at the
Paris Olympia
The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra G ...
in Paris, France. In 1982, some of his recordings were chosen by flamencologist José Blas Vega to take part in the flamenco anthology ''Magna Antología del Cante'' (a complete collection of traditional styles of cante) to illustrate songs such as the
tarantas
''Tarantas'' and ''Taranto'' are two related styles ('' palos'') of Flamenco music, that originated in the ''Andalusian'' province of Almería. Each is characterized by a shared modality (F-sharp Phrygian) and harmonic progression (Bm–A7– ...
from
Almería
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...
, several types of
cartageneras
''Cartageneras'' () are a flamenco palo belonging to the category of the '' cantes de las minas'' (in English, songs of the mines) or ''cantes minero-levantinos'' (eastern miner songs). As the rest of the songs in this category, it derives from o ...
, the
fandangos
Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has a ...
by Frasquito Yerbabuena, and all the
malagueñas and
granaína Granaína () is a flamenco style of singing and guitar playing from Granada. It is a variant of the Granada fandangos. It was originally danceable, but now has lost its rhythm, is much slower, and is usually only sung or played as a guitar solo, r ...
s created by
Antonio Chacón
Antonio Chacón (1869–1929) was a Spanish flamenco singer antaor
Chacón was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz Province. He began earning a living by performing flamenco around 1884. He toured Andalucia with his two friends, the Molin ...
.
In 1990 in another comeback to orthodoxy, he recorded ''Morente-Sabicas'', with guitarist
Sabicas
Sabicas (proper name: Agustín Castellón Campos) (16 March 1912 – 14 April 1990) was a Spanish flamenco guitarist of Romani origin.
Biography
Sabicas was born in Pamplona, Spain, and began playing guitar at the age of five and made his perfor ...
, who was already in his 70s. In the following year, he created and recorded a flamenco
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
, a type of creation that already had some precedents, like the one recorded by
Antonio Mairena
Antonio Cruz García, known as Antonio Mairena (1909–1983), was a Spanish musician, who tried to rescue a type of flamenco, which he considered to be pure or authentic. He rescued or recreated a high number of songs that had been almost lost ...
, Luis Caballero, and Naranjito de Triana in 1968. However Morente's mass is totally different from any previous examples. Whereas earlier flamenco masses basically tried to use traditional flamenco singing for the liturgy, Morente's does not even have a liturgic purpose, and mixes flamenco with other genres like
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...
. About this mass, in one of his touches of humour, Morente said:
"At a given point, I thought I could dedicate it to Pope Clement, the one of ''El Palmar de Troya
El Palmar de Troya is a village in Andalusia, Spain. In 2018, it seceded from the municipality of Utrera and became the province of Seville's 106th municipality.
With a population of about 2,400, it is particularly known for the cathedral of t ...
'', but then I remembered that he had canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
, Primo de Rivera Primo de Rivera is a Spanish family prominent in politics of the 19th and 20th centuries:
*Fernando Primo de Rivera (1831–1921), Spanish politician and soldier
*Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870–1930), nephew of Fernando, military officer and dictat ...
, Carrero Blanco
Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco (4 March 1904 – 20 December 1973) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of Spain and i ...
and all those guys and, while on the one hand I thought it was funnier, on the other hand I thought the joke could be interpreted in a strange way and I didn't do it, though I was about to do it. But the record was made with a sincerity and a true intention, no matter the results, and I thought it was like ruining it a bit because of the joke.. and that was too much!"
Later works
![Enrique morente 3353510495 26547d0a8c o](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Enrique_morente_3353510495_26547d0a8c_o.jpg)
In 1995 he appeared singing a
siguiriya
''Siguiriyas'' (; also ''seguiriyas'',
''siguerillas'', ''siguirillas'', ''seguidilla gitana'', etc.) are a form of flamenco music in the cante jondo category. This deep, expressive style is among the most important in flamenco. Unlike other pal ...
in
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career th ...
's film ''
Flamenco
Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...
'' and recorded his most controversial recording: ''Omega'', together with the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
group Lagartija Nick, with the participation of guitarists such as
Tomatito
José Fernández Torres, known as Tomatito (born Fondón, 1958), is a Spanish roma flamenco guitarist and composer. Having started his career accompanying famed flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla (with Paco de Lucía), he has made a number of ...
,
Vicente Amigo
Vicente Amigo Girol (born 25 March 1967) is a Spanish flamenco composer and guitarist, born in Guadalcanal near Seville. He has played as an accompanying guitarist on recordings by flamenco singers Camarón de la Isla, and Luis de Córdoba, an ...
, Juan Manuel Cañizares and Miguel Ángel Cortés and percussionists like Tino di Geraldo. Flamenco and punk rock are mingled with recreations of songs by
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
, and lyrics from
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
's book ''Poeta en Nueva York'' ("
A Poet in New York
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
"), together with traditional flamenco lyrics. The work was performed at the 2008
Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (), commonly abbreviated to simply FIB, is an annual music festival that takes place in the town of Benicàssim, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It focuses mainly on pop, rock and electronica arti ...
