Opera and Zarzuela Two Spanish pamphlets from 1864 by Rafael Hernando and Francisco Asenjo Barbieri Translated with an introduction and notes by Christopher Webber G Opera and Zarzuela G Two Spanish pamphlets from 1864 by Rafael Hernando and Francisco Asenjo Barbieri Translated with an introduction and notes by Christopher Webber COUTHURST PRESS LONDON 2021 Opera and Zarzuela Two Spanish pamphlets from 1864 by Rafael Hernando and Francisco Asenjo Barbieri Translated with an introduction and notes by Christopher Webber Couthurst Press Blackheath London UK © 2021, Christopher Webber and Couthurst Press To my good friend, Ignacio Jassa Haro G Opera and Zarzuela Two Spanish pamphlets from 1864 by Rafael Hernando and Francisco Asenjo Barbieri Translated with an introduction and notes by Christopher Webber Introduction 1 PROJECT REPORT presented to Her Majesty THE QUEEN For the creation of an Academy of Music by Rafael Hernando 6 THE ZARZUELA A reply to maestro Don Rafael Hernando by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri 33 Graphics before p.1 i. Rafael Hernando Palomar (photo portrait) before p.33 ii. Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (photo portrait) after p.49 iii. Queen Isabel II of Spain (photo portrait) iv. María Cristina de Borbón, Queen of Spain Vicente López y Portaña (oil painting 1830) v. The Prado, Madrid, 1841 David Roberts (watercolour 1841, Royal Collection) vi. Puerta del Sol, Madrid, 1864 (hand-coloured print) vii. Teatro Real, 1850s (print) viii. Teatro de la Zarzuela, 1850s (print) Opera and Zarzuela G Introduction O pera or zarzuela? That was the question posed by Spain’s intelligentsia in the middle years of the 19th century. Would the nation’s artistic reputation at home and abroad be best served by imitating other European states and national movements, in developing distinctively Spanish, through-written forms through the creation of a National Opera? Or should Spain continue to develop zarzuela, the country’s popular, vernacular form, with its mixture of musical numbers and spoken dialogue? In 1864, two substantial pamphlets crystallised the arguments with remarkable clarity; and although the debate itself may have been consigned to history, the vigour with which they address the creation of music theatre, as well as its production and reception, still has much to say to us. The writers were two of Madrid’s leading composers. Rafael Hernando Palomar (1822–88) had been one of the earliest champions of renascent music theatre, in particular through his two-act zarzuelas Colegialas y soldados and El duende (both 1849), which progressively extended Spanish-language patterns in scores of unusual length and quality, balancing reduced quantities of dialogue with music of superior interest, French cut and complexity, without jettisoning zarzuela’s essentially comedic nature. Two years after the success of El duende, Hernando’s slightly younger colleague Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823–94) scored a greater triumph with the even more ambitious Jugar con fuego (1851), which set a libretto adapted from a French play1 to music in Italianate style. Its inner vitality and high-flown praise from Madrid’s music critics enshrined this three-act zarzuela in public perception as the ‘founding work’ of the contemporary stage movement, and its composer – a brilliant entrepreneur as well as fluent writer and composer – was hailed the leading voice of his generation. Although in June 1851 he initiated the Sociedad Lírico Española with a group of composers, singers and writers led by Barbieri, such was the popularity of Jugar con fuego that Hernando’s own works were eclipsed and his standing progressively eroded. His contributions to the collaborative zarzuela El secreto de una reina (1852) were not well received, either by the public or (privately) by Barbieri himself. Increasingly distanced from the group, Hernando found it impossible to establish a foothold at the newly-built Teatro de la Zarzuela (1856) and created little music during the last thirty years of his life. His evident bitterness may partly account for his view of zarzuela’s artistic limitations: ‘… not only were all my works excluded from the repertoire of the Teatro de la Zarzuela, but it has been impossible for me to obtain the performance of even one of those few I have composed since, even though they have all been accepted and welcomed …’ (Quoted Diccionario de la Zarzuela, Vol.1, p.971) 1 Most, if not quite all, zarzuelas in the early-to-mid 1850s utilised translations or adaptations from French originals. In the case of Jugar con fuego, the libretto by Ventura de la Vega (1807–65) had a plot and characters based on the three-act play Madame d’Egmont ou Sont-elles deux? (1833) by Jacques-François Ancelot and Alexis Decomberousse. 1. Opera and Zarzuela Abandoning the Sociedad Lírico Española, he continued his administrative career as Secretary of the Royal Conservatory, which had been based at Teatro Real (the Royal Theatre dedicated to through-written Italian opera) since 1852. Under the leadership of Hilarión Eslava, a venerable figure who maintained adherence to traditional principles, Hernando became Professor of Harmony in 1858, devoting additional energies to restructuring the Conservatory’s organisation and broadening the students’ performance opportunities. Nevertheless, he became increasingly frustrated by the sense that his institution was working in a musical vacuum. Hernando’s ‘Project Report for the creation of an Academy of Music’ (‘Proyecto-Memoria para la creación de una Academia de Música’) was written in 1864. It takes the form of an open letter to Queen Isabel II, urging her to support the foundation of a new Academy, intended to safeguard the future of Spanish music and facilitate the teaching work of the Conservatory. The pamphlet attempts nothing less than an overview of the entire history of music, before zoning in on its progress in Spain from the Renaissance, through the Golden Age to modern times. Basing his analysis on Platonic principles, Hernando emphasises the moral as well as the artistic and economic benefits offered by music to the nation. He views the sacred service as music’s highest form, its most lucid, solemn and harmonically pure expression; but conversely he also brings class-based, sociological arguments to bear– explicitly in passages championing choral societies as a means of transmuting individual vice into communal virtue – as a justification of music’s moral influence for good. He also vents his frustrations at the short-sighted political realities which put a low priority on music funding. Those realities stemmed from government attempts to provide financial stability in a time of social upheaval, in a country desperately trying to modernise industrially, while rebounding from the cataclysms of the Napoleonic occupation and the Carlist civil wars of the 1830s and 40s. The nation was divided between progressive liberals and religious traditionalists, intersecting with monarchists and republicans, none of whom had the monopoly on a generally perceived need for root-and-branch social reform. Foreign policy and internal educational reform alike enter into Hernando’s enquiry, which calls for the creation of a high-level Academy in order to fight music’s corner more effectively, and raise Spain’s artistic profile in Europe. Though these aspects provided ample reason for wide discussion of his pamphlet, interest centred on one suggestion – Hernando’s belief in the necessary creation of a national opera theatre, to directly promote Spanish-language opera and encourage broader and deeper funding of music, through its ties with the proposed Academy. His multiple arguments showing zarzuela’s lack of fitness to provide the foundation of a genuine Spanish ‘operatic school’, in spite of its contemporary popularity and vitality, are cogently expressed; and his observation that zarzuela would find it difficult to gain a foothold in foreign repertoires proved prescient. His objections are summarised in a single paragraph: ‘As an essentially comic genre, zarzuela cannot give a fair idea of the benefits we could gain from opera. The proper and natural sphere of music is to express noble sentiments, lofty affections, grand passions. Comedic themes, while never descending into that oft-abused trivial terrain, so completely anti-musical, require for their successful performance special qualities in the composer. They demand more ingenuity than profound knowledge, more vivacity and graceful mobility than elevated sentiment and true inspiration … It so happens that foreign composers have not drawn a single comic opera 2. Opera and Zarzuela libretto from our modern repertoire, even though Teatro de la Zarzuela has been flourishing for fourteen years; while they have created important librettos from our current spoken drama repertoire with ease. Shall we permit this to be the case forever, so that instead of producing a work of national art, inspired under the same exceptional sky, our dramatists will go on enriching foreign countries, while we applaud such shredded arrangements?’ It was here that he met resistance from Barbieri, whose theatrical career had gone from strength to strength since the inauguration of Teatro de la Zarzuela, which had already given birth to many of his higher-quality works, including El diablo en el poder (1856), El relámpago (1857) and Entre mi mujer y el negro (1859). Even greater prestige was to come with the premiere, during December 1864, of Pan y toros, a historical panorama which was to prove a strong rejoinder to Hernando’s arguments against zarzuela’s potential. Its combination of ‘serious’, patriotic melodrama and popular comedy showed that – in the right hands – zarzuela could bear artistic weight comparable to similar operatic products from France or Italy. Before that stage triumph, Barbieri had published his verbal riposte, ‘The zarzuela: a reply to maestro Don Rafael Hernando’ (‘La zarzuela: contestación al maestro D. Rafael Hernando’), through the same Madrid publishing house of José M. Ducazcal. In this comparatively short pamphlet, confidently and wittily penned, Barbieri expresses few quibbles with his colleague’s impressive historical account or his analysis of the state of the art in Spain, as to economics or training. Rather, he picks apart the paragraph already quoted, taking issue in surprisingly robust terms with Hernando’s operatic aesthetic and his devaluation of theatrical comedy. Formal courtesy towards his ‘friend’ does not disguise a degree of personal needle: Barbieri’s letters from 1850 onwards reveal growing criticism of Hernando’s work, which his former colleague had not taken lying down, with a resultant strain on their relationship.2 It is important for us to recognise an important distinction, clearly stated by Barbieri, between the everyday sense of comedy as amusing, farcical situation-drama, with its imputations of frivolity and light entertainment, and the broader Spanish concept of comedia: ‘Within that same comic genre there is as we know a very wide field; because comedy, which at its simplest is the representation of a domestic action aimed at correcting morals, can also be ‘cloak and dagger’, showing what passes between nobles and gentlemen; or burlesque, where it serves to rebuke some ridiculous or extravagant vice; or heroic, showing what passes between princes and similar characters. So that even if we accept what Sr. Hernando says, and consider zarzuela solely within the comic genre, it emerges that it can traverse the whole ladder of stage action, from what takes place between the most humble members of society, up to what takes place between heroes and princes.’ His defence of zarzuela as an artistically viable comedic genre, natural to the Spanish language and the country’s drama traditions, is accompanied by instances of its social utility, both to practitioners and the public. He is not so ready as Hernando to make a division between opera and zarzuela, which he sees as different patterns cut from the same cloth: indeed, Barbieri had previously written that ‘zarzuela is the same thing as French opéra comique, with no other difference than the musical dress, cut in the Spanish style, 2 See Diccionario de la Zarzuela España e Hispanoamérica, Vol.1 (Second Edition, Madrid 2006), the articles on Barbieri (Emilio Casares Rodicio) and Hernando (María Encina Cortizo), passim. 3. Opera and Zarzuela with which it is adorned’.3 Here he repeats, even more directly, that they are ‘the same thing’ – a verdict it is hard to dispute. Particularly arresting is the way Barbieri takes us inside the composer’s mind, not least through counter-intuitive perceptions as to the relative difficulty of writing a brief lyric comedy, compared against the ease with which a long, Italian opera seria can be turned out: ‘For a large musical piece in opera seria, a learned composer can to some extent fill up a lack of inspiration from the resources of counterpoint; but for a good song in an entremés, if there is no inspiration it is vain to use science. For myself I can say that there are amongst my own ‘little pieces’ several simple songs that my friends think I wrote with the greatest ease, but which nevertheless cost me many days of futile toil, until my pen could bring them to birth; whilst some of my most complicated ensembles have cost me no more than hard work, or as they say, a little night oil.’ These observations reflect Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s strictures against stuffing stage works, which are meant to charm the listener, with solemn devices such as fugues.4 Barbieri is careful to say that no genre is ‘superior’ to any other, and that ‘little pieces’ can just as easily offer deep philosophical reflections and ‘true photographs’ of social manners. Underlying this is a dispassionate stance on morality in art, which contrasts strikingly with Hernando’s Christian antonyms of good and evil, and his belief in ‘true’ music as an agent for good. For the secularist Barbieri, art is answerable only to itself – and to the public, which may choose either to applaud or ignore it. Hernando’s pamphlet did not achieve its desired result, or unify calls for the foundation of an Academy of Music. Instead, in 1873 a musical section was instituted within the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Royal Academy of the Fine Arts), a half-measure which he himself had dismissed in his pamphlet, as tending to dilute music’s power to lobby the government. Three years later, he supported the compromise by accepting a post as an Academician himself – offered through the magnanimity of Barbieri, no less – in which capacity he continued to battle on behalf of Spanish music during the remainder of his active life. Later attempts to institute a national prize for through-written opera came to little, and it was not for many years that any Spanish-language opera came close to entering the Western operatic canon. Even then, Manuel de Falla’s tragedy La vida breve, the prize-winner in a 1904/5 competition for one-act operas organised by the Academy of Fine Arts, and heavily indebted dramaturgically to zarzuela models, was not given immediate production in Spain, remaining unperformed until its provincial French premiere in 1913. Barbieri’s career continued to thrive after 1864. His most enduring success, the threeact zarzuela El barberillo de Lavapiés, appeared at Teatro de la Zarzuela in 1874; and he continued composing into the 1890s, by which time zarzuela, in its one-act género chico patterns, had come to dominate Spanish theatrical life. His eminence as the most active architect of Spain’s musico-theatrical rebirth, the ‘Spanish Glinka’, and as a stage composer in his own right, is unquestioned in Spain and increasingly recognised further afield.5 3 ‘Consideraciones sobre la zarzuela’, La Zarzuela, I, 1-2, (Madrid, 1856). ‘Zarzuela es la misma cosa que las óperas cómicas francesas sin más diferencia que el vestido musical, cortado a la española, con que se engalana’. 4 In articles including ‘ Lettre sur la musique française’ (1752). 5 c.f. Enrique Mejías García, ‘Asenjo Barbieri, Francisco’, in Encyclopaedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe, (2021) https://ernie.uva.nl/viewer.p/21/56/object/131-188142 4. Opera and Zarzuela Beneath its pretext of challenging Hernando’s national opera project, Barbieri’s short pamphlet offers us a fertile source of reflections on how a theatre composer lives, thinks and works. Allowing for the footnotes necessary to give English-speaking readers some insight into 19th-century Spain and the older Spanish musico-theatrical genres discussed, its prose reads as freshly as it must have done in 1864. As with Hernando’s complaints of the difficulties faced by those seeking funding for the arts, it seems that conventional perceptions of the relative difficulty and worth of creating social comedy in stage music, as opposed to ‘serious’ melodrama, are very little changed. In that essential, both pamphlets read as urgently now as they did over a century and a half ago. Christopher Webber London, September 2021 G 5. i. Rafael Hernando Palomar Opera and Zarzuela G Project Report presented to Her Majesty THE QUEEN1 (whom God preserve) For the creation of an Academy of Music by Don Rafael Hernando. MADRID: Published by José M. Ducazcal2 Plazuela de Isabel II, 6. 1864. S ince this project concerns Spanish music in general, in publishing my argument I fulfil the duty to which I believe myself bound, of opening it to all those who profess and cultivate the art; so that if the Exalted Lady to whom it has been presented deigns to take it into consideration, she may also gauge the state of public opinion, before deciding whether to grant it her august patronage. The specially personal nature of the account provides its interest, but has prevented me from even attempting to have it endorsed by other artists. The ideas and appraisals it contains may deserve more or less severe criticism, and I should not wish to involve anyone else in the responsibility. Therefore, against my wish and custom, I have had to renounce a practise which I am convinced would have added value and strength. Detailed knowledge of the state and needs of Spanish musical art, acquired by long and hard-won experience; and above all, daily renewal of the dismay that overtakes us when we see youthful enthusiasm, educated with such careful progress and ever eliciting our deep concern when we see it suffocated in a narrow space, has driven this labour. No matter how defective it may be, I am sure it will at least show the strong faith and good will with which it has been conceived. MADAM: Confident in the love that Your Majesty professes to the fine arts,3 and in the magnanimous protection you dispense to its cultivators, the author kneels with the deepest respect at the foot of your throne, to beg a welcome from your natural kindness for the attached project which he ventures to put forward; so that, assuming you find it worthy of the honour, Your Majesty will consent to bestow your august support, if – as the author expects – you find it to be of genuine use and importance. The ground it covers does not seek to favour this or that artist, this or that work, or any particular one of the various branches which embrace musical art. It is more ambi1 Queen Isabel II (1830–1904) reigned from 1833 to 1868. She was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of that year, and in 1870 formally abdicated. Her son Alfonso XII became King in 1874. 2 José María Ducazcal (n/d) was a leading publisher of the time, and father of the politician, journalist and impresario Felipe Ducazcal (1845–1891). 3 As a patron of the arts, Isabel II’s most decisive action had been to order the immediate completion of the long-delayed Teatro Real, founded in 1818. The building was finished and inaugurated in 1850, with an Italian performance of Donizetti’s La favorita. 6. Opera and Zarzuela tious, Madam. It covers the whole of Spanish musical art, to make its point perfectly clear: that the realization of an academy will be a powerful means for the general development and promotion of music in Spain. Your majesty: following the wise initiative that Your Exalted Mother took in the teaching of music in Spain by creating and then nurturing the Royal Conservatory,4 you have maintained your sovereign protection with the greatest care, so that musical art has been reborn and prospered among us. For there is no doubt that without the existence of the Conservatory, the only school in Spain since the suppression of those that were supported by the Churches for their service,5 Spanish musical art would have disappeared. The Conservatory has certainly produced, Madam, a large number of artists of true merit, and many important works of critical theory. Yet, Madam, it has not been able to completely reverse the piecemeal neglect into which music fell, as a result of the diverse paths it had to tread during Spain’s political vicissitudes. The object of this written account is to demonstrate that there is a need to create, in addition to this life-saving institution, a focused artistic body with the right academic conditions to study and promote everything giving wise direction to Spanish musical art, for the benefit of artists and the nation. It should be enough to mention the infinite quantity of important work that our musicians have done and continue to do by themselves, which nevertheless does not produce deserved rewards; or the constant aspirations of almost all towns of any importance, which aspire to possess lyceums, music schools and even conservatories; all this shows that it is a constant thread in our society to foster and feel everywhere the consoling influence of music. Nothing is more fitting than to satisfy these aspirations, which wholly conform with present needs. To fulfil them more completely and reclaim the utility of this art it is necessary to take initiatives, so that in this time marked by its rebirth it may develop with all the splendour it can, a splendour it reached in times when Spanish arts and letters were at height enough to immortalize them, and which other nations could not fail to envy. Following from this, we must not forget the moral, political and social ideals which preside over its development, and which are linked to the philosophical application of this divine art. Many thinkers continue to recognise this, from even the most remote civilizations, which use its power to move as one of the means that governments have to influence the moral compass of society. In order to state this clearly, it will be necessary to make at least a short study of the condition of musical art inside and outside Spain; which study will lead us to examine what other nations of Europe have done and are doing under differing ideological conditions, and what we have done and must do to satisfy the country’s needs and just aspirations. Thus we may contribute to Spain’s attaining in the moral order – as we are doing in the material – the place it should occupy among civilized nations. This task, Madam, is greater than the powers of a writer who feels himself lacking the necessary qualifications, doubly demanded by the import of the matter and in addressing the august person of Your Majesty. This consideration has often silenced the artistic and patriotic impulse that inspires his project: but today he yields, Madam, obeying a force that impels him, and which makes him trust that Your Majesty, in your proverbial kind4 Founded by Royal Decree in 1830, by King Fernando VII’s Queen Consort, María Christina (1806–78), the mother of Isabel II. As Regent between 1833 and 1840, she retained the throne for her daughter, during the ongoing dynastic dispute of the First Carlist War. 5 Ongoing confiscations of church property and suppression of religious orders from the end of the 18th century and through the 19th – especially the forced closure of monasteries and convents during and after the First Carlist War – resulted in the closure of most Catholic-based music schools. 