Duende

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Duende

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getsemani

Posts: 36
Joined: Sep. 11 2010
From: USA california

Duende

Anyone know a good book or resource to read about Duende? Or can explain your own interpretation?
I have found quotes by Garcia Lorca, but seek further study of its meaning to flamenco.
many thanks in advance,
-g

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 1:38:43

getsemani

Posts: 36
Joined: Sep. 11 2010
From: USA california

RE: Duende (in reply to getsemani)

Lorca writes: "The duende, then, is a power, not a work. It is a struggle, not a thought. I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, 'The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.' Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation."

Everything that has black sounds in it, has duende."

"This ‘mysterious power which everyone senses and no philosopher explains' is, in sum, the spirit of the earth, the same duende that scorched the heart of Nietzsche, who searched in vain for its external forms on the Rialto Bridge and in the music of Bizet, without knowing that the duende he was pursuing had leaped straight from the Greek mysteries to the dancers of Cadiz or the beheaded, Dionysian scream of Silverio's siguiriya."

"The duende's arrival always means a radical change in forms. It brings to old planes unknown feelings of freshness, with the quality of something newly created, like a miracle, and it produces an almost religious enthusiasm."

"All arts are capable of duende, but where it finds greatest range, naturally, is in music, dance, and spoken poetry, for these arts require a living body to interpret them, being forms that are born, die, and open their contours against an exact present." [1]

— García Lorca, Play and Theory of the Duende

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 1:43:39

tele

Posts: 1464
Joined: Aug. 17 2012

RE: Duende (in reply to getsemani)

If I have understood correctly, in spain Duende is not much talked about(maybe because of respect towards it) and not crystal clearly defined. It can be compared/is equal to "having soul". Duende means also "elf" in spanish.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 12:23:28

bursche

Posts: 1182
Joined: Jul. 19 2007
From: Frankfurt, Germany

RE: Duende (in reply to tele)

Would you stop asking about duende! It's an ugly dwarf from fairytales.
Join a cave party in Spain and you will find out what else it can be

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 12:31:51

xirdneH_imiJ

Posts: 1896
Joined: Dec. 2 2006
From: Budapest, now in Southampton

RE: Duende (in reply to getsemani)

this is very difficult to describe...flamencos never even mention this word...
essentially imagine yourself in a situation when there are people performing and there's an audience and a bubble forms and everyone becomes a part of the act, their hearts beating at once, it's when this magic occurs...and you can feel your heart pumping, the adrenaline flowing...

or imagine that you sit down with your guitar, accompany a dancer and a singer, and you're not just "accompanying por soleá" but become the soleá...when you're all one...a good dancer friend of mine for example describes this as a deeply sexual act, she says she goes on stage to have multiple orgasms :D

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 13:04:02

Morante

Posts: 2188
Joined: Nov. 21 2010

RE: Duende (in reply to getsemani)

You should remember that Lorca did not know much about flamenco, he was a romántico: his maestro was De Falla, who knew more about classical music than about flamenco.

The essay of Lorca should be taken with a dose of salt.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 16:19:38

tele

Posts: 1464
Joined: Aug. 17 2012

RE: Duende (in reply to Morante)

quote:

You should remember that Lorca did not know much about flamenco, he was a romántico: his maestro was De Falla, who knew more about classical music than about flamenco.

The essay of Lorca should be taken with a dose of salt.

On a side note I must admit that "duende" is something that one can't put into words, especially in a manner like in the second post.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 17:24:30

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: Duende (in reply to getsemani)

Antonio Canales said; "The Duende is God's orgasm"

I think that's all you need to know really....

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 19:35:57

chester

Posts: 891
Joined: Oct. 29 2010

RE: Duende (in reply to xirdneH_imiJ)

quote:

a situation when there are people performing and there's an audience and a bubble forms and everyone becomes a part of the act, their hearts beating at once

Man, that's a GREAT description! I think you summed it up better than Lorca.

quote:

De Falla, who knew more about classical music than about flamenco.

I think that the concept of 'duende' exists outside the realm of flamenco. Outside of music even. Andalusian Gypsies aren't the only magicians on the planet...

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 2 2012 21:12:49

Erik van Goch

Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands

RE: Duende (in reply to getsemani)

I never mention it myself, but when asked i generally describe it as a goal in a football match (obviously one made by your club). Personally i see duende as the subconsciousness taking over control of the body. The few times it happened to me it felt like some alien energy force took over control of my body... from one second to the other my brain had nothing to say anymore about how my hands moved or what was played..... obviously when that alien energy source structurally plays the guitar a 1000 times better the you could ever do yourself you're not scared and you don't complain, you simply enjoy the few seconds (or even minutes) that are given to you by good fortune.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 3 2012 15:19:01