The saetas

An expression that goes beyond the transcendent, a cry of the soul born from pain but ending in hope, a moan that starts on balconies to rise to the sky. If you have heard a saeta, you will perfectly understand how we have begun.
Sung as the processions pass by, saetas are one of the most heartbreaking displays of faith in the Holy Week tradition. They are associated with the celebration in Andalusia, specifically in Seville, but we can also hear their sound in Murcia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and localized areas of Castilla y León.

Every year they accompany us during Holy Week and we have taken for granted that they have always been there, eternal like the power they honor, but as in this earthly life, they have an origin, although it is debated. For many, the saeta is a direct heir to the muezzins who, back in the era of Al-Andalus, called the faithful to prayer; others have seen in it echoes of Sephardic psalmodies—perhaps amplified by the pain of the Jews who left Spain or had to abandon their faith to stay in Spain. From mosques and synagogues, they would have jumped to monasteries and abbeys, becoming the so-called , typical of the 16th century and even taken to the Americas by Franciscan brothers. In fact, they were the first to define the saeta as a "warning in the form of a short couplet that was recited in the streets and at certain moments of the missions."

However, those were far from being the ones that give us goosebumps today. Flamenco saetas were born at the end of the 19th century. These prayers out loud then obtained their canonical form, consisting of four octosyllabic verses with a martinete or seguiriya tone in which the third verse is repeated.

Once their origin and spiritual vocation are known, one wonders what these songs have to do with the name "saeta," which in Spanish designates an arrow or a sharp throwing weapon, something so far removed from transcendence and spirituality. Most specialists agree that a well-sung saeta is an arrow aimed at the very heart of God.

With such a background and such meaning, it is no wonder that great poets have been inspired by saetas. Such is the case with Antonio Machado and Federico García Lorca; there have even been attempts to see certain influences of the monks' saetas in the dark work of Bernardo Acevedo as far back as the 17th century.

Being able to listen to them, even without being in Spain, is easy, especially in these times. So, if the reader wishes to begin, they only need to look for the work of performers such as the Niña de los Peines, Pepe Marchena, Manolo Caracol... Practically all flamenco singers have sung one! Even singers as far removed from flamenco as Rocío Dúrcal or Joan Manuel Serrat have dedicated compositions to this genre.

A genre that is more than music or singing... an expression that goes beyond time and spirit.