7. Opera and Zarzuela ness and singular capacity, will solely attend to the ideal which has prompted the attached account. Please Heaven, that given the many years its author has devoted to works he believed to be of general utility, this latest thought may have a positive result. For then he will return to total emersion in those musical compositions, to which his natural inclination calls him, satisfied to have fulfilled the maxim which always served as his guiding star: that every good citizen must be primarily concerned to contribute to the flourishing of his chosen profession in his homeland, even if to achieve this he has to sacrifice fame and status. For nothing demands and deserves more from the particular interests of each of us, than the general good of the country and of civilization itself. MADAM: At Your Majesty’s Royal Palace, Rafael Hernando I. The history of all peoples, even the most remote, clearly shows that the great thinkers who have done most for the progress of humanity, devoted great attention to the study and progress of music. The History of Music ignores how music was constituted in ancient civilizations; but the History of Humanity tells us that it has existed in all of them, and that it has grown and developed at the same time as human culture, reaching its great days of glory in times of general flowering, and thanks to the efforts of extremely important men. Sacred history tells of the development of music by Moses, who cultivated it himself; by Samuel, who founded the schools of the prophets in which poetry and music were studied; by Saul, who in addition to considering it a great medium to encourage religious and moral maxims to take root in the spirit, resorted to its influence to mitigate the excessive melancholy of his character; and lastly, by David and Solomon, who gave such importance to musical performances, that the descriptions we read in the Bible of the way music was presented in the consecration of Solomon’s temple, border on the fabulous. In the history of Ancient Greece, we have the fables of Orpheus dominating monsters with his lyre, of Arion saving himself from shipwreck, of Amphion founding cities, and many others that poets embellished with their imagination, which are really allegories of the sovereign empire of music over animated beings. Beyond that, we find that the rough Spartans excluded music from the prohibition they held over the arts, by recognizing its effect in keeping alive the patriotic spirit; that Pythagoras, Aristotle and Ptolemy were dedicated to the constitution and development of this art, which was nurtured in proportion to the progress of their civilization, being considered a vital element of general instruction as well as an inherent part of all public spectacles; and that the Athenians called it to their aid as a means to stimulate poets, orators and even philosophers, among whom we know that Socrates cultivated it, and that his disciple Plato included it in the constitution of his ideal republic. 8. Opera and Zarzuela It is useless to dwell on similar circumstances preserved from other peoples of antiquity: these examples are enough to show that the great philosophers and legislators understood the power of music to elevate the spirit of man. Therefore, despite the opposing impulses of Greek and Hebrew civilization and the differing roles they ostensibly allotted to music, they always promoted its development and – guided by the same, appreciative idea – gave it very great importance. If the prophet kings, priests and Levites applied music mainly to religious ceremonies, while the Greek philosophers, orators and poets used it as an emotional catalyst, they all recognized the powerful influence it exerts on the organism of man, opening his spirit to pious and sublime precepts. So if the science of governing men, giving them wise advice, has consisted and always will consist of knowing how to direct their nature, how was this not to be helped by an art born simultaneously with the first impulse of man’s spirituality, who in his primitive state sang to satisfy the need to worship a supreme being! In the Christian era, we may observe even more clearly the same desire, in those who influenced the three different epochs into which our civilization can be divided for our purposes; that of control by the Church; that of philosophical influence; and that of the fusion of both in our own time. All were able to appreciate in the same way the creation and right progress of music, always adapting to the march of humanity, acquiring the necessary elements to serve all ideas with its powerful social influence. Witness the irruption of the barbarians, when the Church was called upon to preserve Christian civilization, and dedicated itself to study how to save the arts and sciences from the wreck. Convinced that the orthodoxy of Christian principles cannot be communicated to the masses except through the orthodoxy of worship, her prime attention was directed to that end; and understanding that music is one of the most powerful active mediums, she proposed from the start to apply it suitably. Then Saint Ambrose6 appeared, who eagerly dedicated himself to reforming it, while preserving the pagan art of the Greeks – the only thing he does not consider contrary to the spirit of the new religion, thus incorporating it to some extent into Christian musical principles. Saint Gregory then descended from his pontifical chair to correct the Antiphonal books with his own hand,7 speaking of removing the profanations introduced either due to the great restrictions of Saint Ambrose, or by the crudeness of ancient taste. He established plainsong, therein adding new elements to make sacred music less monotonous and to avoid erroneous innovations; this completely eliminates rhythm, and by the equal duration of the sounds makes all passionate expression and all material imitation impossible, thus forming spiritual song par excellence, and through that, creating a balance which turns the pagan Latin language into the language of spiritual truth. The Church, through a large number of the holy doctors who represented it, dedicated itself tirelessly to the continuous development of this newly-established Christian art, and by dint of study and experimental procedures, termed Counterpoint, the great goal of Harmony was achieved: the symbol in music, as Latour de la Biche8 among other writers says, of the divine mission given by Christ to 6 ‘Dedicating in this account a special paragraph to our musical history, we will omit mention of the highly important and glorious role that our country plays in the development of this art, which some foreign historians, due to an excessive and regrettable spirit of nationalism, have forgotten to point out when referring to the general history of music.’ [Hernando’s footnote]. Saint Ambrose (c. 340–397) is traditionally connected with the introduction of antiphonal chant to Christian services, and is said to have composed several hymns, including the ‘Te Deum’. 7 The invention of plainchant was first attributed in the 9th century to Pope Gregory I (Saint Gregory the Great, 540–604), from whom ‘Gregorian chant’ therefore takes its name. His role in the reform of church liturgy is more certainly attested. 8 Possibly a reference to the French Hispanist, Antoine de Latour (1808–1881), a leading essayist and translator, who wrote copiously on Spanish subjects and was lionized in Hernando’s time. I am indebted to Enrique García 9. Opera and Zarzuela man, to further humanity according to his strengths and faculties. For through harmony the deep voice of the man, the soft sound of the woman, and the resonant and penetrating voice of the child find their natural place, and form a coherent whole, a unity in diversity. It is not clear whether or not the Greeks and other peoples of antiquity knew of synchronised harmony, but there is no doubt that the type created by Christianity was born as a consequence of its spirit, and thus completely different from anything they could have known. It is an amazing transformation to which modern art owes its wonderful results, and is a consequence of the Christian idea, which – in the same way as it broke the social and political relations of men to remodel them according to its precepts – introduced a new morality and more advanced philosophy alongside the new religion. It created, as had to happen through this most spiritual flash of enlightenment, a new musical art, with elements so imposing and perfect, that it justly partakes of the divine. As we’ve seen, in early times the Church’s high dignitaries and its most illustrious luminaries intervened to direct the art of music. The development of this art increased to such a degree, that its study demanded very many years, requiring that man should dedicate all his intelligence to its profitable cultivation. Music certainly continued to be the most splendid element in the ceremonies of the Catholic Church, worthy successors in the magnificence of divine worship to the pomp displayed by David and Solomon, where all prelates endeavoured to organize the musical service properly. To this end, they allotted huge endowments to their music chapels, competing to employ celebrities, to whom besides the direction, they entrusted the teaching in schools attached to each chapel, thus completing the system so wisely established by the Church for the conservation and progress of the art, giving it fresh life and higher spiritual power. The enthroned pontiffs directed their holy intelligence to promote this system which preserved sacred music, free of all worldly thought, and which came to exemplify the sole high calling that it must have in the temple: to raise our spirit, readying it to correspond better with high Christian maxims, and to pray and worship God. So careful were they to follow this ideal, that in the midst of the serious questions faced by the rulers of the Catholic Church in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when the great heresies broke Christian unity, the deep pain caused them by the invasion of sacred song by frivolous snatches of profane music, led them to think of proscribing all music written after Saint Gregory from divine worship. This matter long occupied the Council of Trent, where the Spanish bishops made great defence of the art; the task of reforming the musical direction of the Papal Chapel was given to the great Palestrina,9 who providentially appeared to calm the Church’s concerns, saving the art of music from immense alteration. We need scarcely concern ourselves with whether all the glory of the magnificent style that religious music acquired was due to Palestrina, even less with assessing the fame of his famous ‘Pope Marcellus’ mass, to which has been attributed the important role of causing the agreement for such proscriptions to be revoked, problems both much studied by his illustrious encomiast Baini.10 For our purposes it is more important to note that the works of Palestrina and certain others, which summarized the advances of an art inspired by the Mejías for the information that Latour’s L’Espagne religieuse et littéraire, published in 1863 – the year before Hernando’s pamphlet – contains relevant discussion, which makes the identification even more likely. 9 The composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–94), whose music is considered the gold standard of Renaissance polyphony. 10 Abbate Giuseppe Baini (1775–1844), an Italian priest, music critic, conductor and composer of church music. His influential work on Palestrina fostered – and according to more recent scholarship exaggerated – the idea of the importance of the Missae Papae Marcelli to the Council of Trent, and the extent of the Council’s influence over church music in general. 10. Opera and Zarzuela highest Christian spirit, avoided the threatened measure. That fact shows that the Catholic Church understood perfectly the great moral influence of music; since considering its development and the expanding elements of seduction that it had acquired, her rulers tried to outlaw it, on the bare suspicion that music was departing from its spirit, and that its once-favourable influence could become disquieting. However, thanks to one of those mysterious, providential chains of events through which changes occur in humanity’s journey, the man who seemed to be merely the saviour of what already existed became the builder – without understanding this himself – of foundations for the future. Palestrina, through his admirable madrigals, endowed profane music with patterns and elements that it lacked: because until then, with rare exceptions, notable composers had devoted themselves exclusively to sacred music, while music destined for love and festivities had only been cultivated by those who lacked the talent necessary to obtain a place in the music chapels of Catholic worship. The Church herself, in oratorios which became the true foundation of the budding lyrical drama, directed music along the new path which it had to follow, in service of successive ideas which began to dispute the social control that she had exercised throughout so many centuries. Thus at the same time as we see the propagation of ideas with which philosophers were undermining the power of the Church, music acquires elements that lead it to a new field. In harmony specifically, the dissonance that first appeared to break harmonic consonance at the beginning of the schism that broke religious unity, had already anticipated those jarring chords indispensable to dramatic music. This had created by happy accident a grand complementary system; since the moral world had already found embedded in the most luminous music, evil in the form of dissonance, disturbing the harmonious tranquillity of sound, though always limited in duration and dissolving to make way for consonance, the good thus all the more keenly desired.11 Together with the rhythmic and modulating principles that were necessary for the expression of passions required by lyrical drama, it acquired sufficient means to establish a great vogue in Italy, under the name of opera. In Germany likewise, the philosophical principle embraced music straight away. In France, Louis XIV founded l’opéra français, which his successor nurtured with even greater eagerness. Musical art was moulded everywhere to the service of new philosophical ideas, and when it arrived its complete success was found providential, since it must always exercise its civilizing moral influence on humanity, with those boundless elements of expression it possesses today. The French revolution sums up this triumph. That it demolished everything that existed and drowned in blood may have been contrary to its spirit; but it was completely logical in its consequences, in immediately giving new direction to everything necessary for the governance of men. Those republican fanatics did not disdain the art developed by the Church, for those who aspired to give direction to society seized upon it, considering music a powerful element to transmit their ideas to the masses. Sarrette12 began by bringing together forty-five players from the Gardes Françaises to become the base musical corps of the National Guard, in which he was a captain on the general staff. The Paris city authorities increased their number and took charge of 11 A philosophical assumption regarding consonance/dissonance in music and their consequent moral effects had existed since Aristotle, though the advent of polyphony and (later still) counterpoint rendered theoretical debate ever more complex. Hernando seems to be restoring the question to first principles, for the sake of his arguments as to music’s social utility. 12 Bernard Sarrette (1765–1858), a non-musician from the revolutionary Guarde Nationale, later founded the free school of music in Paris to which Hernando refers, which eventually became the Paris Conservatoire under his directorship. 11. Opera and Zarzuela maintenance costs. Talleyrand and Mirabeau introduced the teaching of the art, one in his institute and the other in his lyceum;13 the City Hall created a free music school; and on 18 Brumaire of Year II the National Convention decreed the formation of a National Institute of Music, composed of 115 teachers with the mission of teaching 600 students, and to take part in the great national festivities. Each rite, dedicated to one of the ideas to be venerated by the people, was essentially symbolized in a grand hymn, the composition of which was always entrusted to the most notable poets and composers, including Lebrun and Chénier14 amongst the former, and Cherubini, Méhul, Gossec and Catel15 amongst the latter. As to the ostentation of their performance, it is enough to cite one instance of high significance during that tremendous time of terror. Sarrette was in the cells of Sainte-Pélagie prison, accused that one of his subordinates had played the melody of ‘Oh Richard, Oh my King!’16 However, during preparations for the ‘Festival of Supreme Being’, Sarrette was extracted from the dungeon by the public health committee, on the grounds that he was best-suited to organising the music. As Robespierre ordered, an ad-hoc patriotic hymn was taught by Sarrette to forty-eight instrumental sections: and the massed forces swelled to such a point that they combined with up to 200 drums to perform it in the Place de la Réunion, accompanying the last stanza with artillery salvoes. If there could be any doubt about the political-philosophical plan that led them to do this, it would be enough to read the speech that Chénier delivered before the National Convention, on behalf of the public instruction commission, in the session of the 10th Thermidor, Year III. The speech promoted a statute passed six days later, for the definitive foundation of an Institute of Music, which eventually became the Paris Conservatory, supported by an annual grant of 240,000 francs. From this remarkable document, full of the true doctrine of government, in which the legislator presents well-reasoned, philosophical arguments for the moral importance of music, those who frequently try to suppress the only institution that exists in Spain for its study will receive many a wise lesson. It would be useless to refer to other, equally remarkable documents of that time; because what could speak more eloquently than a vote to allot 240,000 francs a year to a Conservatory of Music, when the treasury was exhausted and when the army – which in addition to the civil war, had to face a united Europe on its borders – even lacked boots? It is also known that patriotic songs led their troops from victory to victory, in armies whose effectiveness was largely due to the enlistment of ardent volunteers who daily marched to swell the ranks, and who endured the greatest privations fanaticized by those songs, which they always sang in moments of supreme danger. The legislators acted wisely when establishing the Conservatory in that same palace of Menus-Plaisirs where from the time of Louis XV the Kings had supported the music school for opera.17 They had no worries, despite their susceptibility to inattention, that this circumstance could evoke harmful memories. On the contrary, they themselves declared that music had served as an effective aid for the Church to subjugate the masses, and for Kings to flaunt their splendour; but at 13 Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838) was Napoleon’s chief diplomat, but later supported the Bourbon restoration. Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Count of Mirabeau (1749–1791) was an influential orator and a national hero of the French Revolution. They both founded educational establishments. 14 The lyric poet Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun (1729–1807) is less familiar nowadays than André Chénier (1762–94), whose emotive poetry was a precursor of the Romantic movement, and whose execution during the Reign of Terror forms the subject matter of Giordano’s 1896 opera Andrea Chénier. 15 Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842), Étienne Méhul (1763–1817) and François-Joseph Gossec (1734–1829) remain prominent. Charles-Simon Catel (1773–1830), Gossec’s chief assistant at the National Guard, wrote ten operas – most prominently Sémiramis (1802) – and many other vocal and instrumental works. 16 ‘Ô Richard, ô mon roi!’, an aria sung by Blondel in Grétry’s opera Richard Cœur-de-lion (1784), became a rallying song for royalists during the Revolution and was banned by the republican government. 17 The Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs du Roi, situated in the town of Versailles. 12. Opera and Zarzuela the same time they recognized that the services music had rendered to the Republic were so important, that there was every need to give philosophical direction to an art, which will eternally remain a powerful element to elevate man’s feelings. We therefore arrive at a time of fusion between these social influences. In order to better appreciate the growing importance of this musical movement, instead of following the general progress of Europe, we need only examine that of France, the field in which the battle of new ideas took place, and in which the changes made must naturally be most clearly distinguishable. Always eager for glory, and believing that she had mastered the right to spread human advances everywhere, she has ever since been a mirror in which the scientific and artistic advances of all Europe are reflected. For in order not to lose her conquests, she took great care to plant immediately in other countries everything she believed advantageous; and she did so with such solid philosophy and in such a spirit of nationalism, that each territory almost viewed these initiatives to be their own. Thus we show how the musical institutions of the enlightened world took their place in human progress. Bonaparte, who after his elevation to the Consulate gave new social direction to his people, did not forget music for a moment: he included it in his creation of the Institut de France, thus providing it with a body better organized for the advances of the science, than the famous academies that existed in Verona, Bologna, London, Stockholm or Berlin. He solemnly began the construction of a building for the Conservatory to establish a musical library, as found in other nations, and undertook to be a constant protector of this school, fulfilling his plan with such efficiency that the following month he funded eighteen places for students training to be dramatic singers, and instituted the classes of declamation, following this endowment in a decree issued from Moscow, with places for postgraduates; and finally, when celebrating his famous Concordat,18 he took watchful care of the music for divine worship, organizing it in a manner suitable and convenient to his Christian objectives. The Restoration came; and despite the natural back-and-forth we can observe, France promoted the national opera which she considered of vital social importance; for seeing the amazing developments in Italy and even Germany, she strove to attract famous masters from those countries, in order to provide her great Paris Opera with scores to augment its repertoire and serve as models for her composers, to the benefit of French music. During the reign of Louis-Philippe, such attention was paid to this end, and the government deployed so many means of encouragement, that – in addition to highly remunerating eminent musicians – not only were several streets named after famous foreign composers who had provided notable works for French opera, or who had contributed to France’s musical development; but also Rossini, who still lives, had a statue as well as a street erected to his name. To the Paris Conservatory were appended those schools that existed in Marseilles, Metz, Dijon and Nantes, in order to extend their beneficial activity, just as in Germany, Belgium and Italy, which have conservatories in their principal cities. So that military music could reach the height it had reached in Germany, an important school with special conditions was created: the Gymnase de Musique Militaire whose direction was entrusted to an eminent composer.19 Finally, thought was given to the great moral and political aims recommending the study of music in different grades of choral 18 Signed with the Papal States in 1801. 