Andalusia, a constant source of inspiration. Manuel Machado

This time it's about Manuel Machado, a Sevillian-born poet of the Generation of '98, who I have paid too little attention to until now. I have only casually mentioned here on my blog that he was brother of Antonio Machado. The two of them so similar and yet so different. It's widely known, as Juan C. Toledano, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies of Lewis & Clark College of Arts and Sciences, claims (see the references), that Manuel Machado didn't share the Christian socialist stance of his younger brother, Antonio Machado. It only shows us that they were independent thinkers. They both had their own truth that made them work for the greater good of the people they cared for, their people. They may not have had the same exact concerns, but what they surely had in common was love and caring for Andalusia, and that is way more significant than it looks. 

Manuel Machado y Ruiz (1874-1947). Image taken from a blog

In the play written together, La Lola se va a los puertos (already described on several occasions earlier), the Machado brothers do not display an Andalusia that is something mystical and far from what its people lived in the streets in the 1920s, it's the Andalusians' Andalusia they expose. Naturally, this is also where they differ from the other members of the Generation of '98 who were no flamenco enthusiasts. The Machado brothers disregard the non-Andalusian way of life without almost profane passion for music, and through the characterisation of La Lola they show how they view folk art as essential and constitutive:

Una relación flamenca de hombre y de mujer, que no es un matrimonio cualquiera entre cristiano y cristiana sino algo más.

A relationship of a man and a woman in flamenco is not like any marriage between Christians, it's more than that.

In their play, it's flamenco that dominates them all being the essence of the region, because flamenco "no es música, sino lengua del corazón" (is not music but the language of heart). Flamenco is its art and its heritage. And out of them two, it's especially Manuel's thing. Edward F. Stanton, an overseas Cante Jondo expert, insists in his article (see the references) that Manuel wrote texts for Gypsy songs, while Antonio was “smarter” for not wasting his creative energy on folklore; nevertheless, quite a few of Antonio's poems have also ended up in the repertoire of flamenco singers. At the same time, according to Francisco Gutiérrez Carbajo's study on Soleares (see the references), Manuel gave a new life to a handful of old folk songs.

 

Handwriting sample of Manuel Machado. Images taken from here

Manuel Machado not only tried to incorporate this familiar and dear world to him into poetry, but also published a book on Gypsy song in 1912 that he titled “Cante Hondo”, which was the apparent precursor to the García Lorca's book.

Interpretation of Manuel Machado's Cante Hondo by Javier Coble, video by Poetas Andaluces:

 

Among other things, Manuel wrote a poem in honour of the provincial capitals of Andalusia, but Seville, he thought, spoke for itself. 

CANTO A ANDALUCÍA	SONG TO ANDALUSIA
Cádiz, salada claridad. Granada, agua oculta que llora. Romana y mora, Córdoba callada. Málaga cantaora. Almería, dorada. Plateado, Jaén. Huelva, la orilla de las tres carabelas. Y Sevilla.	Cádiz, salt-laden brilliance, Granada, hidden waters that weep. Roman and Moorish, silent Córdoba, Málaga, flamenco singer, Almería, golden. Jaén, silvery. Huelva, shore of the three caravels. and Sevilla.
	Translation taken from Elizabeth Nash's book (see the references)

To him the essence of Seville - his birthplace - was beyond words. This is just what James A. Michener, a Pulitzer-winning American author, says in his book "Iberia" (see the references): 

“I was familiar with the rest of Spain before I saw Seville, but nothing I had learned elsewhere taught me so much about Spanish behaviour. Others have reported a similar experience for Seville does not have ambiente, Seville is ambiente, and nowhere has this been better expressed than in a lyric written by Manuel Machado, written in this century, which is quoted constantly throughout Spain. It is a litany of Andalusian names, each described with its most typical appositives, except one, for which no nouns or adjectives suffice.”

Here, listen to the interpretation of Manuel Machado's Canto a Andalucía by El Lebrijano. It's extraordinary!

River and ports. La Lola

Writing the two previous posts on the Guadalquivir some more links popped into my mind and caused me remember there's a play worth presenting to an English-speaking audience that tackles the presence of the river in the lives of Andalusian people in its own way; namely, La Lola se va a los puertos (The Lola is going to ports; 1929) by Manuel and Antonio Machado.

