Enrique Morente: Granada's Flamenco Revolutionary
Enrique Morente went from Albaicín choirboy to flamenco's most radical voice, reviving cante, setting Lorca to song, and fusing it with rock on Omega (1996).
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- Also known as
- Enrique Morente Cotelo, Enrique el Granaíno
Enrique Morente was born in the Albaicín on Christmas Day 1942, the second son of Encarnación Cotelo and Juan Morente. As a boy he was a seise at Granada cathedral, and at eighteen he left for Madrid, where he worked as a bricklayer, shoemaker, barber and seller while singing in the flamenco peñas. He died in Madrid on 13 December 2010.
His recordings set lyrics by poets including Federico García Lorca and Miguel Hernández, and he recorded Omega with the rock group Lagartija Nick. In 2005 he presented Morente sueña la Alhambra, a dark, poetic vision of the monument.
His trace in the city starts in the Albaicín, the quarter where he was born. For the poet he sang, read Federico García Lorca in Granada. Read the full story.
The full story
Places to see
In their time
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Modern Granada
1808–today
French troops held Granada from 1810 until 17 September 1812 and mined the Alhambra's towers on leaving; eight fell. On Christmas night 1884 a Mw 6.7 earthquake wrecked villages around Alhama de Granada, though not the city itself. On 20 July 1936 a garrison revolt took the centre, and the Albaicín held out under artillery fire until the 23rd.
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Washington Irving
1783–1859 Historical figure
Washington Irving, the American writer who lodged in the Alhambra in 1829, and where to find his trace in Granada: a 1914 plaque and a 2009 bronze monument.
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Ángel Ganivet
1865–1898 Historical figure
Ángel Ganivet, Granada-born writer and consul, died in Riga in 1898. Where he rests in San José cemetery, the 1921 Alhambra Wood monument, and his story.
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Manuel de Falla
1876–1946 Historical figure
Manuel de Falla settled in Granada around 1920 and organised the 1922 Concurso de Cante Jondo at the Alhambra. His life and where to find his trace today.
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Ángel Barrios
1882–1964 Historical figure
Ángel Barrios, Granada composer and guitarist (1882-1964), whose family lived on Calle Real, was Falla's landlord. His life and where his trace remains.
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Federico García Lorca
1898–1936 Historical figure
Federico García Lorca, born near Granada in 1898, summered at the Huerta de San Vicente until 1936. His family moved to Granada in 1909; the house is a museum.
Undated
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Carmen de los Mártires
Monument
Seven-hectare Romantic estate on the Alhambra hill with free entry, roaming peacocks, five garden styles, and a Poets Route with verses by García Lorca.
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