Last 8th March, in the high school Francisco Salzillo, third dissemination event of the project "El español: pasaporte entre culturas" was celebrated with our students.
The verses and melodies composed by Federico García Lorca, poet worked by our Finnish, Greek and Spanish students, joined again.
Hilkka, Irini, Adela, María, Haris, ….
More than one year ago, I was standing right here giving the opening
speech of this project and I felt afraid of saying your names as I didn’t know
you very well and I didn’t want to call you for the wrong name. Today, although
we haven’t met very often during this time, I consider myself your friend and I
hope you feel the same about me. The time Mercedes and I spent in Helsinki
together with María and Haris was amazing. I won’t forget it. The same happens
with my colleagueS that have shared some time with you in Crete and Helsinki. I
have evidence that they and the students who travelled with them had a great
time. Thank you very much. Our school welcomes you again. 
I
also want to thank our students’ families for their participation and
collaboration making this project possible. Without their support this wouldn’t
have been possible. And what can I say about our students? Seeing you with your
friends from Greece and Finland make me feel that it was worth all the work and
the effort made to carry out this project during these two years. 
Faced
with this process of poetic creation, he was very strict: "If it is true that I am a poet by the grace
of God, or the devil, I am also a poet because of the grace of technique and
effort, and of realizing what a poem is. " That is, inspiration and conscious
work. "Inspiration," he
said, "gives the image, but not the
dress. And to dress it, it is necessary to observe the quality and the sonority
of the word". It is not a coincidence, then, that in Lorca’s poetry,
passion and perfection, the most human and aesthetically purity coexist This is
to a large extent due to his deep roots in the tradition. Tradition and culture are also twinned in his work: people's lives and
songs encourage his wise and demanding creation.
At
that time, what could two Greek poets, Yorgos Seferis and Odiseas Elitis, know
about the work of their Spanish artistic brother? Almost nothing, eight poems
at the most, translated into modern Greek by Nikos Casandsakis. Elitis, in
1938, makes a brief reference to Lorca, among other foreign poets who "...
either they belong to surrealism or not,
they have shown their strength in the eternal topics of nature, love and death."
In the following years, he reads Romancero gitano with the intention to
transfer the deep charm of the Andalusian poet to Greek. Within the atmosphere
of the Athens of occupation (1941-1944), an unpleasant atmosphere but also
ecstatic, full of spontaneous heroism, hunger, death and hopes, the
relationship od Elitis with Lorca deepens.
The
historical circumstances could condition the fact that the Greek poet saw in Lorca’s
work and vital career plenty of social, aesthetic and personal coincidences as
to turn him into source of his inspiration. However, one of the most surprising
cultural phenomena of the modern world is the rise of Hispanist studies. The
reasons that explain it are complex, but the intellectuals of the exile have
played an essential role. Finding these lively and restless circles at the
Sorbonne, or in Mexico, or in the shadow of the Sorolla of the Hispanic Society
of New York is in some way natural. But meeting the same concerns bordering on
the architectural creations of Alvar Aalto in Finland is a reason for meditation
out loud. Already in the 70s, the name of Garcia Lorca appears on the
billboards of its national theatre.
His
significance reaches the music with singers like
Anneli Saaristo, and composers of the stature of Einojuhani Rautavara
(1928-2016) who creates Suite Lorca,
based on five poems of the poet from Granada. This interest in the Spanish
language and its culture began in the thirties of the last century when Spanish
lessons are offered in the Helsinki School of Economics and, around the
professor Arturo Lángross, the first group of students interested in Hispanic studies
emerges. During the 1970’s, the Spanish teachers taught differences between “ser”
y “estar”, and in order to explain a Spanish idiom, they opened a page of an
edition of the Lazarillo de Tormes.
As an example of the universal fame of this Spanish poet, we have the reference that the Canadian musician Leonard Cohen made in 2011, when he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize:
The verses and melodies composed by Federico García Lorca, poet worked by our Finnish, Greek and Spanish students, joined again.
