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- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Capital comic opera: thezarzuela
Madrid probably gets a bit dispirited when the rest of Spain carps on
about its regional music. It doesn’t have much to shout about. However,
one form has emerged, one style to which the capital lays claim.The
zarzuelais an operetta or musical comedy, a bit like a Spanish attempt at
Gilbert and Sullivan with its mix of music, song and dialogue.The form
dates back 350 years but was particularly popular in the mid to late 19th
century, when two variations, the seriousgénero grandeand the more
comedicgénero chico, arose.Thezarzuelarapidly spread from Madrid,
and each part of Spain developed its own, regionalised version. Most
Spanish composers have tried their hand at thezarzuela, but Federico
Chueca was probably the 19thcentury master. His satiricalLa Gran Vía
(1886) stands out as the pick of the bunch, its story set around the
construction of the busy Madrid street of the title.
The man behind
the music
Albéniz, Granados and
de Falla all studied
with Felipe Pedrell, a
musicologist fascinated
with Spanish folk music.
He convinced each that
they should be mining
Spain’s wealth of
traditional regional
music and mixing it with
current European tastes.
