Garrotín
The garrotín is a flamenco-adapted cante of Asturian or old Leonese origin that, along its way, passed through Catalonia, where it was taken up and transformed by Catalan Roma until it became a style of its own within flamenco.
It is a festive cante, with a rhythm close to that of the tango, which gives it a vitality and a danceable character that explain its popularity at celebrations and its survival within today’s flamenco repertoire.
Origin and history
The garrotín comes from a popular dance and song of northern Spain, documented in the Asturian and Leonese area during the 19th century, from which it took both its name and some of its original melodic features. As happened with other regional musics, it traveled toward the south and east of the peninsula through traveling companies and contact between different popular traditions.
It was in Catalonia, and particularly among the Catalan Roma community, that the garrotín found fertile ground for its transformation into flamenco cante, acquiring the compás and aesthetic of the genre. This process places the garrotín, alongside the farrucas, among the cantes of non-Andalusian root that flamenco incorporated and reworked as its own.
During the 20th century the garrotín spread widely for its cheerful, accessible character, becoming a regular end-of-show cante and dance in flamenco performances, a role it continues to play today.
Musical characteristics and compás
It is a cante in binary compás, with a rhythmic feel related to the flamenco tango, which gives it a marked, danceable cadence. Its festive, light character contrasts with the depth of other Roma-Andalusian cantes, and it is usually performed with a lively pulse that invites dancing and palmas.
The garrotín’s copla is short and catchy, and its melody is recognizable for its simplicity and its easygoing feel, qualities that helped its rapid popularization.
Representative cantaores and performers
The garrotín became hugely popular in the 20th century thanks to artists such as La Faraona, whose performance of the style became very directly associated with this cante and contributed decisively to its spread among the general public. It has also been, and continues to be, a regular resource as a festive cante and dance among numerous flamenco artists, especially in its more festive, choreographic side.
Relationship with other palos
The garrotín is part of the group of regional folklore cantes turned flamenco, along with the farruca, with which it shares an origin outside Andalusia and the process of adoption by Roma communities. Through its compás and its festive character it is also related to the flamenco tango, from which it takes much of its rhythmic, danceable feel.