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Semana Santa
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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 RE: Semana Santa (in reply to Pimientito)
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quote:
If you think the processions are strange then you are going to love what I saw on Good Friday. In the small town of Rio Gordo in Malaga they re-enact the crucifixion and hang villagers on Crosses in the afternoon. Its not often you get to see a public crucifixion these days say I took these photos!
When I was posted to the American Embassy in Manila, the Philippines long ago, every year in the town of San Fernando, about 50 miles north of Manila, someone was actually nailed to a cross, depicting the crucifixion. The tradition continues every year.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 28 2016 16:20:12
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Semana Santa (in reply to Leñador)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Leñador
Why do you suppose? People feel guilty about not going weekly so they make sure to go to the procession?
On the rare occasions I attend a religious ceremony out of a sense of social obligation, emotional engagement far exceeds the intellectual. I attribute it to the religious environment of my childhood.
My musical engagement with Semana Santa in Sevilla began--unknown to me--with learning the florid variations by the great Mexican trumpet virtuoso Rafael Mendez on the theme of "La Virgen de la Macarena."
As a youngster I had heard the pasodoble played by bullring bands in Reynosa, Monterrey, and the Plaza Mexico. It was not until I was actually in Sevilla, years later, during Semana Santa that I understood the connection of the music to the event.
As perhaps most people here know, the Spanish Gypsies especially revere La Virgen de la Macarena, some say due to her darker complexion than the other Virgins in the processions. The slow pasodoble is played by the sizable band, in their elegant uniforms, who accompany La Macarena's float in the procession. The closely packed members of the cofradía who carry the heavy float on their shoulders keep step to the music.
When the band takes a break, the men keep step to the beat of drums. After one procession passes, there is an interval. People chat. Those with seats may stand and stretch. Then the drums can be heard, at first faintly, then louder. People begin to quiet down and look up the street. As La Macarena approaches, the band strikes up. The sound of the theme in the trombones and tubas precedes the sight of the float. The music evokes a chorus of olés. Then La Macarena turns the corner of the crooked street, and comes into full view in her regal robes, illuminated by the dozens of tall candles on her float, the only light in the darkened street. The crowd roars, then falls silent.
Of course the other music associated with La Macarena are the saetas. One of the most dramatic events of Semana Santa is when La Macarena halts in the Calle de Sierpes, near the Cathedral, and from a balcony the saeta is sung to her.
Preceding the saeta is another piece that belongs to La Macarena. She is accompanied not only by the band, with its impressively professional sound, but also by a corps of drums and bugles. Hearing them first on records, I was struck by the aggressively sour intonation of the bugles in their initial fanfare, then by the chaotic rhythmic disorganization of the melismas that follow. Next the horns are silent, and the drums echo against the buildings that line the street. Seeing the procession, I learned that the men of the cofradía mark time. The float sways from side to side as they step in place, without moving forward. The candle flames sway in unison.
When I saw the drums and bugles in person, I learned that they were dressed as Roman soldiers, bare legged in heavy sandals, tunics to mid-thigh, Roman helmets with horse hair plumes, the officers in metal breastplates like centurions. I thought, "Maybe this is reminiscent of the sound of the Roman army as they advanced with drums and trombas, calculated to strike fear into the hearts of the barbarians."
The drums fall silent, the cofradía stands stock still, and the saeta pierces the night.
One sight that sticks with me from a few years ago was two robustly built young women, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, heavily pierced and tattooed, with punk haircuts. Hardly the look you would expect from devoted regular church goers. They stood on the sidewalk, their arms outstretched to La Macarena, tears of emotion flowing freely down their cheeks.
When I first visited Spain more than 50 years ago, I said to some of my American friends that it was the last Christian country. Perhaps what we see nowadays is an echo of that time.
RNJ
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 29 2016 22:08:30
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Estevan
Posts: 1936
Joined: Dec. 20 2006
From: Torontolucía
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RE: Semana Santa (in reply to Morante)
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quote:
Andalucía has a really strange culture, encompassing extreme religion, toros and cante. You even get a chance to suffer serious injury!
That is what makes it difficult for foreigners to accept what is going on.
Yes, and difficult for us to understand the place of flamenco if we came to it via hot licks on the guitar!
If anyone's interested in a book that might provide some clues, "White Wall of Spain: The Mysteries of Andalusian Culture" by Allen Josephs is a fascinating attempt to make sense of the elements of the culture that make it so distinctive. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the broader context of flamenco, especially if you've wondered why flamencos are so enthusiastic about the bulls, religious festivals, etc. It's a personal interpretation with a certain amount of historical speculation but it can be helpful.
Here's an excerpt from the preface:
"No traveler can spend much time in Andalucía without encountering certain things that seem almost inexplicable in the Western world. The frenzy of tuna fishing off the coast of Cádiz, the music and dance known as flamenco, religious celebrations such as Holy Week in Sevilla or the pilgrimage called the Rocío, and, of course, toreo, which we erroneously call "bullfighting" -- these are unique phenomena which are native to southern Spain and have virtually no counterpart in our culture.
These rites are the mysteries of Andalucía because they are radically unfamiliar to most Westerners and because they stem in no small part from the ancient mysteries of the East. Unraveling their development is equivalent to undertaking a quest to the center of the human psyche, both psychologically and historically, in an attempt to understand a culture that has baffled and fascinated observers since the days of the Romans.
To enter the Andalusian labyrinth, to explore these mysteries,to trace them from their origins in antiquity to the present, is to rediscover a primordial way of life. That rediscovery is my primary purpose. I also hope this book will foster an understanding of the brilliance and originality of Andalusian culture and help to protect that culture -- on paper and in fact -- from the colorless homogeneity of the future."
[More excerpts here]
(Note that Donn Pohren's help is acknowledged.)
_____________________________
Me da igual. La música es música.
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Date Apr. 4 2016 2:45:49
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