Federico García Lorca: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Lorca was a trained pianist and folk-song collector before he was a famous poet: his Andalusian ear came from Manuel de Falla's kitchen in Granada and from cante jondo singers, and he repaid it by recording Spanish folk songs at the piano. This mix maps all three careers — poetry, theatre, and music — from the Alhambra to Harlem, and follows the thread to the flamenco singers who later set his verses.

The Kynda mix for Federico García Lorca

• Key Influence · El amor brujo by Manuel de Falla (1915). Falla moved to Granada in 1920 and became Lorca's neighbour, mentor and co-organiser of the 1922 Concurso de Cante Jondo, the festival meant to rescue deep song from tourist corruption. El amor brujo is the model Lorca worked from: Andalusian gypsy material refracted through modernist harmony rather than quoted as folklore. Lorca's Poema del cante jondo, written in 1921, is the poetic answer to Falla's argument that duende survives only when re-forged.
• Influencia Obscura · Cancionero musical popular español by Felipe Pedrell (1922). Pedrell was Falla's teacher and the architect of Spanish musical nationalism; his four-volume folk-song collection was the reference work behind the Granada cante jondo revival Lorca joined. Lorca himself collected and harmonised traditional songs at the piano, and the Pedrell–Falla doctrine — that authentic national art is built from gathered peasant melody, not imitated — underwrites his Canciones españolas antiguas arrangements.
• Local Roots · Granada la bella by Ángel Ganivet (1896). Ganivet's lament for a Granada being modernised into blandness was foundational text for El Rinconcillo, the café tertulia Lorca joined as a student at the Café Alameda around 1915. The group's defence of the Albaicín, the carmenes and Moorish Granada against municipal 'improvement' shaped Lorca's lifelong sense of his city as a buried, Arab, melancholy place — the Granada of his elegies and Doña Rosita.
• Beyond the Medium · Un chien andalou by Luis Buñuel (1929). Lorca shared the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid with Buñuel and Dalí through the 1920s, and famously took the title as a jab at himself, the 'Andalusian dog'. Whatever the intent, the film's logic of mutilated eyes, ants and non-sequitur dream editing is the same vocabulary Lorca was reaching for in Poeta en Nueva York and his unstageable plays El público and Así que pasen cinco años.
• Peer · Marinero en tierra by Rafael Alberti (1925). Alberti won the Premio Nacional de Literatura with this book the same year Lorca was completing the gypsy ballads, and the two were the twin popular-traditional voices of the Generation of '27 — both fusing cancionero folk metre with avant-garde imagery, both Andalusians in Madrid. Alberti later wrote elegies for Lorca and spent his exile keeping the murdered poet's name politically alive.
• From the Canon · Poema del cante jondo by Federico García Lorca (1931). Written in 1921 around the Concurso de Cante Jondo he organised with Falla, this is the hinge of the whole career: siguiriya, soleá and saeta rebuilt as short modernist lyrics, with the guitar, the knife and the weeping woman established as permanent Lorca machinery. It explains his music more than any other book — these are poems shaped by the melodic contours of songs he had transcribed at the piano.
• Key Collaborator · Colección de canciones populares españolas by La Argentinita (1931). Encarnación López Júlvez, the dancer-singer known as La Argentinita, recorded these five discs of old Spanish songs with Lorca himself accompanying at the piano in his own harmonisations — the only surviving documents of him as a performing musician. Their partnership also produced dance projects and a shared circle with Falla; the records are why Lorca's Wikipedia line reads 'poet, playwright and composer'.
• Legacy · La leyenda del tiempo by Camarón de la Isla (1979). Camarón set Lorca's 'El sueño' and verses from Así que pasen cinco años over electric guitar, sitar and bass, scandalising purists and permanently reopening flamenco to outside sound. The album is now the dividing line in modern flamenco history, and it is Lorca's text that carries it — proof that the poet who theorised duende became raw material for the singers he had theorised about.