19 Instituted in 1836, taking over the duties of the Guard School of Music (1792). Its director was Michele Carafa, devoted to preserving traditional instrumentation and deeply opposed to the young Adolph Sax, who after a 13. Opera and Zarzuela singing, both in the primary instruction of children and in adult choral societies. Such institutions were well understood in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany; and they proved important, for to choral singing can be attributed, in large part, the change in character of a populace once so fierce and indomitable. Great impetus was given to the formation of those choirs providing such benefit, comfort and solace to the working classes, among which they germinate the kind of humanitarian maxims which perhaps prevented the revolution of 1848 from repeating the excessive horrors of the previous Republic. The provisional government, faithful to its traditions, appointed in the first month of its power a commission of Conservatory professors to propose improvements that could be made in musical education; and to increase the repertoire of choral societies it chose from among its ancient and modern classical poets a growing number of poems dealing with maxims of the highest morality, and initiated a musical contest granting prizes to all compositions that met its conditions. Lately, Louis-Napoleon20 has of course paid attention to improving all these institutions, providing the Conservatory with important renovations for the greater utility and beauty of its building; and decreeing amongst other thoughtful measures encouragement to dramatic composers, by increasing their fees at the Paris Opera, granting those gaining the best success the highest honours. Seeing that throughout Northern Europe, England and part of Italy, catholics and protestants alike were taking due care of the music for divine worship, he has created a special school for the teaching of religious music, where organists, singers and even composers can acquire, beyond the necessary instruction, that pure and majestic style which such a high object demands. And apart from laying the foundations for the building of that grand opera house which is being built,21 and so many other important measures it would be tedious to mention, it will only be pointed out – so as to leave no doubt that the course and guidance of his government wishes to preclude anything that might hamper musical progress – that a commission was appointed on July 17, 1858 to study how empirical sonic standards for instruments had disappeared, producing harmful inequality between one orchestra and another. As a result of this it has been decreed, that in France orchestral directors and instrument makers were subject to a standard tuning fork, at a pitch fixed by the commission, which the government deposited in the Conservatory.22 What does it mean, then, this constant care and eagerness that governments of such diverse casts throughout the ages have shown for music? What means the attention of all those luminaries of humanity, who have worked diligently for the constitution and development of this art – so much so, that in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries there were very few scholars who did not deal with it, to the point that almost as many works were written on music as on theology? And lately, what means the constant zeal with which all those politicians, monarchs or rulers have protected it, helping music to spread throughout all areas of society? They number the most illustrious in Europe: many are not outlined here, for the sake of brevity, because if we had followed the whole movement, Germany would have occupied a double number of pages, not to mention the illustrious men who have promoted musical development here since the time of Charles V. Have they all obeyed famous ‘field test’ in 1845 eventually won the battle to modernise French military music. The Gymnase closed in 1870. 20 When Hernando was writing in 1864, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was reigning as Emperor of the French (Napoleon III), but the ‘Second Empire’ was to be swept away by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. 21 Work on the Palais Garnier had commenced in 1861, and was finished in 1875. The building remains an iconic representation of the ‘Second Empire’ architectural style. 22 The 1859 ministerial decree fixed standard pitch for the A above middle C at 435 Hz. By 1955 France had adopted the agreed (1939) international measure of 440 Hz. 14. Opera and Zarzuela the frivolous impulse of fashion or blameworthy pride? No, the basis of all human institutions exists in good public and private practices, and if the fine arts are essentially moral because they contribute to making those who cultivate them happier and therefore more good, music in this order of ideas must achieve high supremacy over the other fine arts. Because besides the fact that to feel its influence it is only necessary to have a soul and an ear, which makes it the most universal, its effect on our organism is the most liberal of all; for in stirring sensibility by raising the spirit, it leaves our imagination open to the application of the idea from whose transports it results. So that when music is determined by help of the word, it is a powerful medium to reach the roots of the maxims it contains. For this reason, true men of government have always understood the need to provide wise application of music; for if they do not do so, as it is a natural feeling in man, that starts from his heart before returning to it, should clumsy principles or subversive ideas be applied to his songs, it can be highly damaging to morality and a powerful element to create social unrest. II. After the institution of Christian song by Saint Ambrose, the history of Spanish music was linked with the progress of the art in other countries, contributing significantly to its development. During that fourth century, the papal throne was occupied by Saint Damasus the Spaniard,23 a better musician than that holy bishop of Milan,24 who for that reason must naturally have exercised great influence on that reform which served to found the art of Christian music. In the seventh century the holy archbishops Saint Ildefonsus and Saint Eugenio II25 not only adorned the office of the mass in Toledo with several introits, but the latter, as the lesson of the Roman Breviary on the feast of said Saint tells us, improved religious music, supporting the reforms made years before by the Roman Pontiff Saint Gregory. Above all Saint Isidore of Seville26 endowed the art with his Sentences on Music, which according to the account of the scholarly foreign historian M. Coussemaker27 is the oldest and most interesting document of many existing in Europe, about the parts of music. In the thirteenth century Alfonso the Wise28 founded a music chair at the University of Salamanca, classifying it among the sciences, enriching art also with his Cantigas, the oldest monument of musical composition on a vulgar language. In the fifteenth century 23 Though born in Rome, Pope Damasus I (c.305–384) was the child of Lusitanian parents. 24 Saint Ambrose was Bishop of Milan from 374 until his death. 25 Hernando writes ‘San Eugenio III’, but is certainly referencing Saint Eugenius II of Toledo (d.657), along with his Toledan contemporary Saint Ildefonsus (c.607–667). 26 Saint Isidore of Seville (c559–636). In his encyclopaedic Etymologiarum sive Originum libri xx, chapters 15 to 23 of book iii are devoted to music, defined there as ‘the skill of modulation consisting of tone and song’. Isidore’s ‘three parts’ of music (at least in iii, 18) are harmonics, rhythmics and metrics. 27 The French musicologist Charles Edmond Henri de Coussemaker (1805–76) was one of the first scientific researchers of medieval music. 28 Alfonso X of Castile (1221–1284), known as ‘the Wise’ (or ‘the Learned’) was a patron of the arts whose Cantigas de Santa María, collected and probably part-authored by him, remain a cornerstone of Spanish music. He founded the chair of music at the University of Salamanca in 1254. 15. Opera and Zarzuela Don Bartolomé Ramos de Pareja29, professor of the University of Salamanca, passes with equal charge to the so famous of Bologna, where he published his work entitled De musica tratactus, sive musica practica,30 in which the invention of temperament is exposed; a system that has contributed so much to the advances of art, that without it we would not have been able to acquire the surprising development of modulation in music today. John I of Aragon founded a music school in Barcelona; King John II and King Henry IV of Castile gave enlightened protection to this art, which they themselves cultivated to advantage, and Andreas de Silva, Juan de Villanas, Melchor Robledo, and Juan del Encina,31 are among the most famous composers of their time recorded in history. In the sixteenth century it is enough to remember, that at the Council of Trent it was the Spanish bishops who opposed the proscription of music from the Holy Office of the Mass, which was fervently advocated by the other prelates, and who defended this art from all the accusations levelled at it, to the point of avoiding the passing of a measure that would have caused it the greatest harm. This highly significant fact goes to show that in Spain religious music was at a higher level than in any other nation, as was the case with all the other fine arts; and that explains why her holy bishops could deflect all the arguments against them, which were based on the image presented by many bad composers, who took as a theme for their religious works vulgar motifs, whose popular lyrics they kept mixed them with those of the rite, thus resulting in a confusion of incomprehensible words and perpetual profanation. The triumph gained by our prelates was the cause of the determination to eradicate those abuses with strong spirit and determined commitment. Then came the commission to achieve the music reform of the Pontifical Chapel, given to the famous Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, duly glorified by his great genius and righteous spirit, and for being in great part saviour of the religious music which he endowed with new life. Nothing more than ‘in great part’, because we must not ignore our illustrious Don Cristóbal de Morales,32 who shone twenty years previously and who wrote more than one admirable composition, which has for many years been considered equal to the brightest glories of Palestrina. Such is the opinion of Palestrina’s erudite admirer Baini, who says that Morales was also among the first to cry out against the abuse of not understanding the lyrics in religious compositions, as well as the happy fact that he was one of the first to shake off the yoke of bad taste that reigned in religious music, which consisted of over-intricate work and cold calculation. And this Spanish composer was not alone, because Torrentes, Escobedo, Fernández, Bernal, Ceballos and Ribera33 also excelled – not forgetting 29 Bartolomeus Ramis [Ramus] de Pareia (c.1440–after1490) was a Spanish theorist and composer active in Italy. His claim to have lectured in Salamanca is undocumented, but – like his later position in Bologna – may have been unofficial. His forward-looking, empirical approach to music theory in Musica practica was at odds with the academic customs of his time. 30 ‘In Berlin’s music library there is a copy, preserved with such esteem that D. Hilarión Eslava writes, speaking of his trip to Germany, that when showing him the book M. Dehn, the librarian in charge of its custody, kissed it with veneration.’ [Hernando’s footnote]. Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn (1799–1858) was a pioneering editor of Bach, as well as librarian and teacher. His pupils included Cornelius, Glinka and Anton Rubinstein. 31 Andreas de Silva (fl.1520) was a Spanish or Portuguese composer who worked in Rome; Melchor Robledo (c.1510–86) was associated with Zaragoza Cathedral; Juan del Encina (1468–1529/30) was a playwright as well as composer. ‘Juan de Villanas’ is unidentified, but may be identified as Juan de Anchieta (1462–1523),one of the most eminent composers of his day, and known at one point in his career as ‘Juan de Villarino’. 32 Cristóbal de Morales (c.1500–1553) was considered the most influential Spanish composer before Victoria. 33 Andrés de Torrentes (c.1520–1580); Bartolomé de Escobedo (c.1510–1563); Francisco Fernández Palero (c.1520–1597); the Portuguese composer Afonso Perea Bernal (d.1593); Rodrigo de Ceballos (1525–1581); Antonio de Ribera (fl.1514–27) [Hernando writes ‘Rivera’]. 16. Opera and Zarzuela Don Tomás Luis de Victoria34, Palestrina’s contemporary and such a worthy competitor that for centuries several of the inspired works of this Spanish composer sung in the Pontifical Chapel were considered to be by his rival. Finally Periañez, Ortiz, Guerrero and Navarro35 were also composers of the first order, as was the famous Professor of Salamanca, the blind Salinas, and the writers on music Espinel and Durán.36 All are justly famous names, from the era rightly styled the golden age of Spain for its greatness and influence at home and abroad: all the more so, since in addition to what we’ve lightly touched upon, must be added that the first-ever music conservatory was founded in Naples by Don Juan de Tapia, a Spanish priest established in that city, who seeing that his own, small fortune was not enough, walked from door to door for some years collecting alms, until he gathered the necessary funds for its foundation.37 He was doubtless inspired by the musical spirit existing in Spain at that time, where all the prelates, following an initiative of Charles V which energised the Royal Chapel,38 were making great efforts to endow their cathedrals and monasteries with a large number of music schools. This trend was encouraged by Felipe II, another enlightened protector of the art – not only religious, but also dramatic, as some duets and trios were introduced into the theatrical entertainments provided for his court festivities, a fact giving rise to our first dramatic music. In the seventeenth century Vivanco, Veana, Romero, Ortells, and above all Don Sebastián Durón,39 brightly upheld the celebrity of Spanish music, illustrated by didactic works by such sages as Nassarre and Correa de Araujo.40 Dramatic music was promoted at the court of Felipe IV, by introducing a greater number of songs and choruses into the plays, which came to form a new genre to which our immortal Lope de Vega gave the name of zarzuela.41 These continued to be cultivated during the reign of Carlos II, whose court displayed great musical magnificence in all the royal festivals, most especially in those for his wedding to Maria Anna of Neuburg, during which Lully’s Armida was staged for the first time in Spain. In the eighteenth century Valls, Literes, Torres, Nebra, García ‘el Españoleto’, and above all Ripa42 maintained the brilliance of religious music. The Spanish lyric-dramatic genre also had its champions, with maestro Hita43 pre-eminent among the composers who wrote zarzuelas; and to make plain the brilliant disposition of our people for dramatic music, Martín (known as ‘Martini lo Spagnuolo’) and Terradellas44 were familiar 34 Tomás Luis de Victoria (c.1548–1611) was Spain’s most famous 16th-century composer, and a key figure in the music of the counter-reformation. 35 Pedro Periáñez (c.1560–1612) [Hernando writes ‘Perriañez’]; Diego Ortiz (1510–70); Francisco Guerrero (1528–1599); Juan Navarro of Seville (c.1530–1580). 36 Francisco de Salinas (1513–90); Vicente Espinel (1550–1624); Domingo Marcos Durán (c.1465–1529). 37 The 15th c. Castilian poet Juan de Tapia (fl.1460) resided at Alfonso V’s court in Naples; but the first Naples music conservatory was founded during the rule of its Spanish viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo in 1535, many years later. The origins of Hernando’s anecdote remain obscure. 38 The Royal Chapel in Madrid (part of the royal palace) was built between 1750 and 1759. In addition to its clerics, organist, choir master and choir, it also supported a chamber orchestra. It’s influence on Spanish music was considerable. 39 Sebastián de Vivanco (c.1551–1622); Matías Juan de Veana (c.1656–after 1708); Mateo Romero (c.1575– 1647); Antonio Teodoro Ortells (1647–1706); Sebastián Durón (1660–1716). 40 Pablo Nassarre (1650-1730); Francisco Correa de Araujo (or Arauxo) (1584–1654). 41 A reference to the first Spanish opera, La selva sin amor (1627), to a libretto by Lope. The music is by the Italian composer Filippo Piccinini and contains sung recitatives. It predates the first zarzuelas by two decades. 42 Francisco Valls [Francesc Valls] (1665/1671–1747); Antonio [Antoni] de Literes (1673–1747); José de Torres y Martínez Bravo (1670–1738); José de Nebra (1702–1768); Francisco Javier García Fajer (‘El Españoleto’) (1730– 1809); Antonio Ripa (1718–1795), who is – pace Hernando’s statement – the most obscure of these composers today. 43 Antonio Rodríguez de Hita (1722–1787), whose best-known zarzuela was Las labradoras de Murcia (1769). 44 Vicente Martín y Soler (1754–1806), Mozart’s friend and contemporary, whose opera buffa Una cosa rara is quoted in the last scene of Don Giovanni; Domènec Terradellas (1713–1751) was a Catalan composer of Italian operas 17. Opera and Zarzuela throughout Italy, their operas continually obtaining glorious triumphs in the principal theatres.45 They demonstrate, through their good fortune, the aptness of our composers to follow the advances of art in their time, newly directed towards scenic drama under what is acknowledged as the enlightened influence of the beneficent reign of King Fernando VI and his wife Bárbara of Portugal, who was an excellent musician and composer, and at whose court the progress of opera was marked. Unfortunately for Spain, this reign was of short duration; and although afterwards King Carlos IV also strongly supported musicians, the art was seen to be paralyzed, as happens with all artistic manifestations in Spain. In this century the wise music theorist Eximeno flourished, along with Arteaga, and Iriarte, author of the famous poem La Música.46 The first third of the 19th century was for Spanish music, as for all other branches of human knowledge in our homeland, a time of pitiful decadence, in which wars and political convulsions absorbed all energies. Only a few individuals were scattered here and there, as Providence allows in all peoples, as a visible and sure indication that the paralysis resulting from disorders will be long or short, but will never be definitive. Thus in religious music, Pons and Doyagüe47 appear to preserve the spirit of an art in decay: Ledesma, who vacillates,48 and Eslava49 in whom music is powerfully reborn. The Spanish lyric-dramatic genre disappears completely, and one of its prime exponents leaves for foreign shores – the composer and famous tenor Manuel García, greatly renowned in Italian opera, who endowed the world with an illustrious family of singers which still continues, and which counts among its ranks the famous Malibran.50 Another singer who gained fame in Italy was Isabella Colbran51, who married Rossini; and in Paris, the composer Gomis52 whose French comic operas enjoyed great success, and the guitarist-composer Sor.53 The only composer cultivating dramatic music in the modern successful well beyond the borders of Italy, whose works have recently again come to prominence. 45 ‘While David Perez, although born in Naples, the son of Spanish parents, gained great fame for his operas in Italy, England, and most especially in Portugal.’ [Hernando’s note]. In fact the parents of Davide Perez (1711–1778) were Neapolitan, and he had no Spanish connections. Most of his highly-successful working life in opera and sacred music was indeed spent in Portugal. 46 Antonio Eximeno y Pujades (1729–1809) was a major enlightenment philosopher, whose musical theories were seen as revolutionary in their time; Stefano Arteaga [Esteban de Arteaga y López] (1747–1799) was a leading music historian in Italy; Tomás de Iriarte (1750–1791) was a celebrated lyric poet and a composer, whose experimental musical-monodrama Guzmán el Bueno (1791) broke new dramatic ground. 47 José Pons (1768–1818); Manuel Doyagüe (1755–1842). 48 Mariano Rodríguez de Ledesma (1779–1847) is considered the first Spanish romantic composer, and one of the country’s most important musicians of the early 19th century. He achieved European fame – especially in England – for his role as a tenor singer and songwriter, but was misunderstood in his native Spain. Hernando may be referring to Ledesma’s having divided his time between religious composition in his native country and secular singing in London. The accusation of vacillation makes it even less likely that Hernando might have been referring to another Ledesma entirely, the organist and composer Nicolas Ledesma (1791–1883), who was the great-grandfather of Jesús Guridi. 49 Hilarión Eslava (1807–1878), composer and musicologist, and a major champion of Spanish opera. As professor of composition at Madrid Conservatory, he taught some of the leading composers of Hernando’s day. Together with Arrieta, Gaztambide and Barbieri he founded ‘La España Musical’ (1847), a society dedicated to promoting Spanish opera and zarzuela. 50 Manuel García (1775–1832) was Rossini’s favourite tenor, creating the role of Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia among other roles. He wrote many Italian operas, and one in Spanish, plus some notably tuneful tonadillas. Of the famous dynasty mentioned by Hernando, the singers Maria Malibran (1808–1836) and her younger sister Pauline Viardot (1821–1910) are most celebrated. 51 Known in her native Spain as Isabel Colbrant. Isabella Colbran (1785–1845) created many roles for Rossini, whom she married in 1822. Although they separated in 1837, Rossini always considered her his greatest interpreter. 52 José Melchor Gomis (1791–1836) experienced operatic success in Paris and London, before his relatively early death. 53 Fernando Sor (1778–1839), whose solo music remains central to the classical guitar repertory. 18. Opera and Zarzuela manner was Carnicer54, custodian, so to speak, of the interrupted lyrical-dramatic aspirations of Spanish musical art; for in addition to conducting and directing the Italian lyric companies, he wrote several operas well-received in the theatres of Barcelona and Madrid; Saldoni55 was also prepared to follow this path. But the true musical core existed, although seriously decayed, in the cathedrals and monasteries, whose music chapels and schools disappeared at the beginning of the Civil War.56 This left only the newly-created Conservatory, which has been and still is the saving grace of Spanish music. Its foundation coincided with the appearance of an important book, La Geneufonía by the General of Artillery José Joaquín de Virués y Spinola,57 which although incomplete brought new light to the science, by defining certain fundamental harmonic principles in such a clear and accurate way, that it has been accepted by many later treatises as a precursor of great advances, while possessing a special character providing later Spanish art with the didactic wisdom we have today. III. But what has been the state of the art since then, and what is it today? Let us examine this carefully. The magnanimous Sovereign who happily occupies the throne of Alfonso the Wise, is known at home and abroad as a protector of art and artists. In addition to maintaining a music chapel truly worthy of divine worship, by its organisation and artistic cultivation of the best kind of religious music, she has powerfully influenced the capital’s musical vitality. There the government maintains a brilliant Conservatory, and protects to some extent the Italian Opera House – supported by the public, as in addition are one or sometimes two theatres devoted to zarzuela, a large number of teachers dedicated to private tuition, many piano players and other instrumentalists in almost all Madrid’s cafés, the orchestras and military bands necessary for public performances – and lastly, opulent regular musical displays at religious festivals. The provinces boast no fewer music-lovers, for even regional capitals of the second and third order support zarzuela theatres, and most of the main ones host Italian opera. Many of them have created lyceums, music schools and choral societies; pre-eminently Barcelona, which laudably aspires to achieve supremacy, sustaining with its proverbially enthusiastic public a Grand Theatre of the first order, where the production are magnificently set and costumed. For three or four years Barcelona has also been supporting a zarzuela theatre, and a school of music and acting aspiring to conservatory status, which name it bears; and above all, it has acquired the glorious palm of having been the first city 54 Ramón Carnicer (1789–1855), whose nine or so operas were all written in Italian. His musical style influenced the next generation of zarzuela composers, such as Hernando himself. 