Polo (flamenco Palo)

''Polo'' () is the name of a flamenco palo or musical form. There is only one known song in this ''palo'', which is extremely similar to another palo called caña, and its guitar accompaniment, like the ''caña'', shares its rhythm and motifs with soleá. Both the ''caña'' and ''polo'' share the same musical mode. The ''polo'' has usually been considered as a derivation of the ''caña''. To complete the singing of the polo, singers usually sing a stanza in the ''palo'' of soleá, generally in the style called ''soleá apolá''.

Although nowadays, only one song is known for the ''polo'', known as ''polo natural'', past writers also mention another ''polo'', called ''polo de Tobalo'', which has probably been lost.

Poetic and musical structure

The stanza of the ''polo'' is the ''cuarteta romanceada'', typical of most flamenco songs and Spanish folklore: four octosyllabic verses, the second and fourth rhyming in assonance. It is usually sung with the following typical lines:

''Carmona tiene una fuente''

''con catorce o quince caños''

''con un letrero que dice:''

''¡Viva el polo sevillano!''

Translation:

Carmona has a fountain

With fourteen or fifteen jets

And an inscription that reads

Long live the Sevillan polo!

Often, the last line is replaced by another saying: "Viva el polo de Tobalo" ("Long live the polo de Tobalo"). This is curious, as the melody used is not the one of the ''polo de Tobalo'', but that of the ''polo natural''. Some lines are partially repeated, and there are also two series of melismas sung on one vowel in the middle and at the end of the stanza, which separate the song in two sections. The stanza is therefore rendered like this:

''Carmona tiene una fuente''

''con catorce''

''con catorce o quince caños''

''oooh oooh oooh etc. (melismas)''

''con un letrero que dice y que''

''y viva el polo''

''viva el polo de Tobalo''

''oooh ooh ooh etc.''

As to the metre and musical mode, they are the same as for the soleá, that is 12-beat metre (or alternating 3/4 and 6/8) and Phrygian mode (for more information, see article on soleá). The guitar accompaniment and falsetas are also inspired by the soleá, although some special arpeggios are included after the second line of each section ("con catorce" and "y viva el polo") and during the singing of the melismas. It is always accompanied in the guitar chord position of E for the tonic. Musicologist Hipólito Rossy stated that the song was in ajor modeand 3-beat metre (Rossy 9661998), but he was not very familiar with this ''palo'', as all recordings show the typical soleá rhythm and Phrygian mode. He might have been influenced by the recording of singer Jacinto Almadén, in which guitarist Perico el del Lunar certainly uses some chords insinuating the major mode.

Historical notes

The first mentions of a "Gypsy polo" can be found in the poem ''La Quincaida'' by the Count of Noroña, written in 1779. It is also mentioned in the ''Cartas Marruecas'', by José Cadalso (written around the same years). Some critics argue that this was not yet the current ''polo'', but a primitive folkloric song, which was not yet flamenco:

(...) the Gypsies, in the eve of flamenco, were acting on the Spanish popular rhythms and songs which, still preserving this popular quality, evolved sensibly towards an ''agitanamiento'' ("gypsying") which will finally be evident. When this transition time was completed, that song, that rhythm that the Gypsies knew in Andalusia were already a different thing, they were flamenco. In the case of the polo, this did not happen until the beginning of the 19th century, if we are to accept the criteria from Molina and Mairena, and Butler.

Both the ''caña'' and the ''polo'' seem to have enjoyed great success and were considered the finest type of flamenco song at the beginning of the 19th century. Serafín Estébanez Calderón, in his book from 1847 ''Escenas andaluzas'' (''Andalusian Scenes''), mentioned famous singer (the protagonist in one of the scenes), as "King of both polos". He also assured that the ''polo'' was difficult to sing and that it was derived from the ''caña'' and mentions the ''polo de Tobalo''. The polo is widely mentioned in the literature of the 19th century. Most important singers at the time included it in their repertoire, up to the times of Antonio Chacón, who is reported to be one of the latest great performers of this song.

Although historic sources mention two or more ''polos'', only one variety is known for sure to have survived to our days: the ''polo natural''. Singer Pepe de la Matrona recorded a version of the ''polo Tobalo'' at the end of the 1969s, but the authenticity of this recorded version has been put in doubt by several critics on the grounds that he could never explain who he had heard it from (Álvarez Caballero 1998).

The only old recording with the title of ''polo'', prior to its ''rediscovery'' in the 1950s, was made by La Rubia and it resembles the ''caña'' even more than the usual version of the ''polo natural''. In 1960, at the time of reappraisal of traditional cante, the polo natural was recorded by Jacinto Almadén (also known as "El Niño de Almadén"), in the ''Antología del cante flamenco'' compiled by guitarist Perico el del Lunar and flamencologist Tomás Andrade de Silva. At the time, according to the introduction the latter wrote for this anthology, singers who knew this song were extremely rare. Since then, it has been recorded by several famous singers, but it has remained in

Theories about the polo

There are several contradictory theories, that have been suggested regarding the origins of the polo and its varieties.

