The seguidilla (; ; plural in both English and Spanish ''seguidillas''; diminutive of ''seguida'', which means "sequence" and is the name of a dance). Accessed May 2008.Random House Dictionary
/ref> is an old Castilian folksong and dance form in quick triple time for two people with many regional variations. The music is generally in a major key and often begins on an offbeat. The term is also used for a Spanish stanza form with four to seven short, partly assonant lines in a characteristic rhythm.

Types

The earliest and most influential of the types of seguidilla are thought to originate in either La Mancha or

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, having become typical of large parts of central Spain. Variants include the ''seguidilla manchega'' (from La Mancha) as well as the ''murciana'' from Murcia and the slightly faster '' sevillana'' of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. One of the most complex styles of seguidilla is the ''seguidilla flamenca'' or '' seguiriya''), which is used in flamenco music. Act I of

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

's opera ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The opera depicts the mutual love of two impoverished Peruvian street singers – too poor to afford a marriage ...

'' includes a number entitled "Séguedille".

Dance

The dance is performed in pairs with animated footwork reflecting the rhythm of the guitar and percussion, yet restrained upper body movement. One technique characteristic of the dance is known as ''bien parado'', wherein the dancers stop motion at the end of a section of the music or stanza of text while the instruments continue playing into the next section. Usually the woman dancer also holds castanets. Act I of ballet ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'' (classical version choreographed by Marius Petipa and restaged by Alexander Gorsky) includes a Seguidilla dance performed by corps de ballet.

Song

In general, seguidilla folksongs begin with a brief instrumental introduction, often played on guitar, followed by a ''salida'', which is a small portion of the song text acting as a false start. The remaining sections are free and varied, consisting of instrumental ''interludios'' and the vocal sections called ''coplas''.

The 'Seguidilla' in opera

An original song entitled ''Seguidilla'' occurs in Act I of the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'' Carmen'' by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...

, where it is sung by the title character to persuade her captor, the soldier Don José, to set her free. She promises to meet him later at the inn of her friend Lillas Pastia. Although this number uses flamenco-style material, it has a slower tempo than the classic Spanish dance form and a more complex structure. It is possible also that the "Veil Song" (Act II, scene 1, of '' Don Carlos'') by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

is meant to evoke the style of a ''seguidilla'', though stylistically it is closer to a '' bolero'' with added flamenco-style melodic colouration.Julian Budden ''The Operas of Verdi, Vol. 3'', p. 68 Elsewhere, in '' La forza del destino'', the same composer inserts a folk dance at the beginning of Act II; but although it is labelled ''seguidilla'' in the score, the passage is written in 4/4, not the triple time usual for a seguidilla. A seguidilla also features in Paisiello's opera '' Il barbiere di Siviglia''.

Notes

References

{{Music of Spain Spanish dances Spanish folk music Dance forms in classical music