55 Baltasar Saldoni (1807–1889), a pupil of Carnicer. Influential as a historian of mid-19th century Spanish lyric theatre, in addition to composing Italian and Spanish-language opera and zarzuela, all in Italian musical style. 56 The first Carlist War of 1833 to 1840, during which cathedral and monastery lands were sequestrated by the state, to the extreme detriment of church finances. 57 José Joaquín de Virués y Spínola (1770–1840), an erudite artillery general who devoted his retirement to poetry and musicology. 19. Opera and Zarzuela in Spain to form workers’ choral societies, already extended throughout Catalonia and even in Valencia. This light but faithfully delineated sketch presents Spain’s music today: undoubtedly it looks more than promising at first sight, but it will not seem so positive if examined by the criterion which lends true importance to the fine arts. For if we look more closely, we will find evidence of the excellent aptitude of our people, and their aspiration to satisfy a natural need, overexcited by the advances of civilization, but without the proper tools to direct such laudable results of their positive disposition towards the service of high moral, political and social goals. The result is therefore contrary to true artistic progress and musical advancement, which as we have already seen is linked to these ideas, the only ones that give the art its true civilizing importance. Instead the skills which the fine arts can develop are of a secondary order, however commendable those music develops and sustains may be, and however worthy of attention in themselves. There are two musical services supported by state funds, over which the government can exert its influence. The first, for the general maintenance of the art, servicing the immediate needs of public education, is constituted by a single establishment in the whole of Spain: the Conservatory. Although the second is supported by the Treasury, according to the Concordat58 its arrangements are under the charge of the Church: the musical service of divine worship. Everything else, with the partial exception of military music, is maintained by the public, to no definite plan other than their own taste. Examining these facts demonstrates the consideration which music deserves from government leaders, and the respect they should pay it, as a civilizing element for the education and enlightenment of the people and other moral ends, political and social. The foundation of the Conservatory was due to an illustrious Italian Princess, appointed by Providence to influence the destiny of Spain,59 and who of course gave proof of her high intellect and awareness of the times, by paying attention to the art that was thrilling the whole of Europe with its amazing conquests of the stage, which yet in Spain remained confined to the service of the Church. Her groundwork signalled to Spanish musicians the path they should follow, to take their rightful place among the glories of their country, according to the civilising march of our times. Political change of Spain also took place, driven by the same August Lady; and with the confiscation of the Church’s property, the music schools it supported were suppressed, and the large sums it invested in the music of its services were diverted to the public exchequer. In order to rectify this, since without renouncing our religion we also had to respond in an enlightened manner to our political aspirations and to propagate a new system, the creation of a more substantial Conservatory than already existed became indispensable; but instead of this happening, and as if music were contrary to social progress, the men who defended the new system wanted to suppress the existing one – ignore it rather, because if the name of María Cristina exempted it from public proscription, it could be completely neglected. The tireless efforts of its august founder, and the constancy of some worthy professors who understood that the suppression of the Conservatory at that time would disperse even the scattered remnants of Spanish music, and who firmly remained 58 The Concordat of 1851, signed by government of Isabel II and the Vatican States, confirmed the Roman Catholic Church as the sole religion of Spain and re-established many monasteries and convents. In return, the church renounced its rights to much property sequestrated during the Carlist War. Education (including music) was mandated to conform to Catholic doctrine, with the state presenting no obstacles to the church’s organisation and financing of its scholastic duties. The Concordat had been fine-tuned in 1859. 59 See Note 4. 20. Opera and Zarzuela in their honourable positions despite not receiving their salaries, finally attracted the notice of certain important politician, who saw that this institution could not be regarded as frivolous or insignificant. That is why in the end agreement was reached to include its endowment within the state’s budgets, although to a limited degree, which did not mean however that it was not opposed in almost all the legislative chambers. In spite of this shameful insecurity and stubborn disdain, harmful to all intelligent work and completely paralysing for artistic imagination, the professors – encouraged by the august Isabel II, who welcomed her Exalted Mother’s foundation under her own protection – made great individual efforts, and the Conservatory began to progress, justifying ever more fully the necessity of its existence; a justification that became irrefutable, when the zarzuela theatres were founded.60 At that time, not only did it endow the art with excellent orchestras, and countless good teachers for private tuition, but its graduates achieved the rebirth of the Spanish lyric-dramatic genre, with appropriately modern conditions superior to those which zarzuela laboured under in the past. For zarzuela must be accepted as being genuinely Spanish, and it has spread throughout the nation as if by magic, delivered by companies made up of artists from the same school, which thus developed an important new industry. This development which, from the dominant materialist point of view, would have required the institution of a school for its support, might have seemed sufficient reason to put an end to the routine habit of more or less censuring the Conservatory’s budget. For if it has always merited strong defence – given the study of the high and true order of ideas for which it existed – the importance of zarzuela has provided persuasive mathematical proof of its industrial and mercantile utility. Such is not the case: and yet the Conservatory, still pursuing its progressive path as if these attacks only further excited its professorial ardour, produces such important work through its artistic methodology, manifest in public performance, that in all loyalty no one can doubt that it is one of the most advanced of national institutions, comparable – even superior in many respects, in terms of its structure – to the most notable organisations abroad. Nothing has yet freed the Conservatoire from the routine attacks, a destructive hindrance to its complete success; for every year the Government faces or fears to face a battle to leave it unscathed, and the respective departments do not dare to undertake the important tasks that are put forward to improve its effectiveness. In short: the Conservatory was born in response to an enlightened idea, but not to an imperative need. Now, when its creation would have been indispensable, attempts are made to suppress it. After even civil discords could not justify its abandonment, it was attacked, and still is, even though it develops and sustains industries, which need it for their existence; and even though the whole country longs to participate in its consoling influence, these attacks prevent it from extending its orbit and spreading its great artistic advances, fruit of the most praiseworthy efforts and of the greatest self-denial, for having been made without any pressure and in disregard of its own interests. This is all the more surprising, since the Conservatoire’s attackers are reduced to claiming that it is wasteful to spend on music the sum that appears in the budget, even when it is smaller than current expenditure, or assuming that the Conservatoire is not producing results. Even before the theatres of Zarzuela existed, those claims were based on the argument that it did not produce dramatic singers. Poor arguments in truth, an60 Hernando is presumably referring to Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela, built largely by public subscription and without royal aid, and opened in 1856; and of the zarzuela seasons mounted in the earlier years of the decade at Teatro del Circo, Teatro Variedades and elsewhere. Given his earlier work on behalf of the genre, Hernando had elsewhere expressed himself bitterly about his exclusion from Teatro de la Zarzuela’s early seasons. 21. Opera and Zarzuela swered simply by mentioning the annual earnings figures of the artists who have made their careers – figures that yield sums considerable enough to show that it is a beneficial expense. Listing the positions these graduates occupy shows how crucial they are to the many industries depending on these arts, not least in the oft-criticised stage sector, which for many reasons will always be inferior in quality and quantity compared against other musical pursuits. Their number is sufficient, and they are preeminent in all our theatre companies. And what significance can be given to those improper attacks that are based on considering music as an object of luxury, and assume that its only working application is in the theatrical field? The long and short of it is, that their mistake lies in not having classified music in the order of ideas where it belongs. Look for another justification, and it will hardly be found without causing great harm to men whose only fault has been not to have been able to dominate that continuous political to-and-fro, which completely numbs our most capable intelligences and prevents them from focussing on an element of such importance for the moral advancement of the masses. If it had not been so, surely some would have emerged from amongst so many high-minded men, full of patriotic spirit and true philosophical ideas, who inspired by that enchanting art which evokes the first smile in this life, always surrounds our existence and solemnly dismissed us to the grave, would authoritatively have banished forever this question from such vicious terrain, noting that music should not be valued for its industrial or theatrical utility. Because however important that may be, it is at root an invaluable medium of cultural instruction, which in addition to pouring sweet comfort into private life, works as a powerfully beneficial stimulus for social life, especially when it is used as a means of spreading healthy ideas and moral principles, both in young children and in the working classes. Even more so, as a splendid element in all public solemnities; and most of all, in the superhuman spark it brings to religious ceremonies, where mortals raise their prayers to the Supreme Being in harmonious ensembles; or in battle, where it instils noble ardour and warlike spirit into the combatants, turning one hero into a thousand, who inspired by the martial sounds of the national anthem, meet glorious death in defence of the fatherland. Thus by not confining it to the theatre, it becomes unnecessary to judge music from an industrial point of view, which however important and worthy of attention for a multitude of good reasons, is only one of many aspects which cannot compare with its artistic and moral effects. These artistic and moral goals, which always go together, inform and justify the constant energy and great expenditure devoted by other nations to the development of their national lyric theatre, whose advantages are the envy of our own, which – although still nascent, lacking the direction that could have given it wisely structured protection – has already provided us with undeniable advantages. First, it has endowed Spanish music with a useful and beneficial outlet. Second, it has given a certain brilliance to the country, for when outsiders speak of our advances they mention zarzuela, and thus concede we create dramatic music, which until now they denied we possessed – even though we have been supporting important Italian opera theatres for very many years, for which some of our composers had composed successful works. Last not least, it has rendered the important social service of making the uncultured, provocative songs that once resounded from the aristocratic drawing-room to the humble cottage a thing of the past, replacing these songs previously censured and ignored by the public, songs of obscure origin that perpetually resounded in workshops, streets and houses with great offence to good manners, because youthful ears were fixed on the free and clumsy ideas contained in the lyrics, rendering it 22. Opera and Zarzuela impossible to prevent their pernicious echo from reaching even the most secluded family homes. This advance is of the greatest significance, in demonstrating the importance of the national lyric theatre. Now, if zarzuela – despite being an essentially comic genre – produces incontestable moral improvements, what might not result from the creation of a national opera theatre? For there, thanks to its lofty nature, the great historical events which teach the people so much would be frequently represented, constantly recalling through their everyday songs the virtuous exploits of the great patricians, whose names would inspire due respect and increase in the multitude patriotic love, dignity and all the noble qualities which Spanish people naturally possess! If the Conservatory had received the attention it deserves and prioritised as due, it must be candidly confessed that Spanish music would have achieved a more prosperous fate, for if universally recognized, its influence would have been felt in all social spheres. And if the above remarks were not enough to prove how hard-fought the founding of the Conservatory was, and how prolific since then the obstacles in its path, the following facts will sufficiently demonstrate it. The commission which devised current laws of public instruction discussed and approved the wise desire to introduce the study of music in primary education;61 yet this provision was not put into effect, although children were not forbidden to continue singing in schools in a vulgar style detrimental to their intelligence, due to the wrongly-placed stresses present in many song lyrics. During the war in Africa,62 the Conservatory conceived the thought of composing the truly national anthem which Spain lacks, since the ones we use correspond to certain epochs in our political brawls; and it proposed a musical contest should be held , an idea that was a lost cause from the beginning. Through the mediation and recommendation of the Conservatory, a project was presented to broaden its orbit in the provinces, establishing subsidiary schools for the transmission of musical history and dispersing choral societies for the workers nationally, while regulating everything centrally for their best success. To Spain’s loss, no result has been obtained, not even concerning the governance of the Madrid Conservatory itself, which continues to labour under very defective provisional regulation. Its professors enjoy neither tenure, nor the advantages that the education laws grant others, leading to the utterly incomprehensible circumstance, that because the legal regulations regulating the general hierarchy of secondary-level teachers do not cover them, the professors of composition have been excluded from it, like those of the School of Fine Arts,63 which has likewise never been included amongst the old universities, where the music chairs are held by tenure. In short, it has now twice refused to grant a very important request presented by the musicians concerning the music for divine worship, which although (as has been said) directly dependant on the Church, is paid for through State funds. Regarding this last point, nothing would better serve to show how the wise application of music is linked to true artistic progress, than to repair the state into which the music of our divine worship has fallen. Apart from the Royal Chapel, which fortunately exists for the defence of religious music whose sacred fire it keeps burning, and a handful of cathedral which can be cited as honourable exceptions, the music that is generally heard in churches is – because of its improper or careless execution – a religious desecration and an attack on art. And what is the main cause? An indefensible clause of the 61 The Public Instruction Act (PIA), commonly known as the ‘Moyano Law’, was passed in 1857 and served as the basis for Spanish education until 1970. It instituted compulsory, free primary education from age 6 to age 9. It was left to local authorities to finance and deliver its musical provisions. This they had failed to do. 62 The Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–60) ended when Morocco recognised Spanish colonial sovereignty over the city of Sidi Ifni and its territories. Along with the Western Sahara, it remained in Spanish hands until 1969. 63 The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, founded in 1752 by royal decree. 23. Opera and Zarzuela Concordat, impossible to sustain, states that the chapel masters and the organists of our cathedrals and collegiate churches must be clerics, when no system presently organized allows things to be exclusively organised in this way. It follows that most of these important positions are held by persons who have barely enough musical instruction and fixity on the general principles of the art, so that instead of being guardians of the traditions and knowledgeable advisers to the prelates, who naturally thrive on social spectacles, they are the first to sing or play the most provocative popular music to attract attention, to the delight of all ordinary nonentities. The only true talents are those who can completely abstract themselves from foolish effects and attend to the true religious spirit, free from trifles and improprieties, which is why the Church always tried to place notable men at the head of its music chapels. Continuous, wise bodies were established to achieve this, none we could cite being more eloquent or of greater significance than the Pontifical Chapel, which having for some centuries employed bishops and other high ecclesiastical dignitaries as the master directors of the music, replaced them with lower-rank ecclesiastics when the art became more developed, and they saw that restricted knowledge could be harmful. Never more than now does the Catholic Church need to take great care in following the wise traditions of her history; never should the prelates be more eager to take care that divine worship is celebrated with the purity, devotion and solemn majesty of the true Catholic spirit. Thus they should be the first to facilitate and even promote the just petition that the musicians have made in vain, that lay people should be able to apply for the posts of organist, with preference in equal circumstances always being given to clerics. This way they would always fall back on true artistic gifts, and the services would be given with dignity and even splendour, as the sums dedicated by the faithful are so large as to allow fine musical services to be organised; not only for the elimination of those improper trivialities, compositions full of reminiscences and theatrical cadences, which seem to have been devised for the singers to claim the attention of the faithful in begging for applause, but also for the elimination of those under-rehearsed, anti-artistic and irreverent performances which create discordance by their very nature. In the temple of God, everything must contribute to elevating the spirit and raising it from worldly concerns. And is it possible to achieve this, when a discordance produces physical discomfort, or a motif from opera or zarzuela comes along to remind us not only of the dramatic story itself, but of the passionate feelings which might have been evoked by it? Of all the fine arts, there is none that can be more disturbing in the temple than profane music, for there is no means of freeing oneself from its sacrilegious influence, which can be achieved with the greatest ease by looking away from a painting or sculpture that distracts us by its worldliness. It is high time to realise that this musical display, which turns the temple into a recreational entertainment, distracting the believer and failing to awaken religious ideas in those who only attend for the attraction it presents, delays the return to the holy fold of sheep led astray by the passions; and that in the midst of those supreme struggles of the soul, when we call to our aid the idea of religion with the pure impressions of childhood that remind us of the repose of the temple, the solemn chords of the organ, the sacred songs that inspired us with such holy elevation, and the ringing of the bell as we enter the sanctuary; and instead of the saving calm we expected to find, we leave it more agitated by the unseemly sounds which recall for us the very songs with which we excited our passions. 