A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Seguidilla

by William Barclay Squire

SEGUIDILLA (sometimes written Siguidilla), a popular national dance of Spain. The origin of both name and dance are uncertain; it existed in La Mancha in the time of Cervantes (see Don Quixote, Part II, chap. 38), but there is no evidence to show whether it is indigenous, or introduced into Spain by the Moors. It is however certain that from La Mancha it spread all over Spain, and it is still danced in both town and country. Seguidillas are divided into three kinds—Seguidillas Manchegas, the original form of the dance, in which it assumes a gay and lively character; Seguidillas Boleras,^[1] more measured and stately; and Seguidillas Gitanas, danced very slowly and sentimentally. To these some writers add a fourth kind, the Seguidillas Taleadas, said to be a combination of the original Seguidilla with the Cachucha. The music is written in 3-4 or 3-8 time, usually in a minor key, and is performed on the guitar with occasionally a flute, violin, or Castanet accompaniment. The coplas, or words sung by the musicians, are written in couplets of four short lines followed by an estrevillo or refrain of three lines, but some coplas want this latter feature. Both music and words often partake of the character of an improvisation, the former remarkable for strange and sudden modulations, and the latter treating of both serious and comic subjects. A collection of coplas was published at the end of the last century by N. Zamacola, writing under the pseudonym of Don Preciso. From the introduction to this book, the following quaint description of the Seguidilla is translated: 'So soon as two young people of the opposite sexes present themselves standing face to face at a distance of about two varas^[2] in the middle of the room, the 'ritornelo' or prelude of the music begins; then the seguidilla is insinuated by the voice—if it be a manchega, by singing the first line of the copla, if it be a bolera, by singing two lines, which must only take up four bars. The guitar follows, playing a pasacalle;^[3] and at the fourth bar the seguidilla begins to be sung. Then the dance breaks out with castanets or crotolas,^[4] running on for a space of nine bars, with which the first part concludes. The guitar continues playing the pasacalle, during which the dancers change to opposite positions by means of a very deliberate and simple promenade ('paseo'). While singing again, at the beginning of the fourth bar, each goes on for nine bars more, making the variations and differences of their respective schools, which forms the second part. Again they change places, and upon each dancer returning to the spot where they began to dance, the third part goes on in the same way as the second, and on arriving at the ninth bar, the voice, the instrument, and the castanets cease all at once, and as if impromptu, the room remaining in silence, and the dancers standing immovable in various beautiful attitudes, which is what we call "well stopped" (Bien parado).' Space will not allow us to give an example of the music which accompanies this beautiful dance. In Book IV. of Luigi Borghi's 'Opera Dances' (London, 1783) is a seguidilla modified for theatrical representation, and in the First Act of 'Carmen' there is a Spanish air which Bizet has entitled 'Seguidille.' Better examples than these will be found in Mendel's Lexicon (sub voce Seguidilla), and in the Appendix to Part I. of Mariano Soriano Fuertes's 'Historia de la Musica Española' (Madrid, 1855–1859), in which specimens are given of the varieties of the dance. With regard to the words, the following copla (from Don Preciso's 'Colleccion de Coplas,' Madrid, 1799) may serve as an example:

El Lunes me enamoro,
Mártes lo digo,
Miércoles me declaro,
Jueves consigo:
Viérnes doy zelos
Y Sabado y Domingo
Busco Amor nuevo.^[5]

[ W. B. S. ]

1. Not to be confounded with the Bolero, said to have been invented in 1780 by Don Sebastian Zerezo.
2. 1 vara = 34 inches.
3. Literally 'street-pass'; any popular street-song. See Passacaglia. Vol. ii. p. 661a.
4. A kind of Castanet.
5. Translation: 'On Monday I fall in love, on Tuesday I say so, Wednesday I declare myself, Thursday I succeed: Friday I cause jealousy, and Saturday and Sunday I seek a fresh love."