*Folklorist Demófilo in his ''Colección de cantes flamencos'' compiled 37 different lyrics that were sung indistinctly as either ''polos'' or ''cañas''. He also added: "the famous singer Tobalo (Cristóbal) excelled in the ''polos'' and gave his name to a special air of his, nowadays known as the ''polo Tobalo''. (Quoted by Martín Salazar n.d.) Estébanez Calderón, in his ''Escenas Andaluzas'', also stated that the ''polo'' derived from the ''caña'', and mentioned that they
*Andrade de Silva mentions the soleá as the origin of the polo. According to him, singer Curro Durse initiated the custom of singing the ''polo'' as appendix to the ''caña'', a custom followed by singers until the ''polo'' fell into disuse after Antonio Chacón. The style chosen for this was the ''polo natural'', that is, the original form of the polo, without much variations added by the singers. This flamencologist also states that Tobalo innovated the ''polo'' and made it totally different from the ''caña''. At the time this recording was made, it was already customary to sing the ''polo'' without the ''caña'', adding instead the ''soleá apolá'' at the end (Andrade de Silva 9601988).
*According to José Navarro Rodríguez, the ''polo'' never existed. What we know as ''polo'' is just a variation, created by 19th century singer Curro Durse, of the ''caña''. Navarro Rodríguez goes on to say that the ''caña'' was the creation of a singer from Ronda, called Cristóbal Palmero and known as "Tobalo El Polo", who lived between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. As "Tobalo" is a familiar name commonly used in Andalusia for those who are called "Cristóbal", and he inherited his father nickname ("Polo") this caused a false belief that the song he created (the ''caña'') was called ''Polo de Tobalo'' (Polo by Tobalo). This theory has been questioned as its author did not sustain it with any verifiable evidence (Álvarez Caballero 9941998).
*In their book ''Mundo y formas del cante flamenco'', published in 1965, poet Ricardo Molina and singer Mairena, quoting musicologist García Matos, affirm that the flamenco ''polo'' bears no relationship at all with the folkloric polo of the 18th century and it is not even derived from it: it just borrowed its name. They agree with the usual theory that it derives from the ''caña''. They contradicted previous flamenco historians who defined the ''polo'' as a gypsy song, and disregard it as a "really poor and inferior song", "rigid and stererotyped", "a fossile", "a mummy". They assure that:

The supposed quality of the polo and its pretended quality are but an invention of writers who did not know a word about flamenco singing. Many confused the Spanish or Spanish-American ''polo'' with the flamenco one, attributing to the latter the popularity of the other (Molina and Mairena 9651979).

:It must to be noted that Antonio Mairena tended to deprecate all non-Gypsy ''palos'' as inferior in quality. However, even though in this book he despised the ''polo'' as non-Gypsy, he had recorded it some years before. When republishing this recording in his ''Antología del cante flamenco y cante gitano'' in 1965, he included it among the Gypsy ''palos''.

Recordings

The following recordings are usually recommended for reference:
*''Antología del cante flamenco'', Hispavox, Second edition, 1988, compiled by Tomás Andrade de Silva and Perico el del Lunar. Contains a ''polo'' by "El niño de Almadén" (Jacinto Almadén), and a ''caña'' by Rafael Romero.
*''Antologia del cante flamenco y cante gitano'', compiled by Antonio Mairena. Contains a ''polo'' and a ''caña'', sung by Mairena himself
* ''Magna antología del cante flamenco'', Vol. VIII, CD Edition, Hispavox, 1992. It has a caña sung by Enrique Morente, a "Polo de Tobalo" by Pepe de la Matrona. The ''polo'' by Jacinto Almadén in the ''Antología del cante flamenco'' mentioned above is also there.
* Manolo Caracol recorded a very personal version of the ''caña'' in 1958. It has been republished in the collection "Quejío", in a compilation called ''El genio de Manolo Caracol'', Hispavox, 1997.
*Enrique Morente has recorded an innovative version, which he calls ''Policaña'' in his album ''El pequeño reloj'', EMI-ODEON, 2003. It has characteristics of both ''polo'' and ''caña''. It is not, of course, the original ''policaña'' but a personal recreation. In another of his surprising experiments, the CD also contains a ''caña'' sung with the accompaniment an old recording of guitarist Manolo de Huelva

See also

* Flamenco
* Palo (flamenco)
* Soleá

External links

of all flamenco palos, including the polo and the caña

Sources

ÁLVAREZ CABALLERO, Ángel: ''El cante flamenco'', Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1998

ANDRADE DE SILVA, "Sobre los orígenes de trenta y tres cantes", published as an introduction to recording ''Antología del Cante Flamenco'', Hispavox, S.A, Madrid, 1960

CADALSO, José: ''Cartas marruecas'' (available in Biblioteca Virtual Cervantes, www.cervantesvirtual.com)

ESTÉBANEZ CALDERÓN, Serafín: "Asamblea general de los caballeros y damas de Triana, y toma de hábito en la orden de cierta rubia bailadora" in ''Escenas andaluzas'', Madrid, 1847 (available in Biblioteca Virtual Cervantes, www.cervantesvirtual.com)

MARTÍN SALAZAR, Jorge: ''Los cantes flamencos'', Diputación General de Granada, n.d.

MAIRENA, Antonio and MOLINA, Ricardo: ''Mundo y formas del cante flamenco'', evista de Occidente, Madrid, 1963 Librería Al-Andalus, Granada-Sevilla, 1979

ROSSY, Hipólito: ''Teoría del cante jondo'', Second edition, CREDSA S.A., Barcelona, 1998

{{Music of Spain

Flamenco styles
Spanish music
Andalusian music