24. Opera and Zarzuela IV. All this explains with sufficient force the high importance of the art of music, and the transcendental influence it exerts on society. As both the pure and elevated realm of science and the earthly and practical realm of history recognise, the necessity to devote increased attention to its true development and cultivation is felt equally by all those who consider its worth and what it represents. The time is propitious; for as we’ve seen, Spanish music is at a moment of vigorous rebirth, perhaps even of profligate vitality, while it is not being guided along a wide, true path of development. On the other hand, the country seems to crave such guidance, as demonstrated by the growing fondness it professes for music, and by the very special aptitude it has shown for it in so many ways. Institutions are being established everywhere, then vanish for lack of direction, wasting such promising efforts. The art produces new music in all its forms. Works are being published, even at a loss, whether didactic, elementary, recreational, or highly important complete editions – even historical ones. An enthusiastic younger generation throngs everywhere, and the number of brilliantly artistic intellectuals who dedicate themselves to performing, teaching and conducting is growing every day. But what do we lack? An authority to define, order and make fruitful all this diverse and positive potential, in the service of high artistic purpose and the nation’s glory. Where to create it? In a body constituted with due focus and of the best quality, able to devote itself principally to discussion of the important issues it originates, clarifying them in an enlightened manner, projecting them in an orderly way, and working with everyone involved until its realisation is achieved. The Conservatory could not manage it, because organised expressly for teaching, it lacks this focus. Almost all the professors belong to the practical arm of the various branches of art, and what’s more their daily workload is too heavy to allow them to devote themselves to discussions in any other sphere. Even if this were not the case, the institution would not be able to exercise proper influence, because its hard-fought existence has weakened its moral strength, due no doubt to the fact that it has been neglected by the nerve centres of government. That is why it needs another body to be its safeguard, and to succeed where it has failed, even in the development of teaching and the widening of its sphere of action; for in those many projects which it has initiated, it clearly cannot serve as its own consultant. It may be objected from certain very fashionable points of view, inappropriate to the character of the moral conditions which mark the fine arts, that since the country is so fond of music as to invest so much money in its performance, then there is no need to give direction to what it has already decided for itself. But such reasoning is so far off the mark that music itself presents innumerable examples counter to this criterion. There is no branch of human intelligence, whether scientific or artistic, that is taught more privately and personally than music; and yet from where have the extraordinary advances made in music teaching come? From the Conservatory. What has destroyed the fatal, piecemeal instruction under which music laboured for many years until recently, due to the diversity of schools and factions whence musicians came? The Conservatory, through constant, superhuman effort. This diversity was so evident, that students arriving at the Conservatory from around the country to perfect their technique, were often obliged to relearn their studies from scratch. Such is the pitiful state in which music teaching finds itself. 25. Opera and Zarzuela Add to this musicians from the military bands, and students of the Conservatory’s own students, and even some private pupils of its teachers; and on top of that, its exclusive call on those who wish to follow the difficult career of composer. And is it not advisable that this should be so? Almost obligatory indeed, if large-scale musical performances are to be given with the greatest possible perfection; for in choirs and other groups where individuality disappears in favour of ensemble, the more methodical the teaching is, the better the ensemble will be. And in addition, the considerable number of performers – even of the second order – who are constantly employed to feed the hunger of the times, means that the profession requires a greater number of schools devoted wholly to teaching than the other fine arts. Although it is essentially linked to all of them by the pursuit of beauty and the loftiness of its mission, in the means needed for its expression and even in the role it plays, it differs greatly from the other arts. Painting and sculpture acquire their greatest importance in bequeathing to history the image of great men, the distinctive character of the times and the representation of great historical events; and in order to be able to judge and feel them, it is enough to see the work of the artist, precisely as he alone created it. Although Music passes down through history the feelings of the people, its main importance is in the moment, exerting its daily influence on society by analogy with the feelings and aspirations of the times. Nothing is achieved by publicly presenting a composer’s score without the necessary number of performers, so that – given intelligence and suitable artistic ability – they may interpret the musical author’s creation. From this inescapable multiplicity of elements, it follows that certain creations cannot be in the hands of artists alone, who need high-level protection and suitable direction, however they may later be able to sustain themselves, and however much they may be in public demand. Such is the case with the national opera. How many fruitless attempts have already been made? And is it not in everyone’s mind that it should exist? And is its formation not a commanding necessity for art? No doubt about it: just as surely as that if it did not exist, there would not be many companies able to explore this spectacular genre. But the repertoire needed for its foundation cannot be improvised or formed by a single composer, even for a limited season. Firstly, because given the resources that this genre requires nowadays, all the more indispensable for initial success in putting down roots, a single work demands a lot of time and exclusive attention; and secondly, because even if a certain number of composers banded together to overcome this difficulty, it would present the disadvantage that works would be put forward simultaneously, which might have artistic consequence and yet lack that level of inspiration so difficult to obtain, no matter how hard it is sought. If prizes were offered through public competition for operas that met all the necessary criteria, once there were between four and six such works it would be possible to form a company establishing the National Opera Theatre, which would then continue in the same way as all other institutions supported by the public. It naturally follows from what has already been pointed out, that this would be easy to organise and establish with little or no expense, since it would consist exclusively in directing to the country’s high ends abilities and interests already devoted to music. Yet it has to be said that this direction has never existed, because music has never had an academy, such as those serving the other noble arts. The idea may seem somewhat stale and not likely to yield all the desired results, but it is worth observing that many such institutions have already fulfilled their main mission. Nevertheless music – as with all the fine arts, where the spirit of the times tends so heavily towards material interests – needs it urgently, for it is neglected like no other, undoubtedly due to the fact that there has 26. Opera and Zarzuela been no one of authority or disinterested influence enough to enlighten the Government in these very specific matters. If this were not so, how could music fail to take its place in primary education, when everyone knows the great moral and instructive influence which a well-directed study of music leaves on children? For besides gently influencing their hearts, it educates their hearing, harmonises their speech, develops their memory, and in sum works on their understanding as drawing does on their sight? How could there not exist in all the provinces choral societies for the working classes, which foster the most civilising and communal insights imaginable? For besides inculcating highly moral Christian maxims, singing makes people desire the society of their fellows: rather than indulging vices which deprive families of the produce of their labours and kills their affections, it rather offers pleasures which elevate their spirits by intensifying positive feelings. Can such pleasures be had without combining with our fellows, making us love the communal life which produces such untold good? How could it not be an axiom known to all, that music forms an integral and necessary part of culture, being indispensable for public solemnities, to fan patriotic fervour, to sustain the splendour of divine worship, and to sweeten and beautify everyday social relations? Unfortunately – and inexplicably, since Spain was the first to classify it among the sciences – music is the only branch of knowledge which lacks an enlightened academic body among us, a fact which in itself places it in a worse situation as to esteem and representation. If the music academy were created with the necessary focus, strengthened by discussion of the many issues it would have to consider, this body would be an enlightened defender of the high aims that music must fulfil in the moral and social order. For having a profound knowledge of all that governments have done and are doing to apply its moving powers wisely and fruitfully, and of the ills that result, not only from squandering this natural human sentiment, but of the greater evils that can be caused by crooked development, it will spread the light wherever needed; and by raising issues in this order of ideas, it will make them easily understood. Thus, in submissions to the Government, the issue of theatres, and principally that of the national opera, will be framed in the right way, as historical instruction for the people, providing new life to their civic virtues and a glorious field for our arts. Encouraging the creation of choral societies under thoughtful political, moral and philosophical direction, will be seen as a great means of instructing the masses in the duties and virtues that people need for the enjoyment of lasting liberty. Equal priorities are the beneficial introduction of primary education, the instructive teaching of music, facilitated to suitable degree; the indispensable widening of the Conservatory’s sphere of activity and giving it due recognition, putting its teachers in enjoyment of the rights to which they are entitled by law; and finally, the furtherance of all those means which so effectively foster patriotic spirit, religious faith and those sound morals which are the fundamental principles of society, and which the noble art of music serves so effectively. In submissions to the Church, supported by the Government, the prelates will strive to carry out the reforms that music for divine worship in the true Christian faith requires. 27. Opera and Zarzuela In submissions to a municipality, it would be made plain that the direction of its choral societies, music schools and municipal bands must be entrusted to knowledgeable teachers, so that they may be fit for purpose and not – as so often happens – a waste of time and money, causing considerable harm. Is there a sadder spectacle than to see little children from the charity homes, playing brass or military band instruments at full blast? Where will it end? Instead of inculcating in them wholesome maxims of a moral order, necessary in every way for their social good, through the help of simple songs whose lyrics would keep them in check, they are accustomed to play trivial music in generally discordant ensemble. They are taken to cafés and other unsuitable entertainments, which at the very least give them tastes which cannot always be wholesomely satisfied, and which cause them to spend more time in the material world than devoting it to the study of music which may be of benefit to them. At the worst, it robs them of the opportunity to learn a trade to earn their living. If it is thought that, taught in this way, they can earn it through the music profession, that is a grave mistake. A certain degree of skill is necessary to be able to live by their profession in any instrument; and besides, without careful precautions and an understanding of method there are very few children of such tender age who can understand the study of wind instruments, without exposing their health to serious risks. The beneficial musical education for these unfortunates would be in choral singing, so as to present the most tenderly beautiful spectacle in the public functions they attend, by expressing their own and similar feelings through simple songs; and this practice would suffice to reveal those who have the musical aptitude necessary to dedicate themselves to the profession by further training in the national schools. If the various applications of music and its different branches were ordered, instead of the confused spectacle it presents today we would see it developed superbly and in conditions appropriate to its civilising mission, increasing pure enjoyment throughout society. In its various spheres it would have greater and more enlightened aspirations than the pleasant pastimes and amusing distractions to which it is limited today, and the country would acquire brilliance and glory commensurate with this high gift of human intelligence. Should the academy be instituted by the Government as a matter of course, separated from or as an addition to that for the noble arts, or should it funded by private means? The first would be a very long and difficult matter, however little it might touch on budgetary affairs. As an adjunct to the San Fernando,64 its progress could not be as open and rapid as circumstances demand: as a youngster with so much ground to make up, its ardour would disturb its siblings. Besides, a light cloak is more suitable for great and meritorious tasks than a glorious uniform; and it is also necessary to point out that only through thoughtful and expert direction can much be done. In the latter case, though leaving its foundation to private means might appear more practicable, it would not perhaps create sufficient prestige. How best bring it to vigorous birth, with all the necessary authority and freedom of action? By having it created personally by the august successor to Alfonso the Wise, the magnanimous sovereign who occupies the throne of Isabel la Católica.65 Through her simple command, Her Majesty the Queen (whom God preserve), continuing the wise 64 See note 61. 65 Queen Isabel I of Castile (1451–1504), joint monarch of a united Spain with her husband Fernando II of Aragon (1452–1516). Together they are known as ‘Los Reyes Católicos’ (the Catholic monarchs). 28. Opera and Zarzuela initiative of her excellent mother, founder of the Conservatory and thereby saviour of Spanish music, could provide this art with an instigating, organising and encouraging body, as well as an authorised defender of musicians. For the purpose of promotion, it would suffice to establish one or two prizes, that for the national opera to be awarded annually through public competition and in the manner customary for academic corporations; and around that to base the appointment of a simple majority of Full Academicians. These would choose the remainder, together they would devise their ruling statutes, and once approved by its founder the Academy would be instituted. The only expense to be incurred would be for the prizes, since the posts would be honorary; and thus it would only amount to a small sum, because as a corporation for the promotion of art, the Academy would approach corporations and individuals, to fund other scholarships through its own influence. For premises, a single suite in any building of the royal estate would be enough; however small it might be, it would be large enough to produce much good. There was never a better time to find musicians full of self-denying faith, who understand the need to open up the field of their art and meet all the criteria necessary to bring this enterprise to a successful conclusion; and encouraged by the protection of Your Majesty, Spanish music and musicians will be enabled to fulfil their enlightened social mission, occupying their rightful place to the nation’s glory. The work is worthy and sure of success; the art of Spanish music needs protection, and who better to give it than the August Lady, who has supported and maintained it with so much effort, allowing it to shine today with such vitality, that it lacks only a sphere in which to extend itself, a field in which to flourish? This cannot be created by artists without the help of high protection, as the history of all times, let alone Europe today, shows. On the other hand, the wise guidance that music needs must emanate from one who, with her name alone, can lend authority and respect to any institution called upon to exercise them. In this way, not only would musical art enjoy a better atmosphere in which to thrive and greater importance among the general public; but also, those who profess it would gain hidden advantages, most especially those enthusiastic youngsters dedicated to its study, who every day find a smaller and more limited arena in which to develop their talents. In the latest contract for the Teatro Real, for example, an obligation was imposed on the impresario to stage one new opera by a Spanish composer each year, provided it was considered worthy of the honour.66 Some professors at the Conservatory approached their director, who in turn informed the Minister of Public Works that if this clause were to be drafted in a more decisive way, it could serve as a basis for the future national opera. In the new contract it seems that this obligation has completely disappeared. How can we not ask, in view of this and many other facts that could be cited, for the formation of an institution that would keep watch with constant effectiveness, over the splendours of music and those dedicated to its service? Exceedingly small is the protection that our music enjoys, but if it were channelled with real artistic expertise, it would undoubtedly produce more beneficial results than 66 This contractual clause was, as Hernando says, avoided by a succession of entrepreneurs, the first of whom was the Italian librettist Temistocle Solera (1815–1878). The first production of a Spanish-composed opera – performed, like all succeeding examples, in Italian – was Emilio Arrieta’s Ildegonda, on April 26 1854. 29. Opera and Zarzuela those we have seen. The Italian opera theatre67 is the only one in Spain under direct protection. It is the same throughout Europe: it is the universal favourite of the upper classes, allowing an ostentatious display of wealth and culture, and it serves well-schooled artists most profitably, as the genre which boasts the greatest number of famous scores. To satisfy these aims and to ensure that the national theatre is formed and perfected in the best taste, governments support it. In a sense, it would be fine to envisage the Madrid theatre becoming a dedicated museum-theatre, in which three performances each year of every opera reputed to be an artistic masterpiece would be given. Although it would cost somewhat more to employ the necessary cadre of singers, the state would be repaid by the artistic importance of a capital prepared to fund it. In addition, it would make the path which leads to the creation of Spanish opera more firm and fixed, by educating singers and audiences to appreciate good, healthy standards. Countless benefits would arise because, morally and artistically, the national opera is the most important theatrical spectacle. As an essentially comic genre, zarzuela cannot give a fair idea of the benefits we could gain from opera. The proper and natural sphere of music is to express noble sentiments, lofty affections, grand passions. Comedic themes, while never descending into that oftabused trivial terrain, so completely anti-musical, require for their successful performance special qualities in the composer.68 They demand more ingenuity than profound knowledge, more vivacity and graceful mobility than elevated sentiment and true inspiration. The singers themselves also need to experience more varied styles; and therefore, as long as there is no national opera, Spanish dramatic music will not fully develop, nor will the Conservatory make its progress evident on the stage. We should also note that to these general circumstances must be added our natural aptitudes, manifest in the dominant qualities in our poetry, which have always been lyricism, strength of feeling, lofty thoughts: that is to say, everything proper to opera. It so happens that foreign composers have not drawn a single comic opera libretto from our modern repertoire, even though Teatro de la Zarzuela has been flourishing for fourteen years; while they have created important librettos from our current spoken drama repertoire with ease.69 Shall we permit this to be the case forever, so that instead of producing a work of national art, inspired under the same exceptional sky, our dramatists will go on enriching foreign countries, while we applaud such shredded arrangements? 70 National opera, choral societies and choral singing in primary education form an extensive and powerful element of instruction for society, the more so when they are governed by liberal institutions, in which each individual needs to learn the duties imposed on him by liberty. The gentle introduction of communal song to the heart of the child, leads to the love of work, family, God and country hymned constantly by the people in the choral societies; and the great deeds of our heroes, the virtues of our patriots, all that is worthy of respect and imitation in our history and traditions, is presented through opera in all its moving power, as a sure means of counteracting the suggestions of so many 67 The Teatro Real. Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu (1847) was founded by an educational society without royal patronage, and consequently has no royal box. 68 Barbieri notes in his reply a grammatical defect in this sentence, silently corrected here in translation. 69 In 1864, leading examples would have been Verdi’s Il trovatore (1853) and Simon Boccanegra (1857), both based on romantic plays by Antonio García Gutiérrez (1813–84); and La forza del destino (1862), taken from Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas (1791–1865). 70 This is the paragraph which occasioned Barbieri’s riposte, in his 1864 pamphlet La zarzuela. 30. Opera and Zarzuela false prophets, who eagerly work to bend the careless political and social education of our people to their own good pleasure and will. How, then, are all these important objects to be achieved? We will say it once again: by giving a clear direction to the art of music. Because this is indispensable; and because, in order to achieve it, a lofty institution of sufficient prestige is needed, the foundation of an Academy of Music becomes absolutely necessary. If this is done – and there can be no doubt about it – art will provide a saving shield in time to come, enabling it to protect the greatest undertakings; and in this way, the reign of the august Isabel II will lay the foundations for the rebirth of Spanish culture, in all its varied manifestations. G BRIEF NOTES about THE STRUCTURE OF THE ACADEMY in order to define its workings. The Spanish Academy of Music and Encouragement of Art will bear the name of its august founder, or of Prince Alfonso.71 Its object will be: 1. To advance and propagate music in Spain, and the moral and social influence it has on the mind, studying and advancing all that scientifically and practically can improve it. 2. In addition to its foundation scholarships and those granted by the Government, to hold open public competitions to solicit funds for its greater promotion, from as many corporations and individuals as possible, in order to encourage the development of our dramatic and religious music, and all other important practical, literary and musical genres. 3. To also provide grants for composers, singers and instrumentalists to travel, either to study the state of the art in other countries, or to perfect themselves in those branches that are considered not to have reached the highest level here in Spain. The Academy will be composed of Trustees,72 Full and Honorary Academicians. Trustees will be individuals from the Royal family chosen by its august founder, and private individuals who endow the Academy with a scholarship or grant for the promotion of music, either in perpetuity, or four consecutive years in the case of scholarships, six 71 Isabel II’s son Prince Alfonso (1857–1885), heir to the Spanish throne. After the 1868 revolution which saw his mother deposed, Alfonso studied in Austria and France. After his mother abdicated in 1870, he reigned as King Alfonso XII. 72 The Spanish ‘Académicos Protectores’ does not have a direct equivalent in English, but ‘Trustees’ covers most of its implications. 