Ms. Purificación Martínez, principal of IES Francisco Salzillo, opened oficially this act.
Let´s read her works about our project and about the trascendence of this Spanish poet in the three cultures.
Hilkka, Irini, Adela, María, Haris, ….
More than one year ago, I was standing right here giving the opening
speech of this project and I felt afraid of saying your names as I didn’t know
you very well and I didn’t want to call you for the wrong name. Today, although
we haven’t met very often during this time, I consider myself your friend and I
hope you feel the same about me. The time Mercedes and I spent in Helsinki
together with María and Haris was amazing. I won’t forget it. The same happens
with my colleagueS that have shared some time with you in Crete and Helsinki. I
have evidence that they and the students who travelled with them had a great
time. Thank you very much. Our school welcomes you again.
Students
from Finland, students from Greece, welcome and thank you for being here this
week. I also want to thank you and your families very especially for having
made the stay of our students in your countries really pleasant and happy. I
hope they are up to scratch and you are feeling at least as happy here as they
were with you at home.
I
also want to thank our students’ families for their participation and
collaboration making this project possible. Without their support this wouldn’t
have been possible. And what can I say about our students? Seeing you with your
friends from Greece and Finland make me feel that it was worth all the work and
the effort made to carry out this project during these two years.
I
want to thank and congratulate the teachers from our school: Isabel, Elena,
Pepe, Javier, Bárbara, Fina, Inma, Belén, Guiomar, Ángel, Luis, Mercedes and Petra, for the
extraordinary effort and work you have developed over the course of these two
years. You have spared no effort or hesitated to devote part of your free time
to meetings and other necessities so that this can be a successful European
project.
Now,
it’s time to get to the point. Last year, Mercedes told me that I should do the
opening speech for the first transnational meeting. The topic was Federico
García Lorca. Last month, Mercedes “suggested” that I should do this speech
again and the topic was about the same person, and in English. A very difficult
task, but I’ll try to do my best.
Lorca’s
personality offers a double face: on the one hand, its overwhelming vitality,
overflowing with charm; on the other hand,- deeper - an intimate discomfort, a
pain of living, a feeling of frustration that will appear throughout his work.
Perhaps
the best way to enter his world is to read carefully the poem Romance de la pena negra, Romance of the black grief, which Lorca
considered the most representative of his gypsy Romancero: Frenetic axes of cocks / digging in search of the dawn/ when down from
the dark foothills/ comes Soledad Montoya. / Yellow copper of her flesh
/smelling of horses and murk. /Smoky anvils of her breasts,/ wailing out rounded songs." From now on,
Soledad looks for - says Lorca- "my joy and my person" but she finds a character that
represents the voice of moderation, limits imposed either by reality or by
conventions. That uneasiness, that frustration is present in his poetry, along
with manifestations of bustling creation, full of grace, even playful.
Faced
with this process of poetic creation, he was very strict: "If it is true that I am a poet by the grace
of God, or the devil, I am also a poet because of the grace of technique and
effort, and of realizing what a poem is. " That is, inspiration and conscious
work. "Inspiration," he
said, "gives the image, but not the
dress. And to dress it, it is necessary to observe the quality and the sonority
of the word". It is not a coincidence, then, that in Lorca’s poetry,
passion and perfection, the most human and aesthetically purity coexist This is
to a large extent due to his deep roots in the tradition. Tradition and culture are also twinned in his work: people's lives and
songs encourage his wise and demanding creation.
After
his stay in New York, an experience that will profoundly mark him, he returned
to Spain and founded La Barraca, a university theatre group with which he
toured some Spanish towns performing classical plays. In 1933 he made a
triumphant tour in Buenos Aires, where his dramas obtained a great success.
And, again in Spain, he continues his tireless work as a poet, playwright,
stage director, lecturer ... This work earned him much admiration and tribute,
but also malicious envy. It is this approach to the people that attracts
hatred, which led to his assassination at the beginning of the Civil War, in
August 1936.