What influenced Federico García Lorca

• Juan Ramón Jiménez. The article describes Jiménez as a mentor to García Lorca. (also via Platero y yo) “He was taken under the wing of the poet Juan Ramón Jiménez , becoming close to playwright Eduardo Marquina and Gregorio Martínez Sierra” (Wikipedia)
• Cubism. The article identifies Cubist syntax as an influence on García Lorca’s poetry and drawings. “Both his poetry and drawings reflected the influence of traditional Andalusian motifs, Cubist syntax, and a preoccupation with sexual identity.” (Wikipedia)
• Platero y yo by Juan Ramón Jiménez (1914). Platero y yo (Juan Ramón Jiménez) — titan for Federico García Lorca “He was taken under the wing of the poet Juan Ramón Jiménez, becoming close to playwright Eduardo Marquina and Gregorio Martínez Sierra, the Director of Madrid's Teatro Eslava.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Ludwig van Beethoven. Scores by Beethoven are identified as an early artistic inspiration. “His first artistic inspirations arose from scores by Claude Debussy , Frédéric Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven .” (Wikipedia)
• Frédéric Chopin. Scores by Chopin are identified as an early artistic inspiration. “His first artistic inspirations arose from scores by Claude Debussy , Frédéric Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven .” (Wikipedia)
• Antonio Segura Mesa. García Lorca took six years of piano lessons from Segura Mesa. “When he was 11 years old, he began six years of piano lessons with Antonio Segura Mesa, a harmony teacher in the local conservatory and a composer.” (Wikipedia)
• Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel (1929). Un chien andalou (Luis Buñuel) — culture for Federico García Lorca “=== As a young writer === At the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, García Lorca befriended Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí and many other creative artists who were, or would become, influential across Spain.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Claude Debussy. Scores by Debussy are identified as an early artistic inspiration. “His first artistic inspirations arose from scores by Claude Debussy , Frédéric Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven .” (Wikipedia)
• El amor brujo by Manuel de Falla (1915). El amor brujo (Manuel de Falla) — titan for Federico García Lorca “Later, with his friendship with composer Manuel de Falla, Spanish folklore became his muse.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Black and Tan Fantasy by Duke Ellington. Black and Tan Fantasy (Duke Ellington) — culture for Federico García Lorca (musicbrainz.org)
• Soledades by Luis de Góngora (1613). Soledades (Luis de Góngora) — titan for Federico García Lorca (wikidata.org)
• Debla / seguiriyas recordings by Manuel Torre (1909). Debla / seguiriyas recordings (Manuel Torre) — ghost for Federico García Lorca “At the music festival in June, he met the celebrated Manuel Torre, a flamenco cantaor.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (1855). Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman) — culture for Federico García Lorca (openlibrary.org)
• Cancionero musical popular español by Felipe Pedrell (1922). Cancionero musical popular español (Felipe Pedrell) — ghost for Federico García Lorca

Peers and kindred spirits

• Manuel de Falla. García Lorca joined Falla in promoting the Concurso de Cante Jondo. (also via El amor brujo) “The next year in Granada he also collaborated with Falla and others on the musical production of a play for children, La niña que riega la albahaca y el príncipe preguntón ( The Girl that Waters the Basil and the Inquisitive Prince ) ada…” (Wikipedia)
• Salvador Dalí (1904). Dalí designed scenery for Lorca's play Mariana Pineda. (also via Ode to Salvador Dalí, Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood) “In theater, Dalí designed the scenery for Federico García Lorca 's 1927 romantic play Mariana Pineda .” (Wikipedia)
• Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood by Salvador Dalí (1927). Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood (Salvador Dalí) — collaborator for Federico García Lorca “García Lorca also had a close emotional relationship for a time with surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, who said he rejected García Lorca's sexual advances.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Generation of '27. The article identifies García Lorca as a member of the Generation of '27. “García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27 , a group consisting mostly of poets who introduced the tenets of European movements” (Wikipedia)
• La Barraca. García Lorca was appointed director of La Barraca. “In 1931, García Lorca was appointed director of a student theatre company, Teatro Universitario La Barraca (The Shack).” (Wikipedia)
• Cántico by Jorge Guillén (1928). Cántico (Jorge Guillén) — peer for Federico García Lorca “This allowed him to make the acquaintance of the younger members of the Generation – such as Rafael Alberti and Federico García Lorca.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Francisco García Lorca. His brother Francisco helped select poems for Libro de poemas. “García Lorca's first book of poems, Libro de poemas , was published in 1921, collecting work written from 1918, and selected with the help of his brother Francisco (nicknamed Paquito).” (Wikipedia)
• Colección de canciones populares españolas by La Argentinita (1931). Colección de canciones populares españolas (La Argentinita) — collaborator for Federico García Lorca “Among her early performances was the 1920 premiere of Federico García Lorca's musical play El maleficio de la mariposa as "the Butterfly".” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Gregorio Martínez Sierra. García Lorca wrote and staged his first play at Sierra’s invitation. “In 1919–20, at Sierra's invitation, he wrote and staged his first play, The Butterfly's Evil Spell .” (Wikipedia)
• Marinero en tierra by Rafael Alberti (1925). Marinero en tierra (Rafael Alberti) — peer for Federico García Lorca “García Lorca read out this manifesto at a banquet in honour of fellow poet Rafael Alberti on 9 February 1936.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• El sombrero de tres picos by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (1874). El sombrero de tres picos (Pedro Antonio de Alarcón) — geography for Federico García Lorca (openlibrary.org)
• Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega (1619). Fuente Ovejuna (Lope de Vega) — collaborator for Federico García Lorca (wikidata.org)
• Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving (1832). Tales of the Alhambra (Washington Irving) — geography for Federico García Lorca (openlibrary.org)
• La realidad y el deseo by Luis Cernuda (1936). La realidad y el deseo (Luis Cernuda) — peer for Federico García Lorca (openlibrary.org)
• Granada la bella by Ángel Ganivet (1896). Granada la bella (Ángel Ganivet) — geography for Federico García Lorca