31. Opera and Zarzuela in the case of grants. In both cases they may bear the name of the donor. The offices of President and Vice-President of the Academy shall be held by Trustees. The Full Academicians essentially constitute the scientific and ruling body, and shall not exceed thirteen, nor shall they be less than seven: the Director of academic studies and the Academy’s Secretary shall be elected from amongst them. To be eligible for election as a Full Member, it is necessary to be Spanish, to have reached the age of 30, and to be known and reputed as a composer of lyrical-dramatic, religious or classical instrumental works which have been generally accepted by the public and the intelligentsia; or for the publication of important treatises or other works about musical composition, proving their profound scientific-musical knowledge. The election of Full Academicians will be made by the Academy, and no salaries will be allowed. The title of Honorary Academician shall be reserved for individuals who have distinguished themselves outstandingly in any practical or theoretical branch of musical art, and been elected by the assembly of Full Academicians. Honorary Academicians who do not reside in Madrid will be regular correspondents of the Academy; and the capital’s residents must attend sessions to which they are invited, in order to sound their opinion on any subject about which it is considered advisable to consult them. Foreigners of appropriate merit, whether or not they reside in Spain, may also be Honorary Academicians. The regular meetings of the Academy will be weekly, except for the months of July, August and September which will be holidays. Any Full Academician who misses six meetings in one year without justifiable reason, is understood to have resigned his post. G 32. ii. Francisco Asenjo Barbieri Opera and Zarzuela G The Zarzuela A reply to maestro Don Rafael Hernando by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri. MADRID: Published by José M. Ducazcal1 Plazuela de Isabel II, 6. 1864. M y friend and colleague the current Secretary of the Royal Conservatory of Music and Drama,2 Don Rafael Hernando,3 has just printed a pamphlet with the title PROJECT-REPORT FOR THE CREATION OF AN ACADEMY OF MUSIC. In this luminous writing we have a swift history of art music in general, considered under the aspect of its moral and civilizing influence. Sr. Hernando also draws a deliberate parallel between the great revolutions of France and Spain, which shows that our neighbours across the Pyrenees demolished to build, whilst we have demolished without even picking up the debris; and it is thanks to the Queen Mother who founded the Conservatory, and to the spirit of the Spanish people and music makers, if we can say today that there is some music in Spain. This people and these artists, without further guidance than their own instincts and their love for everything beautiful, have progressed significantly; but our governments, far from fostering this spirit of progress, have rarely or never done for Spanish music anything other than deign to hinder it. To change this state of affairs for improvement of the art is the aim of Sr. Hernando, whose argument makes clear the benefits which would be accomplished through the creation of his projected Academy of Music. Reading this pamphlet brought me much satisfaction, for which I offer Sr. Hernando – as I am a lover of music and a friend of his – the most sincere and warm congratulations, hoping that his project may be realised; but as human condition is such that there are no two faces entirely the same, nor two individuals who think of everything a similar way, I have seen in the excellent writing of my friend Hernando some incidental proposals on which I cannot agree with him, and which impel me to take up my pen. Sr. Hernando, through his artistic record as well as the distinguished official position he holds, has great importance and authority in forming public opinion, and if we let the points of issue to which I’ve alluded pass without discussion, it amounts to allowing the 1 José María Ducazcal (n/d) was a leading publisher of the time, and father of the politician, journalist and impresario Felipe Ducazcal (1845–1891). 2 Today’s ‘Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid’ was founded as ‘Real Conservatorio de Música y Declamación de María Cristina’ in 1830, by decree of the then Queen Mother. It was originally located in Plaza de los Mostenses, but moved in 1852 to the new Teatro Real [Royal Theatre]. 3 Rafael Hernando Palomar (1822–88), Spanish composer and academic. It was thanks to his efforts that zarzuela began to be taken seriously again, in the decade before the foundation of the Teatro de la Zarzuela, through such works as El duende (1849), to a text by Luis Olona (1823–63). His music is noted for its Gallic elegance and harmonic delicacy. 33. Opera and Zarzuela public and other artists to believe that all Sr. Hernando’s doctrines are incontrovertible; or, as it were, a credo for the art of Spanish music. Let us plunge into the subject. On page 30 of said pamphlet, after extolling the importance of the national opera – an importance recognized by all artists including myself – Sr. Hernando says: ‘As an essentially comic genre, zarzuela cannot give a fair idea of the benefits we could gain from opera. The proper and natural sphere of music is to express noble sentiments, lofty affections, grand passions. Comedic themes, while never descending into that oft-abused trivial terrain, so completely anti-musical, require for their successful performance special qualities in the composer. They demand more ingenuity than profound knowledge, more vivacity and graceful mobility than elevated sentiment and true inspiration. The singers themselves also need to experience more varied styles; and therefore, as long as there is no national opera, Spanish dramatic music will not fully develop, nor will the Conservatory make its progress evident on the stage. We should also note that to these general circumstances must be added our natural aptitudes, manifest in the dominant qualities in our poetry, which have always been lyricism, strength of feeling, lofty thoughts: that is to say, everything proper to opera. It so happens that foreign composers have not drawn a single comic opera libretto from our modern repertoire, even though Teatro de la Zarzuela has been flourishing for fourteen years; while they have created important librettos from our current spoken drama repertoire4 with ease.’ Anyone who cares to think about the thrust of the preceding paragraph cannot fail to see at least a strong tendency to diminish the merit of zarzuela in particular and the comic-lyrical genre in general, in the attempt to prove that dramatic music is legitimate and proper in grand opera alone. A strange view – no less striking coming from my friend Hernando, if we recall that he was amongst the first in our time, not only to hotly defend the rights of zarzuela, but also to provide working practical examples of his love for this class of entertainment, in writing El duende, Colegialas y soldados and many other works of the comic-lyric genre that have become popular, and in which shines inspiration accompanied by the best technique within the rules of the art of composition, of which Sr. Hernando has so practical and profound a knowledge. But my friend has apparently changed his mind, rebelling against his own example, surely with the aim of lending more colour of impartiality to his overall project; and he has shown excessive modesty, taking little credit for the recognised merit of his own works. Not for me to follow him along this path, much as I respect his new ideas: I, a son of zarzuela – which status I hold thanks to the generosity of the public – am not however entering into this discussion only because of the gratitude I owe to the genre, but also in order to try to show that music, like the other fine arts, is perfectly suited to Boileau’s saying: All genres are good except the tiresome.5 Focussing specially on music, I will make trial to prove that to make a good work in any of its branches demands of the composer, in addition to auspicious conditions, the necessities of inspiration and art, without which no genre within the human condition can produce a perfect work. 4 In 1864, leading examples would have been Verdi’s Il trovatore (1853) and Simon Boccanegra (1857), both based on romantic plays by Antonio García Gutiérrez (1813–84); and La forza del destino (1862), taken from Don Álvaro o La fuerza del sino by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas (1791–1865). 5 Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711), commonly called Boileau, was a French poet and critic the maxims of whose L’Art poétique (1674) greatly influenced European thought throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. 34. Opera and Zarzuela To proceed with my proposed plan in an orderly way, I will here end this paragraph explaining what motivates my writing, so as to be better able to present the many observations I’m minded to make, both as to the whole as well as in many details. I. ‘As an essentially comic genre, zarzuela cannot give a fair idea of the benefits we could gain from opera’ On reading these lines the first thing that occurs to me is a question of definition; a question of such importance, that it encapsulates the significance of that thing which is zarzuela. The Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy6 gives us the definition by saying that it is a dramatic composition, partly sung; i.e. that it belongs to the genre of drama, which noun is common to any theatrical fiction, and applies in modern times to theatrical composition including the comic and tragic genres. Within that same comic genre there is as we know a very wide field; because comedy,7 which at its simplest is the representation of a domestic action aimed at correcting morals, can also be ‘cloak and dagger’, showing what passes between nobles and gentlemen; or burlesque, where it serves to rebuke some ridiculous or extravagant vice; or heroic, showing what passes between princes and similar characters. So that even if we accept what Sr. Hernando says, and consider zarzuela solely within the comic genre, it emerges that it can traverse the whole ladder of stage action, from what takes place between the most humble members of society, up to what takes place between heroes and princes. Thus if we take into account the Academy’s definition it follows that zarzuela may extend its action into tragic matters. So much for the theory, but let’s see what zarzuela is in practice. All those who read my lines have seen El duende, Jugar con fuego, Catalina, El dominó azul, El grumete, Los magyares, Mis dos mujeres, Moreto, Dos coronas and ¡Si yo fuera rey!8 successfully represented, with many other zarzuelas in which the poetic and musical lyres sound all notes, from the humble popular song to the elevated religious or heroic hymn, concerned with the actions of the humble fisherman, the modest person of the middle class, the arrogant magnate or stately prince or emperor. With such a variety of characters and actions, we have seen brought into play most of the human passions, from the timid love of the simple villager, to the blind ambition of the powerful and even the crime of the miscreant; and from this precisely comes that variety 6 El Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, founded 1780. The 10th and 11th editions (1852 and 1869 respectively) had been the most recent. The current edition gives the definition of zarzuela as ‘1. f. Obra dramática y musical en que alternativamente se declama y se canta’ [dramatic and musical work alternatively spoken and sung]. 7 La comedia in the Spanish theatrical tradition has a broader meaning than the English ‘comedy’. Many of the plays of Lope de Vega (1562–1635) and Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–81), the two greatest playwrights of the Spanish Golden Age, centred on the intrigues of noblemen and women and their servants in amorous, political, moral, religious and many other ‘serious’ contexts. They encompassed every aspect of human life, in its darker as well as lighter aspects; and it is this wider context of comedia which Barbieri emphasises. Calderón is of special importance to Barbieri, as he devised the first fiestas de zarzuela in the mid-17th century. 8 It is worth noting that many of these used texts adapted and/or translated from recent French opéra comique and verse dramas. El duende (1849), music by Hernando, text by Olona; Jugar con fuego (1851), music by Barbieri, text by Ventura de la Vega (1807–65); Catalina (1854), music by Joaquín Gaztambide (1822–70), text by Olona; El dominó azul (1853), music by Emilio Arrieta (1821-94), text by Francisco Camprodón (1816–70); El grumete (1853), music by Arrieta, text by García Gutiérrez; Los magyares (1857), music by Gaztambide, text by Olona; Mis dos mujeres (1855), music by Barbieri, text by Olona; Moreto (1854), music by Cristóbal Oudrid (1825–77), text by Agustín Azcona (d. 1855); Dos coronas (1861), music by Arrieta, text by García Gutiérrez; ¡Si yo fuera rey! (1862), music by José Inzenga (1828–91), text by Mariano Pina Bohígas (1820–1883) and Miguel Pastorfido (d.1877). 35. Opera and Zarzuela of colouring which is zarzuela’s major attraction for the public – and not only for the public, but before that for the composer, who has a vaster field in which to arrange his scene, making available a greater variety of colours for his palette. The question is only whether or not the painter knows how to handle that with inspiration and art; otherwise there seems no question whether one genre might be better than another, except where one allows extended flight of the imagination more widely. I do not understand then how my friend Hernando dares to say that zarzuela cannot give a fair idea of the benefits we would have to allow to opera; for, on the contrary, it seems to me that zarzuela, within its sphere of action, and seeking to perfect itself is, so to speak, a stepping stone towards opera – or even the same thing, up to the moment when opera deprives itself of spoken dialogue, replacing that with sung recitative. When it comes to musical forms zarzuela has the song, the romanza,9 the aria, the duet, the trio, the quartet, the chorus, the large ensemble, the orchestra and the military band: can opera boast more? … No. So the only apparent difference is that opera is more developed with respect to musical form, whilst its action however is more linear and sometimes exclusively tragic, ending with the inevitable catastrophe, which usually tends to upset everyone. Who can honestly say that they enjoy witnessing the repulsive finale of the last act of Rigoletto or La forza del destino,10 except in so far as the music is admirable? … But let’s look at the question of benefits. Seeing that zarzuela is so varied a spectacle and can accommodate such diverse affections, it offers the composer newly come before the public the great advantage of being able to try his strength in differing musical expression of human passions. By this route he studies himself and comes to understand justly whether his gift is inclined to joyful, light music or to the serious and profound in all its gradations. The public itself is responsible for telling him ‘that’s the way to go’ through their applause; and thus he won’t waste his time pitifully, pretending to compose grand tragic operas which perhaps he is not capable of creating, when instead he can make deliciously the most graceful tonadillas.11 My thoughts on composers can also be applied to singers. In today’s zarzuela theatres is many a performer who will later be seen to advantage in the serious genre, gaining much applause; and I am quite sure that if there were any entrepreneur wanting to form a national opera company, he would choose this performer before the finest student leaving the Conservatory, on the sole ground that they have been proved in a public theatre, singing Spanish. By looking at what happens in France, we can judge what would happen here. It is extremely rare for a graduate coming out of the Conservatory, whether composer or singer, to immediately become part of the Grand Opéra; almost all serve lengthy apprenticeships in the theatre where is cultivated that genre which my friend Hernando called ‘essentially comic’,12 and when they have gained a considerable reputation, they then move to the Grand Opéra. For example: the famous Maestro Auber, who had written for the theatre since 1813 in the 9 Barbieri makes a distinction between the simple solo song (canción) and the more intense love song, the romanza. By differentiating this in turn from the Italian aria, Barbieri seems to be moving up the scale of musical sophistication and difficulty. For many composers and writers romanza and aria were interchangeable, and meant any reasonably serious zarzuela solo. The Italian term was later dropped. 10 Rigoletto (1851) and La forza del destino (1862), major operas by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). c.f. note 4. 11 A tonadilla is a short musical play with few characters and a simple, domestic action, the Spanish equivalent of the Italian intermezzo. It flourished in the mid-18th century, but the best works in the genre were still popular in Barbieri’s time, influencing the one-act zarzuela of the 1850’s to 1880’s. 12 The Opéra-Comique in Paris was founded in 1714, to offer native works as an alternative to the Italian opera which then dominated most capitals of the Europe. Its repertoire in the 19th century was far from exclusively comedic, in any narrow sense: premieres there around this time included Auber’s Manon Lescaut (1856), Bizet’s Carmen (1875); and later, Delibes’ Lakmé (1883) and Massenet’s Manon (1884). 36. Opera and Zarzuela comic genre, and who did not set foot in the Grand Opéra before his La Muette de Portici was staged there in 1828;13 Caroline Duprez, the tenor Roger, the bass Faure14 and many other artists who make up the French national opera companies today, did not enter into that until after a long apprenticeship in comic opera. So it is that in France advances in comic opera contribute to grand opera; and in Spain zarzuela can contribute to the establishment of national opera, affording composers and singers practice, which always gives them an advantage over the best pupils leaving the Conservatory, well schooled there though they may have been. Regarding composers in particular I must make some important observations. Apart from the experience to be gained in zarzuela which I mentioned earlier, it must be borne in mind that an opera requires large expenditure to get on stage, and there is no impresario (even the Government) who wants to risk their money to offer the first work of a student to the public; whilst the Teatro de la Zarzuela is accessible to young composers, because works can be written in this genre that need only low production costs. What happens in France is that capable composers sally forth from the Conservatoire, often after winning the Prix de Rome15 awarded by the Government; and then against all logic these poor award-winning students spend years and years writing grand operas with which they vainly knock at the door of their grand national theatre,16 and would conclude by dying of hunger unless they dedicated themselves to composing comic operas and vaudevilles.17 The renowned Berlioz many years ago wrote and shelved a grand opera, without ever seeing it staged;18 and having no other resources to assist his talent, he cursed the preference he obtained with the French national opera by having won the Prix de Rome. I cite this example only to show that with or without zarzuela it is very difficult even for composers of superior talent to get their grand operas seen, in the same way as a historical painter has great difficulty finding a buyer for a large canvas, which does not fit into the small houses in which we live, whilst more easily dispatching paintings of medium dimensions; and in making this comparison with painters, I will add that this is not either in painting or sculpture, nor in music, a great time for classicism. Today the whole world chooses 13 Daniel François Esprit Auber (1782–1871), the prolific composer whose tragic opera La Muette de Portici (1828) was hugely influential in its time, setting a template for French Grand Opera for the remainder of the century. 14 Caroline Duprez (1832–75) [‘Carolina Duprez’ in Barbieri’s Spanish] was a leading soprano of the time, who had created the role of Angela in Auber’s Marco Spada at the Opéra-Comique in 1852. Tenor Gustave-Hippolyte Roger (1815–79) made his Opéra-Comique debut in 1838 as Georges in Halevy’s L’Éclair, and went on to create the title role in Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète (1849). In 1859 he underwent amputation following a hunting accident, after which he appeared on stage with a mechanical right arm. We would call Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830–1914) a baritone, not a bass as Barbieri writes: the term ‘baritone’ was little used in Spain at the time. His operatic debut was as Pygmalion in Massé’s Galathée at the Opéra-Comique (1852). Roles he created around this time at the Paris Opéra include Nelusko in Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine (1865); Marquis de Posa in Verdi’s Don Carlos (1867), and the title role in Thomas’ Hamlet (1868). 15 The Paris Conservatoire, founded in 1795, was the conservative bastion of the ‘French School’ of music and drama. From 1803 it instituted an annual Prix de Rome competition for young composers, although the prize was not always awarded. The winner was allowed one or more years’ study in Rome, plus a five-year pension, at the expense of the French government. Notable winners around the time of Barbieri’s pamphlet were Georges Bizet (1857), Jules Massenet (1863) and Claude Debussy (1884). Hector Berlioz (1803–69) won the prize only at his fourth attempt, with the cantata Sardanapale in 1830. 16 The Paris Opéra, rehoused in the newly-built Palais Garnier (1875) following the destruction by fire of the Théâtre Lyrique (1871) and Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique (1873), two buildings both formerly associated with the ‘national opera’. Barbieri’s phrase sidesteps this complexity. 17 19th century French vaudeville had evolved into a light, popular comedy play, with or without musical content. Many of Barbieri’s own short, one-act zarzuelas (such as El hombre es débil, Teatro de la Zarzuela 1871, text by Mariano Pina Bohígas) drew on this French model. 18 It is probable Barbieri means Berlioz’s early three-act opera Les francs-juges, originally written in 1826, offered several times without success to the Opéra and other companies, and eventually dismembered for use in other works. Possibly though he is referring to Les Troyens, Berlioz’s five-act opera written between 1856 and 1858. Although he never saw it performed in its entirety during his lifetime, the last three acts (heavily cut) were premièred as Les Troyens à Carthage, by the Paris Opéra at the Théâtre Lyrique during 1863. 