, under the stage name Morente Omega con Lagartija Nick (Antonio Arias, David Fernandez, Lorena Enjuto and Jesus Requena).
The year 2001 saw the publishing of a very much sought for record by Morente, "Enrique Morente en la Casa Museo de García Lorca de Fuentevaqueros", a collection of songs based on the poetry of
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
. The recording had been made in studio in Madrid, in 1990, and it had been commissioned by the Diputación de Granada (a government institution). Only a limited edition was made and the copies were sent as gifts to particular persons. In the second hand market, those copies reached 25,000 pesetas (150 euros).
Another interesting release of Morente, ''El Pequeño Reloj'', saw the light in 2003. Whereas the second half of the CD is a more or less random collection of songs, the first half of the record comprises a surprising series of songs which are broken in two parts: in the first part of the song, Morente's voice is superimposed on top of old 78 r.p.m recordings of old masters of the flamenco guitar like
Ramón Montoya Ramón Montoya (November 2, 1879, Madrid, Spain – July 20, 1949, Madrid, Spain), Flamenco guitarist and composer.
Born into a family of Gitano (Romani) cattle traders, Ramón Montoya used earnings from working in the trade to purchase his first g ...
,
Sabicas
Sabicas (proper name: Agustín Castellón Campos) (16 March 1912 – 14 April 1990) was a Spanish flamenco guitarist of Romani origin.
Biography
Sabicas was born in Pamplona, Spain, and began playing guitar at the age of five and made his perfor ...
or Manolo de Huelva, while the second part is a modern development of the same
palo
Palo may refer to:
Places
* Palo, Argentina, a village in Argentina
* Palo, Estonia, village in Meremäe Parish, Võru County, Estonia
* Palo, Huesca, municipality in the province of Huesca, Spain
* Palo, Iowa, United States, a town located wit ...
, with the side guitar of the young and innovative guitarist Niño Josele.
Although Morente could not read
musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
he composed music for theatre plays, films and television, such as the work ''Las Arrecogidas del Beaterio de Santa María Egipcíaca", the music for ''
Oedipus the King
''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
'' with José Luis Gómez.
He has tried the mixture between flamenco and classical music in works like ''Fantasía de cante jondo para voz y orquesta'' (
Cante jondo
''Cante jondo'' (Andalusian ) is a vocal style in flamenco, an unspoiled form of Andalusian folk music. The name means "deep song" in Spanish, with ''hondo'' ("deep") spelled with J () as a form of eye dialect, because traditional Andalusian pro ...
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
for voice and orchestra, together with pianist Antonio Robledo, guitarists Juan Habichuela and Gerardo Núñez and the
Madrid Symphony Orchestra
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, conducted by Luis Izquierdo, 1986) or with ''
Allegro
Allegro may refer to:
Common meanings
* Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright
* Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement
Artistic works
* L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton
* ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...
Soleá
''Soleares'' (plural of ''soleá'', ) is one of the most basic forms or '' palos'' of Flamenco music, probably originating among the Calé Romani people of Cádiz or Seville in Andalusia, the most southern region of Spain. It is usually accompa ...
'', which he presented at
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
's Flamenco Biennal in 1990. Along the lines of the mixture of flamenco with other types of music, he collaborated in the show ''Macama Jonda'' by José Heredia Maya, together with the Tetuan Andalusian Orchestra and
Abdessadeq Cheqara
Abdessadeq Cheqara (1931 – 31 October 1998) (in Arabic: عبد الصادق شقارة) was a Moroccan singer of traditional Andalusian classical music and Music of Morocco, Moroccan folk music. Known as the ''grand master of al-Ala (Andalusia ...
, or with the Bulgarian Voices choir Angelite. In Morente's aforementioned recording ''Omega'', he mixed flamenco singing with punk rock, music by
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
, and lyrics by
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
. In the show ''África-Cuba-Cai'' he mixed flamenco with music from
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, and
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
(''Cai'' is the way
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
is pronounced in Andalusian Spanish). The show also underlines the historic links between Cuban and flamenco music: "That's always been close to flamenco, since way back, because the ships in Cádiz went to Cuba, some came and others stayed over there, we've always had that." It is difficult to think of any kind of music which has not interested Morente. After one of his concerts with
Cheqara Orkesta of Tetuan, he declared: "...if I had to put out a CD for every culture I mixed with I'd be putting out about 7 or 8 CDs a year. It wouldn't be bad – if I got paid for it by the record company then I could build myself a home."
Owing to his innovative approach, Morente was widely criticized by the more extreme traditionalist sectors of flamenco's critical faculty and public, though it had been said that "Needless to say, all this cost Morente a real torment, since flamenco is still a very closed world, in which the slightest attempt for novelty is taken as a deadly sin of heresy.". Although Morente's work is now widely recognized by most critics, and has inspired many singers of the young generation like
Mayte Martín
Mayte Martín (born in Barcelona, Spain, April 19, 1965) is a Flamenco cantaora (singer), bolero singer, and composer. She is widely recognized as one of the most important flamenco voices of her generation. She has also devoted part of her care ...
or Arcángel, there is still a section of traditionalist critics and public that still disparage his work:
"Aficionados were scratching their heads after the show, trying to figure out exactly, which forms—if any—Morente was working in much of the time. 'Remember the old days when you could actually recognize what flamenco forms were being performed?'"
