Finding Duende: LC & Lorca

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B4real
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Finding Duende: LC & Lorca

Post by B4real »

I recently came across this article - https://www.varsity.co.uk/music/20973
and it reminded me of our own fun discussion two years ago of Lorca and his Duende - https://www.leonardcohenforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=38430

Finding duende: Leonard Cohen and Federico García Lorca
Margaux Emmanuel examines the link between the singer-songwriter and the anti-fascist poet
....The emotional strength and sincerity of Cohen’s works can be related to Lorca’s ‘duende’ aesthetics, theorized by Lorca at a lecture in Buenos Aires in 1933, ‘Juego y teoría del duende’ (‘Theory and Play of the Duende’). The figure of the ‘duende’ itself, the word stemming from ‘dueño de la casa’ and also referring to a magical creature, is explained as being ‘not a labour, a struggle not a thought…. the duende is not in the throat: the duende surges up, inside, from the soles of the feet… it’s not a question of skill, but of a style that’s truly alive: meaning, it’s in the veins: meaning, it’s of the most ancient culture of immediate creation.’ Even though Lorca uses examples of it stemming from idiosyncratically Spanish cultural aspects, such as Spanish dance, the feeling of ‘duende’ is couched as a universal reaction to the “figures of beauty.” When speaking of duende, Lorca sp eaks of Goethe, Bach, Brahms…

This sensibility is deeply anchored in Cohen’s works. Whether in the solitude and vulnerability of New Skin for Old Ceremony, or the classic Songs of Leonard Cohen, Cohen investigates the very threads that constitute human emotion.

There is also a moribund aspect to duende, as Lorca writes in his 1933 theory: “moribund duende sweeping the earth with its wings made of rusty knives”, an awareness of mortality, that can be discerned in his later album You Want it Darker, raw and grim, punctuated with lines such as “I’m leaving the table/ I’m out of the game”, “It’s au revoir,” his voice at the centre, both a sigh and a prayer, which is what this duende’s “dark sound” explores. Leonard Cohen, being Jewish, sang “Hallelujah” as a universal plea that transcends religion and speaks to a core spirituality in us all – we all have our own hallelujahs.

Duende is a mode of understanding and creation that is deeply rooted within Cohen’s works – it is not simply a sensitivity and particularly eloquent turn of phrase, but a soulful resonance that evades definition: it must be lived, as Cohen and Lorca’s works makes us live hundreds of different lives through their poetry.

Duende is mentioned here on the forum in some other threads too. If interested, just search using that word.
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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LisaLCFan
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Re: Finding Duende: LC & Lorca

Post by LisaLCFan »

Interesting, thanks!

Incidentally, the concept of duende is closely tied with the flamenco music and culture of Spain. Here is an article about it from the musical perspective (which also happens to mention Lorca):

https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/awa ... -flamenco/
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B4real
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Re: Finding Duende: LC & Lorca

Post by B4real »

My pleasure, Lisa! Your link was interesting too!
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to B4real ~ me
Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy ~ me ...... The magic of art is the truth of its lies ~ me ...... Only left-handers are in their right mind!
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