37. Opera and Zarzuela to grab genre paintings19 with both hands; today a sculptor will not show a Laocoön Group20 to take the prize, but a statue of a girl in her shift reading a novel; likewise people everywhere crowd into the theatres presenting comic rather than tragic actions. That selfsame Italian opera, which is a favourite spectacle throughout Europe, is living proof of my assertion, as it pleases more when featuring a greater variety of characters and incidents: in a word, where the libretto is a drama such as I puritani, Linda di Chamounix, Il trovatore, Un ballo in maschera21 and many others too numerous to mention, there are certain situations or scenes that may be regarded more as zarzuela than as opera. There is more: to my mind zarzuela is precisely the thing to give insight into the benefits of opera. If you look at the march of human progress with special focus on theatrical spectacle, throughout the ancient and modern world these have begun with the greatest humbleness and have grown and developed to reach perfection. This Italian opera was nothing more in its origins than an imitation of ancient Greek tragedy, made in Florence at the end of the sixteenth century; and we see that all the plots of antique operas deal exclusively with mythological characters. Spain has also cultivated opera since the seventeenth century, composed like the Italian on matters mythological; but with the differences of not carrying the name of opera, but of FIESTA DE ZARZUELA, and with recitative not sung as in the Italian manner, but spoken.22 Italian opera began very elevated in subject matter and humble in her music; as the latter progressed, so the former declined in significance. Dafne and Orfeo gave way to Dido and Alexander.23 and today we may see a gypsy, a whore or a fool applauded madly on stage, mixed in with this or that cheerful prince or gentleman of little wit. Music on the contrary abandoned gravicímbalos and guitarrones24 for violins, oboes and horns, and then formed the deafening orchestra that we have today. So the history of opera tells us clearly that we are not in the epoch of heroic, or purely tragic plots, for what today’s public demands is the Drama in its various gradations and nothing more. Therefore, given that Zarzuela has many points of contact with modern opera, it follows that the one may give a good idea of what art we can expect from the other – unless my friend Hernando dreams of a national opera completely different from that which pleases today’s public, in which case there is no discussion possible, or anything to do other than wait for the coming of this species of new Messiah, in order to receive its benefits and sing its glories. Let us proceed. 19 Pictorial representations of everyday people engaging in ordinary activities had become the most popular mode of artistic production by the mid-19th century, although Goya amongst many others had already used the genre to complex effect. 20 The roman statuary group showing the Trojan priest Laocoön and his young sons being strangled by sea serpents (c.42–20BC) . Its unearthing in 1506 made a huge impact on contemporary Italian sculptors, notably Michelangelo, and it has often since been cited as an ideal work of classical art. 21 I puritani (Bellini, 1835); Linda di Chamounix (Donizetti, 1842); Il trovatore (Verdi, 1853); Un ballo in maschera (Verdi, 1859). Vincenzo Bellini (1801–35) and Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) were Verdi’s two greatest Italian predecessors in tragic opera. 22 Barbieri simplifies the picture of 17th century Spanish lyric theatre, which also featured a small number of through-written operas and ‘serious’ semi-operas, as well as the dramatically and musically less complex fiestas de zarzuela, where the dramatic entertainment was simplified to match the lower capabilities of the stage machinery available at the Palacio de la Zarzuela. 23 i.e. from mythological to human and historical subjects. 24 16th–17th century musical instruments. This spelling gravicímbalos is unique, with Barbieri coining a plural variant from gravicembalo, a Spanish term derived from the Italian clavicembalo, or harpsichord. The guitarrone is a large, plucked bass instrument looking something like a deep-bellied guitar, but unrelated to it. 38. Opera and Zarzuela II ‘The proper and natural sphere of music is to express noble sentiments, lofty affections, grand passions.’ At first glance reading this it may seem that Hernando is paying a great compliment to our art, and yet it does constrict the limits of its action, implying (as seems his purpose) that music should only be noble, lofty and grand. Such an assertion cannot be accepted absolutely, nor relatively regarding theatre music. Countless philosophers ancient and modern have defined music or attempted its close study in diverse ways, but nevertheless all agree that music comes from the heart and goes to the heart, and that intimate and spontaneous feelings create in man the need to sing as well as talk. M. de Montlausier25 said: Music is the word of the feeling soul, as the word is the language of the intellectual soul. This is not the occasion to try to get metaphysical about the matter; enough to draw my readers’ attention to some observations. As music is innate to man, it is clearly necessary for it to be in harmony with his physical and moral constitution. The infinite variety of human feelings, more or less modified by education and by a myriad other accidents, makes music able to strike the strings of the heart in so many different ways, that if one were to list them one might as well write the history of the soul of every man. This being true, each opera or musico-dramatic action may be considered nothing more than a canvas upon which is painted the movement of human passions, fitting into this picture the noble sentiments engendered by love in its many forms, along with those which breed selfishness, anger or any other of the reprobate instincts allowable to depict on the stage. I will say more: without the contrast resulting from such varied and conflicting passions, neither can the poet draw a moral and fruitful result from his story; nor can the musician, who follows him step by step, discover the colours necessary to compose a harmonious and interesting whole. There is yet another field ‘proper’ and ‘natural’ for music, namely the expression of those kind of sentiments awakened in the soul by the physical phenomena of creation, phenomena admirably painted by the great composer Haydn in his Seasons.26 The dawn of a spring day, the whisper of wind, dead calm, the crash of the tempest and other sublime acts of nature have been expressed through music and by the most cunning composers, amongst whom I think my friend Hernando himself has not failed to enter this ‘proper’ and ‘natural’ musical field; and such is found not only within the opera seria but also the opera buffa.27 As an example the summer storm in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, that rich jewel in Rossini’s crown, will serve. 28 In short, music is the child of feeling – or rather is feeling itself. It belongs in the group of imitative arts, and is the twin sister of poetry. Therefore its proper and natural terrain is the expression of all those affections which suit poetry; the more so, since it also serves to call to mind certain vague reflections, certain abstract ideas, for which there are no words in the language of poetry. I could cite thousands of examples, but such illustration would offend the friend who finds himself 25 François Dominique de Reynaud, Comte de Montlosier [sic.] (1755–1838) was an important French political philosopher during Napoleonic times and after the Bourbon Restoration. His Courrier de Londres, published during his London exile in the early years of the French Revolution, was widely read throughout progressive Europe, as were his 1829 Mémoires sur la Révolution française, le Consulat, l’Empire, la Restauration et les principaux événements qui l’ont suivie. 26 The Seasons (Die Jahrzeiten) is a four-part oratorio by Josef Haydn (1732–1809), first performed in 1801. 27 Strictly speaking opera seria refers to the noble and ‘serious’ style of Italian opera that dominated Europe throughout most of the 18th century, whilst opera buffa is a generic term used to describe many comedic Italian operas from about 1700 through to the middle of the following century. Barbieri uses the terms as simple antonyms. 28 Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) by Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868), is the most celebrated opera buffa. Barbieri’s later zarzuela El barberillo de Lavapiés (1874) challenges comparison with Rossini, through its title (and of course the composer’s own name). Its famous storm sequence is a virtuosic orchestral interlude. 39. Opera and Zarzuela inadvertently in dispute with me, and who no doubt wishes to escape this style of combat, in which my quill flies so fast through so many words that it surely plagues my writing. After what I have just analyzed, friend Hernando continues by saying that: ‘… Comedic themes, while never descending into that oft-abused trivial terrain, so completely anti-musical, require for [their] successful performance special qualities in the composer. They demand more ingenuity than profound knowledge, more vivacity and graceful mobility than elevated sentiment and true inspiration.’ In this sentence, it should be noted that in the text there is a printing error which must be considered; because the third persons of the verbs require and demand need to be in the plural when referring to comedic themes. I make this point only to prevent any hasty reader believing that these verbs refer to the trivial terrain; for in that case I would not criticize the resultant logic, because it is clear that to compose trivial or anti-musical work needs neither genius nor science in a composer, where the music doesn’t need it. Now, earlier I examined the wide field available to comedy, but even assuming that my friend Hernando in talking of comedic themes wanted to merely reduce these to the easy and familiar, to jokes and intrigues, I will follow where he leads to give proof of the mistake into which he has fallen. According to the generally accepted theory, comedy is the mirror of human life; any comedic matter has to portray to the life the action produced naturally by the passions, deficiencies or absurdities of men. To paint this correctly and truthfully requires the painter to be an attentive spirit, observer, philosopher; as well as to provide a fund of unimpeachable morality, exquisite tact, and that Attic salt29 essential to make the fruitful correction of manners delightful. This is the comedy that has given just and eternal fame to Terence, Molière, Goldoni, Moratín30 and many other authors filled with a profound knowledge, elevated sentiment and true inspiration, not I think denied by my friend Hernando. So – unless he is failing in his duty or not embracing the poet’s ideas – the composer who has to set a comedic plot and provide sensitive musical heightening must begin by being a great philosopher and observer of humanity. Only then will he make each character sing truthfully and with proper sentiment, all of which requires from the composer the two prerequisites for any good work of human genius, which are inspiration and intellect. Will anyone dare deny the necessity of these two conditions to Mozart for his operas Le nozze di Figaro and Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Pergolesi for La serva padrona; Cimarosa for Il matrimonio segreto; Rossini for Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola; Donizetti for L’elisir d’amore and La Fille du régiment; Auber for Le Domino noir;31 and to many other famous composers whose essentially comic works are admired and applauded by the whole of Europe? …. Disabuse yourself, Hernando my friend, and admit now that there are some truly inspired composers who shine more in one genre than another, in the same way that there are justly famous painters such 29 Pointed and delicate wit. 30 Publius Terentius Afer (c.195–159 BC), better known as Terence, one of the leading Roman playwrights. Molière was the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622–73), the great French playwright and actor. Carlo Goldoni (1707–93), the Venetian playwright and librettist still ranked amongst European theatre’s greatest writers. Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760–1828), the liberal Spanish dramatist, translator and poet. 31 Le nozze di Figaro (1786) and Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), both by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1759–91); La serva padrona (1733) by Giovanni Pergolesi (1710–36); Il matrimonio segreto (1792) by Domenico Cimarosa (1749–1801); La Cenerentola (1817) by Rossini; L’elisir d’amore (1832) and La Fille du régiment (1840), both by Donizetti; Le Domino noir (1837) by Auber is set in Madrid, and employs Spanish folk melody. 40. Opera and Zarzuela as Van Ostade, Teniers and Goya32 who shine more brilliantly in comedic subjects; but as no one denies true inspiration and deep knowledge is reflected in the works of these painters, so no one should deny these qualities to the composers who only shine in comedy; because this would serve to deny artistic legitimacy to all genres other than the heroic and high-sounding, and no good criticism can accept this. On the contrary, from this variety of genres springs the attractiveness of the fine arts, both within themselves and in relation to the others. We have several kinds of music – religious, dramatic, concert and popular. Well then, if an artist, the most enthusiastic supporter of any one of these, were to condemn and never hear the others, and was able to stand such deprivation, I am sure that he would end by hating the music which before he revered. Returning to the question, I must say that I do not fully understand what my friend Hernando was trying to say about comedic themes, while never descending into that oft-abused trivial terrain, so completely anti-musical. If in these words he has set out to criticize the works of some bad poetasters and music-asters33 that plague our theatres, I have nothing to say other than to agree with his ideas; but if he wants to throw penitent garb onto entremeses, tonadillas and similar shows,34 condemning them in general, then I need not apologize for placing myself in opposition. Amongst the multitude there is a general sense of putting little value on an entremés, a tonadilla or a sainete, undoubtedly because shorter dimensions seem to require less work, or because their form is more light and simple. This kind of satirical or burlesque entertainment however requires a most fine feeling, fluent style and vivacity of imagination in the poet; or to put it another way, a comedic inspiration born of the deepest study of the human heart. It often happens that we see a mediocre or even bad drama staged, yet the audience tolerates it; but with a sainete or entremés, if there isn’t an abundance of jokes and amusing situations it seems intolerable and is therefore loudly hissed. It is singular what comes about with dramatic poets. They usually shine in the serious genre, whilst in the comic or satirical although many try very few succeed. By this I do not mean that one genre is worth more than another, for I believe both require true inspiration; but the jocose also requires that enviable gift that comes with the territory, which cannot be learned, and which is called gracefulness.35 We may count multitudes of dramatic authors since the rise of our national theatre, and yet though nearly all of them wrote more or less in the genre of pasos, entremeses, bailes and sainetes, very few successfully met all required conditions – as did Lope de Rueda, Timoneda, Benavente, Quevedo, Ramón de la Cruz and Castillo36, whose ‘little pieces’, under very simple dress, almost always tend to philosophical thoughts, or at the least a true photograph of social manners. 32 Adriaen van Ostade (1610–85), Dutch genre painter; David Teniers the Younger (1610–90), one of the great Flemish master-painters. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828), hugely influential Spanish painter and printmaker, who appears as a character in Barbieri’s zarzuela Pan y toros (1864). 33 Barbieri coins a musical equivalent to poetaster, a writer of insignificant, bad or shoddy poetry. 34 Here and in the following paragraphs several older forms of comedy entertainment are referred to. An entremés (intermezzo) is a short comic piece in one act in prose or verse, customarily played as an interlude between acts of a long, dramatic work, in 16th and 17th centuries Spanish theatres. Its characters were drawn from the common people, and its plots usually satirized their manners and occupations. The paso was a precursor of the entremés, but played as a curtain-raiser to the main action. The baile was a variant on these forms, with a stronger emphasis on dance. From the mid-18th century onwards all these became merged in the increasingly independent and varied one-act sainete. The tonadilla escénica was a smaller-scale stage entertainment, also in one act, with few characters and more dependent on music, which flourished between the 1750’s and 1820’s. Like the sainete, it had a strong influence on the development of the romantic zarzuela. 35 Gracia. A specially Spanish concept which includes gracefulness, elegance of manner, gentility, wit, pleasing mirth and courtesy. 36 Lope de Rueda (1510-65) , actor, precursor of the Golden Age dramatists, and leading exponent of the paso. Juan [Joan] de Timoneda (c.1520–83) was a Valencian noted for his religious plays but also skilled in lighter 41. Opera and Zarzuela As for musical form relative to this kind of piece, the composer must never hold on to those elements that constitute the major technical conventions, but is required instead to write new, readily intelligible melodies, harmonized with the most elegant simplicity – something extremely difficult for anyone who does not burn with the flame of true inspiration. For a large musical piece in opera seria, a learned composer can to some extent fill up a lack of inspiration from the resources of counterpoint; but for a good song in an entremés, if there is no inspiration it is vain to use science. For myself I can say that there are amongst my own ‘little pieces’ several simple songs that my friends think I wrote with the greatest ease, but which nevertheless cost me many days of futile toil, until my pen could bring them to birth; whilst some of my most complicated ensembles have cost me no more than hard work, or as they say, a little night oil. A philosopher, greatly skilled in music, once said he would establish the custom of giving a prize to the composer who submitted the best and most novel melody of sixteen bars, harmonized solely with chords of the tonic and dominant: he had good cause!37 It is therefore very risky to dismiss these ‘little pieces’ as trivial, because as long as they fill all the required conditions, they will perfectly crafted and good of their kind. I say the same here of music as I have said on several occasions of dramatic poetry. There is a phalanx of Zoiloses38 in our streets and cafes always talking about the lack, in one class of work or other, of something which they call literary quality. Now my friend Hernando wants to deny the lyric-comedy genre its artistic quality; but I have noticed that every genre of entertainment, from paso to tragedy, and from tonadilla to grand opera, has its own rules and qualities, subject generally to the rules of art and good taste: to flee which is falling into the tigribus agni39 of Horace, who moreover provided that each genre should keep well within its own sphere. So we can say, that we should value as much Las castañeras picadas as La muerte de César; and as much La gila y el sacristán as Les Huguenots.40 III Following this Sr. Hernando continued, that concerning the comic genre ‘the singers themselves also need to experience more varied styles’. True enough, but a truth of Pero Grullo,41 and quite contrary to what he wants to prove, because the whole world can see that zarzuela is sung and spoken, whilst opera is sung only; forms. Playwright Luis Quiñones de Benavente (1600-50) codified the entremés as a verse form. Francisco de Quevedo (1580–1645) one of the most prominent Spanish poets, novelists and essayists was notable for his savage satirical wit, although he did not write for the stage. Ramón de la Cruz (1731–94) was presiding spirit of the sainete and tonadilla, as well the key 18th century champion of zarzuela. Alonso de Castillo Solórzano (1584–1648?), popular novelist and playwright noted for shrewd cynicism. 37 This axiom is in the vein of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78), whose writings on music emphasise the need for simplicity over formal ingenuity, but I have been unable to identify a precise source. 38 Zoilus or Zoilos (c.400BC–320BC) , Greek grammarian, philosopher and literary critic. Though his writings do not survive, his name was a byword for malignant criticism, gaining him the name Homeromastix, ‘Scourge of Homer’. In the 1605 Preface to Don Quijote Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) calls Zoilus a maldiciente (‘backbiter’); and there is also a now-disused proverb, ‘Every poet has his Zoilus’. 39 ‘Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni’, popular saying from Ars Poetica by Horace (65BC–8BC). ‘Serpents may couple with birds, lambs with tigers’, i.e. incompatible opposites cannot be yoked together. 40 Las castañeras picadas (1787), sainete by Ramón de la Cruz. La muerte de César (1865), tragedy by Ventura de la Vega (1807–65), Argentine/Spanish playwright who worked in all genres and was Barbieri’s librettist for Jugar con fuego (1851). La gila y el sacristán, an earthy baile sung and danced in Part II of Santa Juana, a hagiographical trilogy of plays written 1613-14 by Tirso de Molina (1583–1648), one of the most important Golden Age playwrights. Les Huguenots (1836), massive, five-act grand opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864). 41 i.e. stating the obvious. Pero Grullo (a contraction of Pedro Grullo) was a supposed Asturian of the 15th– 16th century, probably imaginary, whose conversation was peppered with self-evident truths, or perogrulladas. The 42. Opera and Zarzuela and comedies usually present more varied characters than heroic drama. Consequently the need to cover more ground requires greater skill and knowledge from the players: yet another argument for what we showed before – that is, the utility of zarzuela as a preparatory school for a national opera. He continues: ‘… as long as there is no national opera, Spanish dramatic music will not fully develop, nor will the Conservatory make its progress evident on the stage’ I agree with the first part of this argument, because in actuality grand opera is a genre which we have not cultivated, and one which is needful for Spanish lyric-dramatic art; but I cannot agree with the part about the Conservatory, as this school currently takes another path better suited to its purpose, particularly in its composition and singing classes. The former, undertaken by those eminent masters Eslava and Arrieta,42 are a model of their kind, in which the rules and their applications are taught with a scrupulous care unequalled in any other European school. Thus every year we see students leave, bright, full of knowledge inculcated by their teachers; but because of the Conservatory’s faulty organization these students are missing one skill important to such an essentially practical art as music. It is well known that to be called a composer it is not enough to be aware of the rules and demonstrate them on the blackboard. It is also necessary to be a real philosopher, and to hear and study the effect of the works themselves; in short, we need much practice. The famous composer Gluck43 used to say these remarkable words: ‘when I am composing an opera I forget entirely that I know about music’, which highlights the preferred need to look at philosophical issues above the details of harmony and counterpoint. A composer’s studies can therefore be said to begin only after learning all the rules of his art; and whilst I understand that a school like the Conservatory cannot ignore the facts about Mozart and Rossini, I also understand that a scholar will be all the better prepared practically, by hearing those student works written as fruit of the knowledge communicated by his teachers. The Conservatory is not organized like this. There one never hears any student compositions other than are written for the once-yearly competitions; and when those leaving school – filled with theory and with a gold medal as prize for their knowledge – write for the public, their writing reveals a lack of practical experience. For this reason their music tends not to get the result it might have achieved, if during their theoretical studies they had also been enabled to acquire the greatest possible expertise in writing it. And now, my friend Hernando, do you think – given the state of affairs I have just outlined – that if there were no Teatro de la Zarzuela for practising composers, the Conservatory could see the way clear to progress in the composition and staging of grand operas? I am sure that I must answer negatively. Now let’s see what happens with singing classes at this same establishment. I do not understand how the Conservatory can contribute singers to a national opera, if they are only taught to sing in the Italian language. True it is that in some class or other one might hear from phrase became proverbial, partly thanks to its use by Cervantes in Don Quijote, and by Quevedo in many of his popular poems. The character had recently lent his name to a two-act zarzuela Pero-Grullo, with music by Cristóbal Oudrid (1850, Teatro Variedades). 