Spain’s National Identity in
Music
The songs in this recital are in
Castillian Spanish, the national language of Spain, but they have been
individually chosen to reflect the accent and idiom of all the Spanish regions.
Each one has its own rich cultural heritage and folklore. The “Nationalist” composers
included in this recital found musical inspiration in regional folk music and
their compositions created enduring images of Spain as a whole.
Until the end of the C19th, Italian music was the only
classical influence in Spain. There was no indigenous Spanish musical identity
and Zarzuela (operettas) was the first attempt at creating a national style. We
might compare them to Gilbert & Sullivan operas, both in humour and popular
appeal; they contained political satire, which needed continual revision, and
they never received the international attention and prestige of Italian Opera.
Spain’s National music grew from the exploration of its
folk melodies by composers with a strong sense of their Spanish identity.
Mañuel de Falla was the central figure in the rapid musical development of
“Nationalism”. His contemporary musical language and progressive style was
attuned to the wave of “Nationalist” music in Europe. He sought to create a
national musical style for Spain, as Grieg had for Norway, Bartok for Hungary,
Elgar for Britain and Dvorăk for Czechoslovakia.
Many Spanish composers were influenced by the French
impressionist music of Debussy and Ravel and also by Stravinsky. De Falla,
Turina and Guridi were among the Spanish musicians who went to Paris, either to
attend the prestigious Schola Cantorum, or to participate in the European
musical society that had converged on Paris. They socialised with influential
French artists and musicians like Dukas, Ravel and Debussy and fellow Spaniards
Albeniz and Granados, who first brought Spanish music to international
attention.
World War 1 prompted the return to Spain of its musicians
and composers. Granados was an unfortunate victim of the war: he drowned while
trying to save his wife, when a German submarine torpedoed his ship in The
Channel. Musical activity in Spain, at this time became polarised between
Madrid and Barcelona. There was increasing interest in “national” music in
almost all European countries. Concerts and premieres were organised to pay homage
to Spain’s artists and musicians, in an effort to distance the brutality of the
War from daily life.
The Civil War completely transformed Spanish society and
its institutions. It led to political, economic and musical exile and
isolation. Some artists, composers, writers and poets were killed or executed
during the War and many went in to exile. This exodus meant that Spain fell
behind the rest of the world in its cultural development. Composers and
musicians were dispersed and isolated and therefore unable to realise all their
creative potential.
By the 1930’s, Spain had no
national musical infrastructure to disseminate and nurture music and musicians,
so many musicians developed and created their work in relative isolation. Various composers and musicians were
arbitrarily of favoured and disfavoured but were mostly ignored by the new
regime. The national focus was directed towards Visual Arts and Literature.
This created a lack of teachers for the next generation of musicians.
World
War 2 and the US blockade left Spain isolated well into the 1960’s. Today Spain
is still emerging from the effects of its artistic and cultural exile and
“Nationalism” is no longer relevant to its musical development. The global
village brings new influences and opportunities with greater artistic freedom
to Spain’s musicians, yet the legacy of De Falla lives on in the spirit and
heart of Spanish music.
©Copyright Helena Kean
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