Final thoughts on Carmen

[Thanh Dang Nguyen <nguyet1@Eng.Auburn.EDU>]

Dear Minh,

> Thu?y to^? cu?a Flamenco la` nhu+~ng ddie^.u nha?y cu?a ngu+o+`i di-gan
> (gypsy) so^'ng ra^'t nhie^`u o+? vu`ng na`y.

Thanks a lot for your wonderful enlightening message about the origin
of flamenco music. Following is the confirmation of what you said from
a guy from Spain (I don't know him, but a friend of mine copied his message
to me):

From: Abraham Gil Usero

WELL, RIGHT NOW, I CAN REMEMBER OF SOME OTHER GUITAR PLAYERS AS MANOLO
SANLUCAR OR "TOMATITO" AND SINGERS AS CAMARON DE LA ISLA. THERE ARE A LOT OF
DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLAMENCO "BRANCHES"...AND RIGHT NOW SOME YOUNG PEOPLE ARE
DEVELOPING A MIXTURE OF FLAMENCO WITH BLUES AND AFRICAN RHYTHYMS...PEOPLE
LIKE "KETAMA", "NAVAJITA PLATEA" OR "LA BARBERIA DEL SUR". I MAY FIND
SOMETHING OF THESE PEOPLE AND RECORD IT FOR YOU IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, OK?

OF COURSE THERE IS A LOT OF THE ARABIC SENSE IN FLAMENCO...EVEN WHEN YOU
HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT ITS BIGGEST REPRESENTATIVES ARE GYPSIES. THE PART
OF SPAIN IN WHICH IT DEVELOPED IS ANDALUCIA (THE SOUTHERN PART) WERE THE
ARABS (MOORS FOR US) LIVED FROM 711 UNTIL 1492...SO JUST IMAGINE.

> cho^~ co' ti'nh ca'ch Flamenco. Nhu+ng dda^y la` mo^.t vo+? Opera ne^n
> kho^ng co' cho^~ na`o la` hoa`n toa`n nha.c Flamenco. Nha^n tie^.n no'i
> the^m: bi`nh thu+o+`ng to^i kho^ng chi.u ddu+o+.c nha.c Opera nhu+ng
> vo+? Carmen na`y thi` la` my absolute favourite.

I didn't say that the opera has anything to do with flamenco dance.
However, it was totally arranged for flamenco in the Spanish movie I
mentioned, and I think it is a good point to start knowing this dance
and also the wonderful story of Carmen. BTW, this story was originally
written by Prosper Merimee (anyone knows him/her?), and was only adapted
to opera later on by Bizet. I agree that the music is magical, even
for people with little background in opera or classical music. Sort
of evergreen music I think. After the huge success of the opera, many
composers had arranged the music for different instruments and
orchestras, and even for rock combos! For all of you who haven't
listened to this great work, run to the local music stores/libraries/your
friends to check it out immediately. It's a must-have!

Closing point: I also remember watching an erotic movie based on the
Carmen story on a German channel (RTL) in Hungary a long time ago.
Of course, I didn't understand a word, but who cared indeed! :-)

Enjoy the music!

-Thanh