Who Federico García Lorca influenced

• Pablo Neruda (1904). García Lorca's execution was the key event radicalizing Neruda's politics. (also via Romancero gitano) “the most important catalyst was the execution of García Lorca by forces loyal to the dictator Francisco Franco” (Wikipedia)
• Luis Buñuel. Buñuel credited García Lorca's poetry with opening a new world to him. (also via Romancero gitano, Un Chien Andalou) “he would read me his poems. He read slowly and beautifully, and through him I began to discover a wholly new world.” (Wikipedia)
• The Demon and the Angel. Hirsch's book is built around Lorca's concept of duende, the source of its central idea. (also via Poet in New York) “the dark inspiration that Garcia Lorca talked about when he talked about something called Dwayne Day” (Bookworm (public broadcasting))
• Rainer Maria Rilke (1875). The host draws a direct conceptual connection between Rilke's notion of the angel and Lorca's duende. “I had not considered that what Rilka talks about, when he talks about being taken by an angel, was what Lorca was talking about by the spirit, giving into the spirit of the Dwayne Day.” (Bookworm (public broadcasting))
• Ananda Sukarlan. Sukarlan composed music based on García Lorca’s poems. “The Indonesian composer Ananda Sukarlan has composed music based on some of his poems in 2016 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his death” (Wikipedia)
• The Horseman's Song. The novel’s plot centers on the investigation of García Lorca’s murder. “The plot of the novel centres around the investigation into Garcia Lorca's murder.” (Wikipedia)
• The Martyrdom of F. Garcia Lorca. Campbell’s named poem takes García Lorca as its subject. “In his poem "The Martyrdom of F. Garcia Lorca", Campbell wrote, Roy Campbell, ''Selected Poems'', [[Henry Regnery Company]], 1955.” (Wikipedia)
• I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen (1988). I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen) — legacy for Federico García Lorca “He became especially interested in the Spanish poetry of Federico García Lorca.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Bride. The article lists The Bride among films based on Blood Wedding. (via Blood Wedding) “v t e Federico García Lorca 's Blood Wedding Films Blood Wedding (1938) Blood Wedding (1977) Blood Wedding (1981) The Bride (2015)” (Wikipedia)
• Rukmavati Ki Haveli. The article lists Rukmavati Ki Haveli among films based on The House of Bernarda Alba. (via The House of Bernarda Alba) “v t e Federico García Lorca 's The House of Bernarda Alba Films The House of Bernarda Alba (1982) The House of Bernarda Alba (1987) Rukmavati Ki Haveli (1991)” (Wikipedia)
• Las Hermanas. The article lists the ballet Las Hermanas under works related to The House of Bernarda Alba. (via The House of Bernarda Alba) “Rukmavati Ki Haveli (1991) Stage Las Hermanas (ballet) Bernarda Alba (musical)” (Wikipedia)
• Bernarda Alba. The article lists the musical Bernarda Alba under works related to The House of Bernarda Alba. (via The House of Bernarda Alba) “Rukmavati Ki Haveli (1991) Stage Las Hermanas (ballet) Bernarda Alba (musical)” (Wikipedia)
• La leyenda del tiempo by Camarón de la Isla (1979). La leyenda del tiempo (Camarón de la Isla) — legacy for Federico García Lorca (musicbrainz.org)
• Omega by Enrique Morente (1996). Omega (Enrique Morente) — legacy for Federico García Lorca “Later on, he would record flamenco songs with lyrics by Federico García Lorca, John of the Cross, Lope de Vega, Al-Mutamid, Antonio Machado and Manuel Machado, Jorge Guillén, and others.” (en.wikipedia.org)