Book cover. Image taken from a poetry blog

The Lola is a collaborative work by two writers who, though brothers, do no share the same ideological and philosophical viewpoint on the Andalusian reality, representing, in part, the flamenquismo (fondness for flamenco) of Manuel Machado and, at the same time, the religiosity and social criticism of Antonio Machado. In one way or another, this piece of literary composition can be understood in the context of the 1920's attempt to promote flamenco as high art. As stated by Juan C. Toledano in his article on the play (see the references), flamenco is the essence that God put in the world to fix it, and Lola, an Andalusian, has picked it up in her singing and takes it with her throughout the country to the south, as do the waters of the Guadalquivir.

Bridge of Carlos III over a tributary of the Guadalquivir at Alcalá de Guadaíra. Image taken from here

There are two film adaptations of the Machado brothers' play, the first of them being set 46 years before the other, but before I describe them shortly, I need to utter a few words about the storyline of the play. Lola is a beautiful flamenco singer (cantaora) from San Fernando (Cádiz), in the films acted by Juana Reina and Rocío Jurado. All men desire her, including a landlord Don Diego, who invites her to his premises in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where Lola meets José Luís, his son, who also wants to have her, but Lola rejects him for having set her life for singing. Her gift seems to demand that she keep away from love.

Juana Reina. Image taken from Emilio Jiménez Díaz's blog

Rocío Jurado. Image taken from Emilio Jiménez Díaz's blog

As discussed in the volume of essays on Spanish and Portuguese films edited by Alberto Mira (see the references), Lola is described as not just an interpreter of, but as the being of poetry that springs up from the people, expressed in the profundity of folk song. Lola is widely known and there is something bewitching in her singing that is considered to capture the imagination of everyone listening to it. Intriguing, right? Kindly hear what's available on YouTube, and, given there's a choice of two interpretations to her character, find something enjoyable in each of them!

Juana Reina as Lola in the 1947 film, directed by Juan de Orduña:

Rocío Jurado as Lola in the 1998 film, directed by Josefina Molina:

Poetry by Antonio Machado

Antonio Machado y Ruiz was a Spanish poet, a late member of the literary movement Generation of '98. He was born on 26 July 1875 in Seville, in a liberal family, very interested in culture, and especially in folklore. His grandfather was a rector of the University of Seville and one of the explainers and introducers of Darwinism in Spain. His father was a lawyer and a distinguished folklorist. He had a borther, Manuel, who was, like him, a noted poet and a member of the Generation of '98.

The two brothers, Los Machado

He spent his childhood in Seville and in 1883 moved with his family to Madrid, which is why he has said (please, see the references) that his teens and youth were madrileños (Madrilenian). He was very religious, much of his works look at the essence of human nature and tackle the First Book of Moses, called Genesis.

A sample of Antonio Machado's handwriting

He got married at the age of 34, with his wife, Leonor, being only 16 years old. Sadly, she passed away young, already two years later. Having found the love of his life in her, Antonio Machado wound up the best poet of his kind, writing the most beautiful love poetry for 25 more years after his beloved wife died. I have hardly ever heard of anything more romantic in my life.

Antonio and Leonor on their wedding day

One more curiosity about him: he himself died in 1939 at the age of 63, three days before his old and sickly mother. For the list of his works see here.

Here's a short documentary subtitled in English that features his poetical writings and shows his life and the women behind him, directed, photographed and produced by Cisco Bermejo in 2003.

Here you have a Machado's video poem “Cantares” (with English subtitles), presented in a typical style - sung by Joan Manuel Serrat.

And a video poem recited in English. This is a lovely piece, written 110 years ago, very well translated and nicely read by an American poet Robert Bly.

I also want to highlight some amazing school projects the young learners from Spain have produced that relate to the life and works of Antonio Machado, reciting his poetry and calling it “machadian” rap (rap machadiano), and this not only presenting their rapping skills, but showing off their video clip directing, shooting and editing skills as well. I'm simply overwhelmed by the awesomeness of it all.

For not all being uploadable, I add the links to two other versions of “Caminante no hay camino” (young adults' and children's), and to the following pieces of poetry: "El viajero", "Parábolas" and a fragment of "Proverbios y cantares".

And something out of school, an excellent amateur approach. Love it.