Saeta (flamenco)
Encyclopedia
Performance
The Saeta is a song of Catholic Spain dating back many centuries. The Saeta antigua [old Saeta] probably arose from the recitation of psalmsPsalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
under the influence of liturgical music
Liturgical music
Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service , the Lutheran Divine Service, the Orthodox liturgy and other Christian services...
. "Saetas vary greatly in form and style, ranging from simple syllabic melodies to highly ornamented ones." Since the nineteenth century, however, the most favored Saetas have incorporated distinct elements associated with Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
music, particularly the siguiriyas
Siguiriyas
Siguiriyas is a form of flamenco music belonging to the cante jondo category. Its deep, expressive style is among the most important in flamenco...
.
The Saeta is best known for its mournful power during Holy Week in Spain
Holy Week in Spain
Spain is especially renowned for its Holy Week traditions or Semana Santa. Holy Week, the last week of Lent, which is the week immediately before Easter, sees its most glamorous celebrations in the region of Andalusia, particularly in Seville, while those of Castile see the more sombre and solemn...
, when by Catholic tradition the song is performed during the procession
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
s by religious confraternities
Confraternity
A confraternity is normally a Roman Catholic or Orthodox organization of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy...
that move through the streets of cities and towns in southern Spain. Possessing a plaintive emotional intensity, and dramatic charge, the Saeta is sung by the saetero, often from a balcony, and may be addressed to the statue of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
below, in his agony on the Via Dolorosa
Via Dolorosa
The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions...
, or to that of his suffering mother Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
. These and other crafted statues are mounted on platforms and carried along the streets on the shoulders of penitents passing among the assembled public. The immediate emotional response to the Saeta, often of intense sorrow, may be the reason for its name, as the Spanish word saeta can mean "arrow or dart" (also "bud of a vine" or "hand of a clock" or "magnetic needle").
Saetas are sung at outdoor devotions throughout Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
, and may be sung during the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
season as well. A special form of the Saeta (the saeta carcelera) is also sung at prisons during visits there by the confraternities. Several of the cities in Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
have their own peculiar styles of the Saeta.
The music
The Saeta is frequently sung a cappellaA cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
. Taken from flamenco music are the melismas, tercios
Tuplet
In music a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the...
, and other flourishes. Although the saeta is one of the cantes a palo seco
Cantes a palo seco
The Spanish term Cantes a palo seco refers to a category of flamenco palos traditionally sung a cappella or, in some cases, with some sort of percussion...
, the singer may also be accompanied by beating drums, or by horns. Any accompaniment is most often in 2/4 or 6/8 time. Commonly the saetero sings in a minor key finishing on the dominant; the meter
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
of different verses will often be variable depending on the interpretation. Arabic and Hebraic origins have been proposed.
Palos
Palo (flamenco)
A palo is the name traditionally given in the flamenco environment for the different musical forms that constitute the traditional musical heritage of flamenco...
of flamenco adopted by the Saeta include especially the siguiriyas
Siguiriyas
Siguiriyas is a form of flamenco music belonging to the cante jondo category. Its deep, expressive style is among the most important in flamenco...
and the martinetes
Martinetes
Martinetes are a flamenco palo belonging to the group of the tonás or cantes a palo seco. As the rest of the songs in this group, it is sung with no accompaniment. In some dance shows for the stage, though, it is accompanied by percussion played with the compás of siguiriya...
, others include the saeta por soleares, por polos, por cañas, and por fandangos. The cantaor Manuel Torre
Manuel Torre
Manuel Soto Loreto, known as Manuel Torre or Manuel Torres , was a Romani flamenco singer.- Beginning :...
(1878–1933) was well regarded for his Saeta.
Its passion
Of a diverse heritage, the Saeta has become the emotional artistic fruit of several cultures. The Gypsies "se sienten identificados con los episodios de la PasiónPassion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
y consideran a Jesús como un hermano en desgracia que sufre persecusión y muerte
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
." Nothing of course substitutes for hearing and bearing witness to the Saeta.
"La saeta, pues, costituye la síntesis antropológica del andaluz (hondura, plástica, señorío, dolor metafísico) coronada en santidad. La saeta exige un máximo de veracidad pasional, por lo mismo que a nadie le es dado encaramarse en la audacia de sus ayes sin la potencia y la certeza que brinda la posesión heroica del dolor."
It is said that Andalusians must talk to God during Holy Week
Holy Week in Spain
Spain is especially renowned for its Holy Week traditions or Semana Santa. Holy Week, the last week of Lent, which is the week immediately before Easter, sees its most glamorous celebrations in the region of Andalusia, particularly in Seville, while those of Castile see the more sombre and solemn...
, singing the Saeta during a cofradía
Confraternity
A confraternity is normally a Roman Catholic or Orthodox organization of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy...
procession being a mode of choice.
CD & video
- Maestros de la Saeta. Semana Santa en Sevilla (CD by Planet Records 1993). Apparently from the 1930s to the 1960s, including the well known Niña de los Peines and Manuel Vallejo.
- YouTube presents videos of recent Saeta performances, some made during the Holy Week processions.
Other idioms
- Joaquín TurinaJoaquín TurinaJoaquín Turina was a Spanish composer of classical music.-Biography:Turina was born in Seville but his origins were in northern Italy . He studied in Seville as well as in Madrid...
, "Jueves Santo a medianoche (Desfile de una cofradía por una callejuela)" in his Sevilla. Suite pintoresca, Opus 2, no. 2 (Sevilla 1908) [Classical]. - Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, "Saeta" in his album Sketches of SpainSketches of SpainSketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City....
(Columbia Records: recorded 1959-1960, released 1960), at band 4 (5:06), written by Gil EvansGil EvansGil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
[Jazz].