Professor Jonathan Mayhew
Spring Semester, 2025
Spanish 453: Twentieth Century Spanish Studies
Poets and Singer-songwriters
This course is devoted to musical versions of the work of poetry of canonical figures like San Juan de la Cruz, Rosalía de Castro, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Pablo Neruda, Federico García Lorca, and Miguel Hernández. This phenomenon is especially important in flamenco music, but occurs in other genres as well, from classical to pop.
Composers and performers to be studied include Manuel de Falla, Federico García Lorca, Luigi Nono, Germaine Montero, Leonard Cohen, Joan Manuel Serrat, Paco Ibáñez, Amancio Prada, Camarón de la Isla, Enrique and Estrella Morente, Carmen Linares, and Miguel Poveda.
This is a significant topic for three main reasons. (1) In quantitative terms, there is a lot of material to be studied. (2) The poets whose work have been set to music are among the most celebrated figures of twentieth century literature. (3) From a comparative perspective, the work of peninsular musicians can be compared with the Chanson Française [French Song], the Nueva Canción Latinoamericana, and similar movements bridging the gap between canonical literature and popular culture. Since this phenomenon has not received much academic attention to date, the possibilities for original research are promising.
Images:
Amancio Prada con el profe; cartel del Concurso de Cante Jondo; piano de Lorca; Camarón de la Isla
2 comments:
Do you know the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Roy Brown? He has written songs based on many poems by Puerto Rican poets, including many by Juan Antonio Corretjer and several by Julia de Burgos. – Probably you do know him, as he did a version of Lorca’s “Nuyol” on his album “Nuyol” in 1983!
I don't know him, but there are thousands of hours of music devoted to Lorca. Everyone I meet knows one that I don't know even after tracking things down for 6 years.
Post a Comment