3 July 2013

La Bandera Blanca y Verde - Official anthem of Andalusia

In her film, La Lola se va a los puertos (1993), the director Josefina Molina crafts the story of a beloved flamenco singer (cantaora) by airing the nationalistic vibes of the era and letting the main character, acted by Rocío Jurado, sing La Bandera Blanca y Verde (The White and Green Flag), the official anthem of Andalusia, despite the fact the Machado brothers' play on which the film is based was published four years before the andalucistas came up with the idea that there were a song to sing of loyalty to the region.
Lyrics of the regional anthem of Andalusia. Image by I.E.S. Valdelagrana

The fervently nationalistic lyrics (Stand up! Demand land and freedom!) of the anthem were written by Blas Infante and the music for it was composed by José del Castillo Díaz (Maestro Castillo) in 1933. The melody, though Castillo's original, was inspired by the Santo Dios, a religious chant widely spread in rural Andalusia, usually sung by peasants and day laborers while harvesting or finishing up their daily cutting. 
Blas Infante, founder of modern Andalusian nationalism, in his rebel youth. Image taken from a blog

The composition was adapted by Manuel Castillo in the 1980s. Since then, many cover versions have been performed by a large number and broad range of artists - by the people from Almería (almerienses), Cádiz (caditanos), Huelva (onubenses), Jaén (jienenses), Jerez de la Frontera (jerezanos), Málaga (malagueños) and by Cordovans (cordobeses) and Sevillians (sevillanos) - all proud of Andalusia. Below you have a selection of the versions of anthem, sung and played by the singers and musicians from all over the region.

Film version of the Himno de Andalucía performed by Rocío Jurado:


First-ever recording of the Himno de Andalucía adapted by Carlos Cano and performed by his musicians together with some members of the Juan Calabuig's choir (Coral Heliópolis) in 1977, at the time the anthem was practically unknown:


Piano version of the Himno de Andalucía:


Fipple flute version of the Himno de Andalucía:


Pop version of the Himno de Andalucía performed by Vanesa Martín, David DeMaría and Pastora Soler:

Rock version of the Himno de Andalucía performed by Arábiga at the Hijos del Agobio Festival in 2009:


Unfortunately, there are no punk, rap or reggae versions of the anthem available. Not just yet, though. But there is a considerable range of flamenco versions that differ one from another depending on the musical features of the palo (style), of which Bulerías and Tangos (de Granada) are, according to Walter Starkie (see the references), Gypsy songs; and Tarantas, Alegrías, Fandangos and Verdiales, Andalusian folk songs; as well as Rumbas, as stated on an expert blog.

Himno de Andalucía por Bulerías performed by El Capullo de Jerez (cantaor), Fernando de la Morena (cantaor) and Paco de Lucía (tocaor):


Himno de Andalucía por Tangos de Granada performed by Marina Heredia (cantaora):


Himno de Andalucía por Tarantas performed by Mari Ángeles (cantaora) and Tomatito (tocaor): see it here.

Himno de Andalucía por Alegrías performed by Chano Lobato (cantaor), Diego del Morao (tocaor) and Julio Pardo's choir:


Himno de Andalucía por Fandangos performed by (probably, for I don't know for sure) Arcángel (cantaor) and Niño Miguel (tocaor) (see the videoclip made up of photos of Andalusian views), and alternatively by Álvaro Díaz:


Himno de Andalucía por Verdiales performed in the street by malagueños and filmed by Mano Verde movement:


Himno de Andalucía por Rumbas performed on TV by the people from Beas (Huelva) on their trip to Venezuela at 40 degrees Celsius in the shadow and at incredible tropical humidity levels:

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