Between Nationalism, Exoticism, and Social Distinction: The Spanish Lyric Drama in the 19th Century

Abstract

Attempts to create a national opera in Spain repeatedly failed throughout the 19th century. Some authors have attributed this phenomenon to a deficit in the nationalization process. Others, to the contrary, have proved that there was a strong sense of Spanish national musicality from the middle of the 19th century onward. This article tries to explain this paradox underlining some essential elements that are not always attended by specialists: the importance of transnational, social, and economic dynamics that interfered in the process of the cultural construction of modern national identities. The projects of the Spanish nationalist intellectuals of the 19th century in relation to the definition of a national music were marked by the Romantic construction of Spanish musical exoticism, the new industry of entertainment, the existential situation of Spanish musicians, the formation of new artistic and musical fields, and the appearance of new forms of social distinction in the aftermath of the Spanish Liberal Revolution of the 1830s.

The social field of music in Medellín

“…"El bambuco instrumental, como aire nacional era reconocido colectivamente como propio por los soldados (…) La Guaneña como bambuco patriótico en la Batalla de Ayacucho, el triunfo en la Batalla de Boyacá se realizó a los compases de la contradanza La vencedora, y la entrada del ejército victorioso a Bogotá bajo los de la contradanza La Libertadora" (Rodríguez, 2012, p. 310) 2. "Revista musical: periódico de música y literatura(1900)(1901), que dirigió el compositor y maestro Gonzalo Vidal, utilizando la primera imprenta de música traída al país" (Rodríguez, 2012, p. 305).…”