The Music of Spain

(From my Spanish Class)

La Música de España

By Abigail O.

Spain is a beautiful country in almost every aspect. The landscapes, the culture, the arts, the list goes on. Spaniards over all seem very bold, and that shows up in their arts especially, in paintings and even music. Music tells a lot about a country as you will find out.

Early in the Renaissance, instrumental music in Spain had influence from Arabic music. Polyphonic vocal style music became popular in the early 16^th century in Spain, and it was somewhat similar to the composing styles of the Franco-Flemish. The classical music culture in Spain was drawing to an end in the 18^th-20^th century. The new style of music was guitar compositions by popular Spanish musicians like Francisco Tárrega, Fernando Sor and Miguel Llobet.

Currently, the musical creativity of Spain has changed quite a bit from the 16^th century and has been leaning more towards folk and pop styles. The popular style has influences from British and American music, especially rock and roll. The music styles can be categorized by regions in Spain, as follows:

• Music of Andalusia
• Music of Aragon
• Music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias
• Music of the Balearic Islands
• Basque Country music
• Music of the Canary Islands
• Music of Castile, Madrid and León
• Music of Catalonia
• Music of Extremadura
• Music of Murcia
• Music of Navarre and La Rioja
• Music of Valencia

You’ve probably heard of flamenco, whether you know what it is or not. It is an Andalusian style of music and it consists of three parts: cante (the song), baile (the dance) and guitarra (guitar). This style dates all the way back to 1774, and it was supported most often by gypsies. Flamenco had some low times for quite a few years, but it is regaining its popularity and is growingly acknowledged by musicologists and music conservatories. The other styles of Spanish music consist of various instruments. The more common instruments such as drums, guitars, tambourines, and accordions are seen in multiple styles. The lesser known instruments like wooden fifes, shawms, and even church bells can be included in multiple styles of music. Obviously, this music can have wide variations of sound, but they all have Spanish style as the base.

There are so many types of music, not just in Spain, but all over the world. God has truly blessed us with the gift of music, and every genre has its uniqueness that we can appreciate. Spanish music has truly inherited a lot of style from generations past, but they still use more modern influences in their music, making it a wonderful blend of history and art, yet in a song.