Tonás () is a

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 ...

or type of

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 ...

songs. It belongs to the wider category of

Cantes a palo seco The Spanish term Cantes a palo seco refers to a category of flamenco palo (flamenco), palos (musical forms) traditionally sung a cappella or, in some cases, with some sort of percussion. The category comprises the following palos: * Tonás * Martin ...

, ''palos'' that are sung

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

. Owing to this feature, they are considered by traditional flamencology to be the oldest surviving

musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...

of flamenco. This musical form originated in the Calé Romani subculture of Southern Spain. The first known flamenco singer, Tío Luis el de la Juliana, who lived in

Jerez de la Frontera 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 ...

in the last third of the 18th century, was said to have excelled in this ''palo''. Other ''cantes a palo seco'', such as

martinetes ''Martinetes'' (, sing. ''martinete'') are a flamenco ''palo'' belonging to the group of the ''tonás'' or ''cantes a palo seco''. As the rest of the songs in this group, it is sung with no accompaniment. In some dance shows for the stage, though, ...

and debla, are sometimes classified under ''tonás'', while at other times they are referred to as ''palos'' on their own. The ''tonás'' were almost in disuse by the end of the 19th century. The reason seems to be that they were considered a difficult style by the general public, and resulted in Tonás on the near verge of disappearing. During the 1950s the tonás came back into use, with 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 came to be considered one of the main flamenco styles together with

seguiriya ''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 ...

and

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 ...

References

Flamenco styles Spanish music Andalusian music Vocal music {{Music-genre-stub