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| The sound of the Spanish guitar is easily recognizable anywhere. Fernando Sor, Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados, Joaquín Turina, Manuel de Falla and Joaquín Rodrigo are all Spanish composers whose work for the guitar has completely revolutionized this instrument. |
An inescapable part of the Spanish image is flamenco, the traditional music from Andalusia, which flavors so many of Spain's other musical genres. Flamenco itself is really a tripartite art form: it integrates the vocals with the guitar, accompanied by the rhythm of the dance. Some could argue that the clapping is another form; whichever way, it certainly is an integral part of it, and one not easily imitated by the untrained! Flamenco originated in Andalusia and is considered to be a descendant of Moorish musical forms, though it is certainly heavily influenced by Gypsy sounds, Byzantine church music, and possibly even Jewish music, and was in particular developed by the Andalusian Roma people. It is very much a musical performance art - similar to the Portuguese fado and the Argentinian tango.
Paco de Lucía, born in Cádiz in 1947, ranks among the world's greatest guitarists. A master of the flamenco guitar, he, along with the German born and lesser known Ottmar Liebert, is the leading figure of modern flamenco. Interestingly, he is also recognized as an excellent jazz and classical guitarist, which is very rare for flamenco guitarists, who as a rule tend not to be able to play other genres well. Radio Tarifa is a modern Andalusian band of great fame in the world-music circles, with a very particular modern sound combining Arabic influences and flamenco with a rhythm marked with heavy syncopation.
The Moors, who during their rule allowed freedom of worship to both the Christians and the Jews, also allowed the development of the music associated with both religions. By the 8th century, music notation was developed for Christian sacred music, and before the Reconquista there was a purely Spanish Christian music, called the Mozarabic Chant, different from the Gregorian Chant which was brought in later. During this earliest period of music, secular music also experienced Moorish influence. Of this there is very little proof, as little has survived to this day. The Cantigas de Santa Maria dating from the 13th century is one of the largest surviving collections of medieval songs: as the name indicates, each song at least mentions the Virgin Mary. Another significant collection dating from the 14th century is the Catalan Llibre Vermell de Montserrat.
The monks from the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos won international renown with their Gregorian chant albums. The most famous was Chant, reaching triple platinum sales and entering the top five on the Billboard 200 music chart in the early 1990s. Their best selling Gregorian chant album ever resulted in odd occurrences for the monks from this quiet post: frenzied fans scaled the walls of the monastery in hopes of catching a glimpse of their stars!
The early Renaissance is marked mostly by the various Cancioneros - songbooks - and organ compositions (namely by Antonio de Cabezón). The beginning of the 16th century saw the introduction of polyphony in the vocal compositions, very similar to others from the rest of Europe, the Netherlands in particular. Music for vihuela - the Spanish precursor of the guitar - is one of the greatest accomplishments of that time. Tomás Luis de Victoria, the Spanish late Renaissance composer is considered to be on par with Palestrina and Lassus. The Zarzuela, a type of musical, developed in the 17th century and remains one of the characteristically Spanish musical forms to this day.
A land of regional contrasts, Spain also has several distinct types of folk music. These were not popular under Franco, who sought the homogenization of the nation - the typical Spain of flamenco and bullfights. As such, folk revival is associated with the arrival of democracy, when the various regions could celebrate their own cultural heritage and diversity. Bagpipes are surprisingly ever-present in much of Spain: among others in Aragonese, Galician, Cantabrian and Asturian music. Different percussion instruments are also characteristic of the various regions: triangles, castanets, tambourines... Music from the neighboring countries flavors certain regions: Portuguese music is echoed in Extremadura and Arabic in Murcia. The gypsies in Catalonia have invented their own rumba catalana, and the area is also coming up with modern, relevant yet local music forms. Yet some of the most distinct folk music comes from the northwestern part of Spain: the area's Celtic heritage is strongly felt in it, and local festivals pay homage to it. In fact, Celtic music is no.1 on the Galician music charts, not pop rock. This is certainly helped by Carlos Núńez, the Galician prince of bagpipes, who among his accomplishments can state having worked with The Chieftains and Sinéad O'Connor.
