Foreign Influence on the Zarzuela: 1700-70 (Volumes I and II).
Bussey, William Muir
1980
Abstract
Much of eighteenth-century Spanish history must be seen against a background of foreign influence, an issue that helped to shape Spanish music, literature, politics, and public opinion. The zarzuelas written between 1700 and 1770 provide a focal point for studying how foreign influence colored Spanish society during the period. One source of foreign influence was Italy, and Spanish theatrical composers during the first half of the century increasingly began to favor new operatic conventions over traditional Spanish techniques. This trend appears in zarzuelas by Sebastian Duron, Antonio Literes, and Jose de Nebra; these works survive in unpublished musical manuscripts of the Royal Palace in Madrid, the Biblioteca Nacional, and the Biblioteca Municipal de Madrid. Changes in musical composition coincided with alterations in dramatic style, and Italian opera's impact on eighteenth-century Spanish playwrights is traceable in zarzuela librettos, most of which are also unpublished. Italian influence had been stimulated by the arrival of significant numbers of Italian actors and singers in 1703. This Italian presence upset the theatrical and political life of Madrid, as chronicled by legal manuscripts found in the Archivos Municipales de Madrid. The account records of the public theatres also help to clarify the progress of Italian opera in Spain's culture. These manuscripts aid in studying tendencies in public taste, and data from these sources supplement views recorded in contemporary literary and musical criticism. Concurrent with the rise of Italian opera was the growing importance of neoclassicism, which emanated primarily from France. Spanish aestheticians established a philosophic basis for Spanish neoclassicism, one which soon led to theatrical reform. The degree to which the public accepted these reforms is analyzed through a study of eighteenth-century literary journals and essays and theatre account books. Neoclassicism and Italian opera sparked long-lasting polemics in Spain. The common issues of both debates are traced in musical and aesthetic treatises. The split in public opinion caused by these two imports produced a reaction in the 1760s, and many Spanish librettists and composers returned to more indigenous styles of drama and music. This trend is seen in the zarzuelas of Ramon de la Cruz and his musical collaborators, Antonio Rosales, Antonio Rodr(')iguez de Hita, and Fabian Pacheco. The popularity of their works is analyzed through the theatres' account books and by reference to contemporary essays, pamphlets, and newspapers. An Appendix provides performance histories of all zarzuelas known to have been performed in the public theatres of Madrid from 1708 to 1770. In addition to the principal printed works pertinent to the musical, literary, and philosophic issues of the time, the Bibliography provides a descriptive catalogue of all extant manuscript scores and librettos of zarzuelas written between 1700 and 1770. It also includes manuscripts that pertain to the capital's theatrical life and the polemics generated by musical and dramatic questions.Types
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