Manuel Torre’s campanilleros: flash of genius or blunder?

Over the years one of the most controversial historic recordings among flamenco-followers has always been that of Manuel Torre’s stylized version of campanilleros with the accompaniment of Miguel Borrull, even though the form as such has little importance in the flamenco landscape. Seventy years after the legendary singer’s death, the debate still comes up around Christmas-time.

Not
for a single moment have I ever doubted that Manuel Torre was the
extraordinary singer old-timers who heard him live assure us he
was, and many of his recordings give a glimpse of that greatness.
Likewise, I feel certain Miguel Borrull junior was one of the best
guitarists of his era, and the proof lies in his many recordings
accompanying the best singers, in particular, Torre himself. However…this
Campanilleros recording of both artists is always problematic and
invariably sets off the musical debate.

Torre sings a near replica of the traditional folk versión
of campanilleros although it is inevitably tinged with a much more
flamenco sound as one would expect from such a singer. The sung
melody is in the tone of farruca (A minor with brief moments in
C major and D minor), but the problem is Borrull is playing standard
flamenco chords as used for siguiriya, what flamenco guitarists
call “por medio”. Only those flashes in C major indicate
that singer and guitarist are involved in a joint venture.

Inevitably tinged with a much more
flamenco sound as one would expect from such a singer

But the strange thing is, many flamenco fans don’t notice
the incongruent guitar accompaniment. Others, far fewer, doggedly
defend the faux pas as a mark of “genius” on the part
of both guitarist and singer. Logic would seem to indicate that
had this been the case, the recording would have been imitated over
the years and it would be everyone’s goal to achieve the most
faithful reproduction. Some of flamenco’s greatest singers,
Caracol and Agujeta just to name a couple, have recorded exact replicas
of Torre’s version, but no guitarist to date has ever used
Borrull’s accompaniment, opting instead for what musically
and traditionally has always been used, that is, standard minor
key.

Obviously dissonance plays an important role in music, and flamenco
isn’t going to be any different. But at what point does dissonance
cease to be dissonance and become a simple blunder? Norberto Torres,
musicologist specialized in flamenco as well as practicing guitarist,
in one of his published conferences, has the following to say about
this strange recording and the fact that Borrull accompanies a minor
key melody with “por medio” chords: “You can imagine
the outcome: the resulting music is unlistenable”.

One simple maxim might be “anything that sounds bad is wrong”
but….what if it doesn’t sound bad to someone? We all know
there are rules and guidelines about musical composition, just as
there are rules of grammar that tell us how to use a language. And
yet, we’ve all seen how a given writer might, by virtue of
sheer talent or intuition, disregard those grammatical conventions.
Should we not expect the same thing to occur in music? Well, “yes
and no” as they say…and it would take an expert in composition
and music theory to tell us if there are limits, and what they are.
If there aren’t any, who’s to prevent a guitarist from
accompanying a taranta with soleá chords, or siguiriyas por
tangos? Would we be willing to accept that?

At what point does dissonance cease
to be dissonance and become a simple blunder?

Apparently a direct descendant of Borrull’s commented that
according to a family anecdote that recording was made after a long
night of flamenco partying, nothing unusual for the times, and the
guitarist was ‘feeling no pain’ so to speak. Most likely
due to the difficulty of making a recording in those days, the work
was allowed stand as it has reached us in modern times. This may
or may not be true, we’ll never know. The purely musical question
remains, and yet…

Within the triad of flamenco elements, cante, dance and guitar,
it’s generally (and logically) the guitarists who know the
most about music, chords and progressions. Therefore it seems reasonable
to accept the opinion of guitarists as the most reliable in this
case, assuming anyone is sufficiently interested to continue digging…

What would Paco de Lucía have to say? Or Moraíto,
Cepero, etc., etc…if they were asked to judge the Torre-Borrull
campanilleros? In historical terms, it’s neither here nor
there, the recording is there for posterity and nothing can add
to or subtract from those two giants regardless of whether the accompaniment
were to be retroactively judged as a flash or genius, or a blunder.

At least that’s how I see it….

Arzapúa