Ethnic bias is often not alien to these criticisms. A good number of flamenco critics and public were introduced into flamenco at the time of the "reappraisal period" led by singers like
Antonio Mairena
Antonio Cruz García, known as Antonio Mairena (1909–1983), was a Spanish musician, who tried to rescue a type of flamenco, which he considered to be pure or authentic. He rescued or recreated a high number of songs that had been almost lost ...
and critics like González Climent or Ricardo Molina, in whose views, pure flamenco singing would be a patrimony of
Romanis
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic Itinerant groups in Europe, itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have Ro ...
, which non-Romanis could only try to imitate in vain without ever reaching its essence. In the same review quoted above we can read: "And once you have experienced truly great Romani singing of this sort, the erudition of an artist like Morente pales like a candle flame next to a blazing torch."
These views on Morente, though very common in the 1970s and 1980s, have almost died down. The controversy between tradition and innovation, Romani and non-Romani singing and other topics, so common twenty years ago, is now relatively confined to a limited section of the public, while most flamenco fans and critics acknowledge Morente's deep artistic intelligence and commitment:
"This comes from the man who never sings the same way twice, who tirelessly seeks that new inflection, that unheard-of scale, the change of tone that best matches the desired feeling and intentions at a given moment. The easy option would be the other one. To do what Enrique does you need extreme intellectual abilities and extreme emotional commitment. He takes the perfectly-laid, common foundations, defined by tradition, and on them builds with all the conceivable potential of flamenco."
In December 2010 it was reported that Morente had fallen into a coma after an ulcer operation, and had been declared
brain dead
Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function which may include cessation of involuntary activity necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person is alive and some aut ...
. He died in Madrid on 13 December 2010.
Awards
First prize at the contest Málaga Cantaora (1967)
Premio Nacional de Cante (Flamenco Singing National Award) granted by Cátedra de Flamencología y Estudios Folklóricos Andaluces de Jerez de la Frontera (1972)
National Award for best folk recording, awarded by the Ministry of Culture (1978)
En 1989 es nombrado Socio de Honor del Club de Música y Jazz San Juan Evangelista
Honorary Membership of the San Juan Evangelista Jazz and Music Club (1989)
Premio Nacional de Música
The National Music Award ( es, Premio Nacional de Música, links=no) is one of Spain's annual National Awards by the Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
*Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
* Mini ...
(Music National Award), Ministry of Culture, awarded to a flamenco singer for the first time (1994)
Golden medal of the ''Cátedra de Flamencología de Jerez de la Frontera (1995)
Compás del Cante (1995)
“Galardón de Honor de los Premios de la Música", awarded by the Ministry of Culture (1998)
Pastora Pavón ("Niña de los Peines") Award, awarded by the autonomous government of Andalusia (2004)
Medal of Andalusia, awarded by the autonomous government of Andalusia (2005)
National Critics award for best DVD and best flamenco singing record for ''Morente sueña la Alhambra'' (2006)
National Award of Music for best flamenco recording for ''Morente sueña la Alhambra'' (2006)
Morato de Oro, awarded by Peña El Morato (2006)
Best flamenco recording, Deflamenco.com Awards (2006)
Filmography
*Flamenco. Directed by
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career th ...
(1995)
*Morente sueña La Alhambra. Directed by José Sánchez-Montes (2005)
*Iberia. Directed by Carlos Saura (2005)
*Morente. Directed by Emilio R. Barrachina (2011)
Discography
*''Cante flamenco'' (1967)
*''Cantes antiguos del flamenco'' (1969)
*''Homenaje flamenco a Miguel Hernández'' (1971)
*''Se hace camino al andar'' (1975)
*''Homenaje a Don Antonio Chacón'' (1977)
*''Despegando'' (1977)
*''Morente en vivo'', Díscolo, (1981), illegal recording live
*''Sacromonte'' (1982)
*''Cruz y Luna'' (1983)
*''Esencias flamencas'' (1988)
*''Morente – Sabicas'' (1990)
*''Enrique Morente en la Casa Museo de Federico García Lorca de Fuentevaqueros'' (1990)
*''Misa flamenca'' (1991)
*''Negra, si tú supieras'' (1992)
*''Alegro, Soleá y Fantasía del Cante Jondo'' (1995)
*''Omega'' (1996)
*''Morente – Lorca'' (1998)
*''El pequeño reloj'' (2003)
*''Morente sueña la Alhambra'' (2005,
Mute Records
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...
)
*''Pablo de Málaga'' (2008)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morente, Enrique
1942 births
2010 deaths
People from Granada
Singers from Andalusia
Flamenco singers
Mute Records artists
20th-century Spanish musicians
20th-century Spanish male singers
20th-century Spanish singers