At
that time, what could two Greek poets, Yorgos Seferis and Odiseas Elitis, know
about the work of their Spanish artistic brother? Almost nothing, eight poems
at the most, translated into modern Greek by Nikos Casandsakis. Elitis, in
1938, makes a brief reference to Lorca, among other foreign poets who "...
either they belong to surrealism or not,
they have shown their strength in the eternal topics of nature, love and death."
In the following years, he reads Romancero gitano with the intention to
transfer the deep charm of the Andalusian poet to Greek. Within the atmosphere
of the Athens of occupation (1941-1944), an unpleasant atmosphere but also
ecstatic, full of spontaneous heroism, hunger, death and hopes, the
relationship od Elitis with Lorca deepens.
He
begins to see Lorca as an essential milestone in his poetic progress and sides
him with himself as an ally in the struggle of the poetic avant-garde movement
against those who long for the past. It is then when he translates seven poems
of Romancero gitano. As time went by, he will transform the poems into lines to
be sung, will simplify complex expressions, will add rhymes, will change
titles. He gave these songs to Mikis Theodorakis and the album was released in
1971. It was necessary that the poetry passed through the loudspeaker or the
recording to conquer wide audience. Love, dreams, the Moon, the Mediterranean
sea, the popular culture and Greek tragedy are part of a magical world, shared
by these two great poets. The Andalusian poet will eternally accompany the poet
of the Aegean, where Greece and Spain meet. His memory remains very present from
his entry into the Greek world till nowadays.
The
historical circumstances could condition the fact that the Greek poet saw in Lorca’s
work and vital career plenty of social, aesthetic and personal coincidences as
to turn him into source of his inspiration. However, one of the most surprising
cultural phenomena of the modern world is the rise of Hispanist studies. The
reasons that explain it are complex, but the intellectuals of the exile have
played an essential role. Finding these lively and restless circles at the
Sorbonne, or in Mexico, or in the shadow of the Sorolla of the Hispanic Society
of New York is in some way natural. But meeting the same concerns bordering on
the architectural creations of Alvar Aalto in Finland is a reason for meditation
out loud. Already in the 70s, the name of Garcia Lorca appears on the
billboards of its national theatre.
As an example of the universal fame of this Spanish poet, we have the reference that the Canadian musician Leonard Cohen made in 2011, when he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize:
“You know of my deep association and
confraternity with the poet Federico García Lorca. I could say that when I was
a young man, an adolescent, and I hungered for a voice, I studied the English
poets and I knew their work well and I copied their style, but I couldn’t find
the voice. It was only when I read, even in translation, the words of Lorca when
I understood that there was a voice. I wouldn’t copy his voice, I wouldn’t
dare, but he gave me permission to find a voice, to locate a voice, that is, to
locate a self, a self that is not fixed, a voice that struggles for its own
existence”.
Then
he added that he had a voice but no instrument. “I did not have a song then”. But one day in the sixties he heard a
Spanish guy play the guitar. He asked him to teach him to play like that. In
three days he learned the six chords on which many Andalusian songs are based.
The fourth, the boy did not return. He would find out that the boy took his
life. He felt a great sadness. That's how the great musician found the voice
and the instrument.
As
I re-read these words of Cohen, I remembered the relationship that Lorca
established between the goblin, the angel, and the muse. He said that Germany
has, with exceptions, muse, and Italy has a permanent angel, but Spain has a
goblin, as a country of ancient music and dance and as a country open to death.
The muse stands still. The angel shakes his hair. The goblin ... Where's the
goblin? Garcia Lorca put it in these lines: Leave
the hard ivory of my head, / pity me, break my duel! / That I am love, that I
am nature! (From Oh secret voice of
dark love ...)
THANK
YOU VERY MUCH
Dª Purificación Martínez Carrillo
Principal IES Francisco Salzillo
