Why and how to write musical scores of flamenco songs: Some thoughts
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Abstract
This paper aims to explain why Flamenco songs should be written in a musical score and how to go about it so as to have some guarantee of not undermining their pristine essence.
The difference between "interpretation" and "re-creation" markedly separates classical music from Flamenco music, because while the former relies on musical notation for its development and continuance, the latter essentially uses oral transmission. So the question arises whether the transcription of Flamenco songs to a score is necessary for their survival. Another matter altogether is whether it can be done. To this the answer must be yes, though sometimes with great difficulty.
However, it must be said that writing Flamenco songs in a score can lead to such an accumulation of problems that these might affect the essence of Flamenco art, and that we must be extremely careful about how and what to transcribe.