Tonás

Tonás (Spanish pronunciation: [toˈnas]) is a palo or type of flamenco songs. It belongs to the wider category of Cantes a palo seco, palos that are sung a cappella.[1] Owing to this feature, they are considered by traditional flamencology to be the oldest surviving musical form of flamenco. The first known flamenco singer, Tío Luis el de la Juliana, who lived in Jerez de la Frontera in the last third of the 18th century, was said to have excelled in this palo.[2]

Other cantes a palo seco, such as martinetes and debla, are sometimes classified under tonás,[3][4] while at other times they are referred to as palos on their own.

The tonás were almost in disuse by the end of the 19th century. The reason seems to be that they were considered a difficult style by the general public, and resulted in Tonás on the near verge of disappearing.[5]

During the 1950s the tonás came back into use,[5] with singers like Antonio Mairena,[6] and came to be considered as one of the main flamenco styles together with seguiriya and soleá.[6][7]

References

1. Loren Chuse (2013). Cantaoras: Music, Gender and Identity in Flamenco Song. Routledge. p. 32. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
2. Andrés Bernal Montesinos (2013). Origen y evolución del Flamenco. Lulu Press. p. 32. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
3. An Analysis of Federico García Lorca's Poema Del Cante Jondo. University of California. 1971. p. 47. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
4. Ninotchka Bennahum (2000). Antonia Merce,́ "La Argentina": Flamenco and the Spanish Avant Garde. Wesleyan University Press. p. 117. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
5. D. E. Pohren (2005). The Art of Flamenco. Bold Strummer. p. 25. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
6. Emma Martinez (2011). Flamenco – All You Wanted to Know. Mel Bay Publications. p. 38. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
7. Juan Serrano (2016). Flamenco Guitar Basic Techniques. Mel Bay Publications. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-01-27.