42 Hilarión Eslava (1807–78) and Emilio Arrieta were amongst the leading Spanish composers and academics of the time. Both wrote in the Italian operatic manner, without much recourse to Spanish forms or folk influence. Eslava remained fundamentally opposed to zarzuela as a means of national musical expression; and though Arrieta did embrace the genre his style remained more Italianate than Barbieri’s own. 43 Christoph Willibald von Gluck (1714–1787) is traditionally viewed by critics as one of the great opera reformers, weakening the stranglehold of opera seria by promoting textual meaning and simplifying the music. 43. Opera and Zarzuela time to time a romancita44 or other Spanish piece, but these are exceptions, because the truth is that there is no class exclusively devoted to Spanish song. Thus when student singers from the Conservatory appear for the first time at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, they do not know how to articulate the words of our rich national language with fit clarity and force. This is therefore not the road upon which the Conservatory makes its clear advance towards opera. So that if it were not for the Zarzuela theatre, I do not know how personnel would be found for this longed-for national opera, while the Conservatory takes no purposeful step towards its object, or until I can find out from my friend Hernando how without Spanish works or singers we can have Spanish operas. To make a bag of sweets the first thing you need is confectioner’s sugar, just as to go into battle the first thing is to get people armed. So if you have the Conservatory waiting to ‘progress’ with a national opera, when it is the only formal school in Spain with this object yet does not teach singing in Spanish, then you would have to draw singers exclusively from the Zarzuela theatre, or from students taking private lessons. Otherwise there would be a vacuum, which you would have to fill by seeking elements from abroad – in which case the Conservatory’s teachings would be completely useless for the foundation of that national opera. Let us continue our analysis: ‘to these general circumstances must be added our natural aptitudes, manifest in the dominant qualities in our poetry, which have always been lyricism, strength of feeling, lofty thoughts: that is to say, everything proper to opera’ I cannot conceive what its author meant by this phrase, although I think he tries to make this the basis for the foundation of our national opera. If that is so, I find it on the one hand a risky proposition, and on the other proof to the contrary of what my friend Hernando desires. Consider both extremes: As far as the natural aptitude of Spaniards for literature and the fine arts goes there is no discussion, for it is a universally acknowledged fact. Respecting the elements that nowadays constitute the genre of our cherished national opera, there’s a lot to discuss. Opera in general has a different character or gradation in each country in Europe. The Italians have opera sacra, opera seria, opera semi-seria, and opera buffa. The French have grand opéra, and opéra-comique intermixed with spoken dialogue. The Germans are distinguished by the greatest variety of opera categories; they have grand opera, serious opera, tragic opera, heroic opera, romantic opera, allegorical opera, military melodrama, comic opera, and so forth and so on45… and in almost all of these kinds of spectacle singing alternates with dialogue or speech. The Russians, the British and even the Americans have their national operas. It would be very long and tedious to go into particular examination of each of these various lyric dramas, but this can be said about them in general: that each nation builds its lyric drama on the bases of its literature and popular music. 44 A mocking diminutive from romanza, which for Barbieri usually meant a simple, Spanish-language love song. In zarzuela romanza eventually became interchangeable with aria, as a more serious or complex vocal solo than the simpler song or canción. 45 Barbieri is having fun here, at the expense of the Teutonic love of categorisation. Many of the items in his list are not distinct ‘genres’, in Germany or elsewhere, though they might have been inscribed on the title pages of individual works. In particular, there is no known lyric genre of ‘military melodrama’ (though there was later to be ‘military operetta’). Barbieri may be making sardonic reference to current Prussian military successes in the 2nd War of Schleswig-Holstein, at its height during January–March 1864, news which dominated Europe at the time he was writing his pamphlet. 44. Opera and Zarzuela By analogy with what has been put into practise in all these countries, and also as natural reason dictates, it seems clear that to try and establish our national opera we should begin by studying the nature of our dramatic literature. This study is deserving of the greatest care, but since that would be inappropriate to my narrow confines here, I propose to make only some light remarks. Since the origins of theatre down to our own time we have had in Spain a rich flow of dramas in so many diverse genres from so many writers, that even the idea of making a list is daunting. We have liturgical dramas or oratorios that have been and still are sung in many churches. Also representaciones or églogas; pasos, entremeses, loas, autos, bailes, mojigangas, follas, sainetes, tonadillas, comedies, dramas, zarzuelas, melodramas, operas and tragedies.46 Taking the character of these dramatic works in the round, we will see the most important part played by the comic element. That goes without saying in the smaller satires or burlesques, such as entremeses and allied forms, but although these are prodigious in number, none of them has a special monopoly on broad comedy – comedy and tragedy use it too. Just browse the works of Lope, Calderón, Tirso, Moreto, Rojas47 and other famous playwrights of our literary golden age, and notice how they can bring in any kind of matter, provided they do so in a tone natural to the society in which they lived. In the most terrible tragic action, as in a ‘cloak and dagger’ comedy, or the life of a Saint, or an Auto Sacramental, there is always at least one character brought in to make the audience laugh; and as this was often compounded by the custom of the time to fill the intervals of the comedy with entremeses, bailes or sainetes, we may draw the conclusion that at our most brilliant theatrical time Spaniards did not have enough patience to tolerate two hours of uninterrupted seriousness. Then came the decline, and with it the ‘mixed works’ of Comella48 and his henchmen, in which we may note however that the Spanish public liked much of the musical melodrama, which mixed all kinds of situations and emotions with the buffoonery of the clown. Meanwhile along came that eminent writer of sainetes Ramón de la Cruz. After that came the restoration of our theatre; and the great Moratín,49 both as thinker and expert painter of the Spanish character, opened the way for modern theatre with El sí de las niñas, El café, El barón and other works – all essentially comedic – that are still loudly and universally applauded. It is true that by then classical tragedy was popular too, but it was but the flower of a day, scattered to the winds by the death of the great comedian Máiquez.50 Since then the Spanish have cultivated it less, which shows that this genre is not the most sympathetic to our character. In recent times there is no shortage of illustrations, because the whole world 46 Representación or égloga: short play on pastoral themes. Loa: brief prologue in prose or verse, preceding the first act of the main comedy, often in praise of the monarch. Auto sacramental: full-length play on religious theme. Mojiganga: animal-dress masque, associated with carnival festivities. Folla: another brief, energetic carnival show involving song and dance. These forms flourished in the Golden Age of Spanish drama, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and all involved music to greater or lesser extent. By melodrama, Barbieri means dialogue spoken over a musical accompaniment. 47 Agustín Moreto (1618–69), whose entremeses were particularly admired, was a follower of Calderón. Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla (1607–48) was esteemed for a small number of comedias and autos sacramentales. Compared with Lope, Calderón and Tirso they are lesser figures; and the latter is not to be confused with Fernando de Rojas (1470– 1541), whose celebrated La Celestina bridged the gulf between Middle Ages homily and renaissance drama. 48 Luciano Francisco Comella (1751–1812), Barcelona-born journalist and playwright who wrote texts for several zarzuelas and operas, including Los esclavos felices with music by the short-lived prodigy Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (1806–26). Although his light comedies and sensational romantic dramas were highly popular, they were not valued by contemporary critics and faded quickly from view. 49 Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760–1828), neo-classical dramatist, poet and critic; the major Spanish literary reformer of his day. La comedia nueva o El café (1792) and El sí de las niñas (‘The Maidens’ Consent’, 1806) are generally thought to be his most important plays. Both are satirical, enlightenment comedies. El barón (1787) is a two-act prose zarzuela with music by José Lidón (1748–1827). Moratín was a supporter of Napoleonic rule in Spain, and died in Parisian exile. 50 Isidoro Máiquez (1768–1820). Subject of a portrait by Goya, and – as Barbieri’s metaphor hints – beloved for his qualities as a tragedian and comedy actor alike. 45. Opera and Zarzuela saw and applauded stagings of perfectly comedic works by Bretón de los Herreros51 and many other of our modern dramatists – until romantic drama appeared in the shape of El trovador by García Gutiérrez,52 which we all remember so well, and from which Verdi has fashioned one of his best and most applauded operas. Today the works that most please the public are comedies and entertainments; and this is understood by our eminent authors, who do not put pen to paper to write a drama without having use of the comic element in mind. Take for example García Gutiérrez’s drama Venganza catalana, where tragic action is laced with high comedy, and Don Ventura de la Vega’s La muerte de César,53 which in the midst of its pure classicism contains truly comic scenes and situations. What does all this mean? That Spanish dramatic literature cannot manage without that comic element so in harmony with the lively and happy, yet serious and quixotic character of the Spaniards. This, in regard to drama: now let’s see what our people like with regard to music. Revisiting our antique theatre, we find very few comedies which do not include music, whether in choruses, arias or songs – and this in comedies written to be entirely spoken. If we examine the entremeses, loas, bailes, and more particularly comedias con música and the fiestas de zarzuela, églogas and serenadas,54 we draw the conclusion that our forebears could not attend theatre happily if it did not feature music in large quantity. Subsequently Italian opera was introduced, added to bailes de bajo,55 tonadillas and operettas, until our own time which has seen zarzuela re-emerge with an independent, vigorous life, fed by the applause of the public. So as music theatre began to develop on its own account, we might say that it began to loosen the ties binding it to the old comedias; but nevertheless even modern dramas use it on many occasions, in the form of songs or choruses – and certainly in its instrumental interludes. So if history and philosophy find comedic and musical elements to be always pleasing to Spaniards and in harmony with their character, there can be no doubt that in forming the musical style of our national opera, comedy should not be spurned, as my friend Hernando spurns it. We can see then as far as the comedy genre goes, that reason dictates we must keep it very much in mind for the creation of national opera. What we’ve shown is quite contrary to the error suggested. I went on to indicate, though, that my friend’s proposal was risky; and I think in fact that great creations do not come along at the whim of a critic, but are always works of a superior genius born to make them. When one of these comes along, he will set us the standard that must be maintained; and then who knows whether all our calculations will go west, and the national opera will turn out to be something we are incapable of dreaming up, either poetically or musically? 51 Manuel Bretón de los Herreros (1796–1873), dramatist successor to Moratín , writing over 360 plays of which the inventive comedies Marcela, o ¿A cuál de los tres? (1831), ¡Muérete y verás! (1837) and La escuela del matrimonio (1852) still hold the stage. 52 Besides El trovador (1836), source for Il trovatore, Antonio García Gutiérrez also wrote Simón Bocanegra (1843), which became Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra (1857, rev. 1881) (see also note 4). Venganza catalana (1864) is one of his last and most sensational dramas. He was deeply involved in the work of Teatro de la Zarzuela, notably as regular librettist for Arrieta: their many zarzuelas besides El grumete and Dos coronas (both mentioned by Barbieri) include Azón Visconti (1858) and a sequel to El grumete, La vuelta del corsario (1863). He also collaborated with other composers, notably Barbieri himself in El robo de las Sabinas (1859). 53 A recent historical drama, published in 1863 and first performed two years later. 54 From Italian serenata, a cantata performed outdoors in the evening, with mixed vocal and instrumental forces. They were often staged. 55 Bailes de bajo (or princesas) were brief sung and danced finales, capping off tonadilla performances in the late 18th century. They generally had no thematic relationship with the preceding work. 46. Opera and Zarzuela As proof of the strength of his arguments, my friend Hernando said: ‘foreign composers have not drawn a single comic opera libretto from our modern repertoire … while they have created important librettos from our current spoken drama repertoire with ease.’ At this point my friend has departed from his customary candour. So I say this to him, not because I believe bad faith has caused him to forget what once he professed in full sight of the world: ‘do you think perchance that foreigners will come to this corner of Europe to look for what they already have to hand?’ I acknowledge an unusual exception – for such is the composer Verdi who has taken El trovador, Simón Bocanegra and Don Álvaro56 from us –because, as the saying goes, one swallow does not make a summer. In other times Spanish literature has exerted a kind of universal monopoly, but today that monopoly is exercised by the French, and Spain we live by translating or imitating everything French. It’s true that our spoken drama has original authors, but instead the modern repertory for our Teatro de la Zarzuela is composed almost exclusively on scripts ‘translated’, ‘imitated’ or ‘arranged’ from the French. Thus when a composer wants to set El valle de Andorra, Catalina, Los diamantes de la corona, ¡Si yo fuera rey!, El relámpago etc., etc., etc.,57 he will not look to Spain, when he can find more on hand, and in a language that is now almost universal, from amongst the works of Scribe and other French playwrights. From here we can agree about the conclusions Sr. Hernando draws as proof of his views; but is it not really a most fine satire directed against our dramatists, who either do not want or do not know how to create original scripts for zarzuela, as good of their kind as are Trovador, Bocanegra and so on.58 But what my friend Hernando doubtless wanted to prove was that as zarzuela is a comedic genre, so it is not suitable for the affairs of opera. Let’s look at the question again from in this light. We’ve shown that zarzuela is lyric drama. Consequently there is no need to go over that ground again, except to call attention to some very recent and significant examples. The first that comes to mind is Flotow’s opera Martha,59 whose plot is essentially comic in the style of the zarzuela Jugar con fuego; and yet no one would make a case for saying that Martha is not an opera, or that its music is not strong in a ‘proper’ and ‘natural’ way. Another recent example is Verdi’s opera La forza del destino, which also uses music in the ‘proper’ and ‘natural’ way. However, it is the large number of comic scenes – such as those at the Hornachuelas Inn, the Military Camp, the distribution of soup and so forth – that charm the audience, whilst the 56 Don Álvaro o La fuerza del sino (1835) the first successful Spanish romantic drama, written by Ángel de Saavedra, better known as the 3rd Duque de Rivas (1791–1865). It was set by Verdi in 1862, as La forza del destino (see also note 4). 57 This reliance on French literary sources was something Barbieri was determined to change. El valle de Andorra (1852), music by Gaztambide, text by Olona, was taken from Le Val d’Andorre (1848) by Jacques Fromental Halévy (1799–1862) and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (1799–1875); Catalina (1854), music by Gaztambide, text by Olona, from L’Étoile du nord (1854) by Meyerbeer and Eugène Scribe (1791–1861); Los diamantes de la corona (1854), music by Barbieri, text by Camprodón, from Les Diamants de la couronne (1841) by Auber and Scribe; ¡Si yo fuera rey! (1862), music by Inzenga, text by Pina and Pastorfido, from Si j’étais roi (1852) by Adolphe Adam (1803–1856) to a libretto by Adolphe d’Ennery (1811-99) and Jules-Henri Brésil (1815–99); El relámpago (1857), music by Barbieri, text by Camprodón, from L’Éclair (1835) by Halévy to a libretto by François Antoine Eugène de Planard (1783-1853) and Saint-Georges. 58 Barbieri’s choice of the two Gutiérrez dramas may be random. It reads, however, like a sly dig at the playwright, many of whose zarzuela libretti (such as the highly successful El grumete) had been in fact original works, without reliance on French sources. Barbieri thus appears to imply that Gutiérrez’s zarzuela texts were of lower quality than his famous, early plays. 59 Martha oder Der Markt zu Richmond (1847), an opera in four acts by Friedrich von Flotow (1812–83) to a libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese (1805–79). Still popular, at least for the tenor aria ‘Ach so fromm, ach so traut’, Martha was itself taken from an original French play, Lady Harriette ou la Servante de Greenwich (1844) by SaintGeorges. 47. Opera and Zarzuela entire world turns its face away from the tragic scenes of blood and horror.60 I do not agree that foreign composers have taken much from our repertoire of spoken plays, except for the three mentioned above which are all varied, colourful dramas; whilst one of them, Don Álvaro, has almost more comic than tragic situations. So when foreigners look at our theatre subjects for music, they forget Numancia61 and choose instead La fuerza del sino [Don Álvaro], and this perhaps for the reason I have given – that for theatre music, those plays will always be preferable which have more diversity of characters and incidents, offering the most open field for the composer’s imagination. From everything I’ve said it is clear that the views expressed by my friend Hernando tend to narrow or diminish the limits of lyric-dramatic art, denying zarzuela in particular and the comic genre in general their true significance. I, who profess the theory that all genres are suited to music, provided inspiration and science guide them, ask my friend to withdraw those expressions that made me take up my pen. He may say if he likes that the creators of El duende, Jugar con fuego, El valle de Andorra, El dominó azul, Moreto, ¡Si yo fuera rey! etc. have produced imperfect works of their kind, but not that because of this we should wash our hands of the art of music, which is well above any one individual. To conclude, I redraft my friend Hernando’s paragraph as follows: ‘Zarzuela, by reason of the variety of its characters in the dramatic genre, and the universal public favour it receives, gives us a fair idea of the benefits that national grand opera would bring us. The proper and natural field of music is the expression of all the feelings of the human heart; therefore, given that zarzuela covers almost the entire scale of them, it helps composers and singers by providing them with a really practical school in which to get to know their particular aptitude towards any of those genres embraced by lyric-dramatic art. The public itself, which fourteen years ago could not conceive that singing could be done seriously in the rich and sonorous language of Cervantes, has been helped by zarzuela to become accustomed to hear with the greatest pleasure, music applied to Spanish verses. From zarzuela has come much of our musical development, both in artistic and economic terms. So many zarzuela theatres have been created on the Iberian peninsula, not least because they cannot wait for the Royal Conservatory to be able to provide them with well-educated students singing in Spanish to help them improve; and because they hope to develop now, towards the founding of that dreamed-for grand opera, which will not be built on a solid foundation, if what exists already is not cultivated. Because the truth is that without the dream zarzuela could not have existed either, which has aroused a taste for Spanish dramatic music, and has stimulated many artistic and economic interests which give a fair idea of what could be created through grand opera. What should now happen is that the Royal Conservatory and all Spanish artists should pool our efforts, not only to prevent the decadence of zarzuela, but on the contrary to raise it up to the highest level of quality and splendour. Accordingly, in my opinion, only this way will we arrive at the desired end of founding a grand opera; and if that is not to be, at least we will have ready a kind of national spectacle liked by the crowd, which can show off the gifts, the inspiration and skills of Spanish composers and singers.’ 60 These ‘Military Camp’ scenes cited by Barbieri were taken from Schiller’s drama Wallenstein’s Lager (1799), rather than Rivas’s Spanish play which formed the basis of La forza del destino. There is thus some sleight of hand in his citation. 61 Cervantes’s tragedy El cerco de Numancia (1585). 48. Opera and Zarzuela If this paragraph does not seem wrong to my friend Hernando, it would be desirable to replace his, and I would ask that he does so, for I want to see his excellent pamphlet without the slightest vulnerability, because there will be those who see in the pamphlet a critique justifying what is destructive of our revolution, and then see an opportunity to banish the only thing we have in dramatic music; or when there appears the probability of funding grand opera, they may not less than critical of Sr. Hernando for having fallen into the same fault that he criticises, helping to destroy, or at least the artists and the public who read his writings may feel he risks abandoning zarzuela in the critical time we are going through, for what would be a dream-delirium of foundations such as grand opera, for which we do not have the necessary elements, and in our time never will. I also ask my friend Hernando to retract those phrases, so at least common, malicious tongues should not brand him ungrateful, hearing how he treats the kind of music that they know, and to allow it the distinguished place it holds in Spanish art. As far as I am concerned, I protest my good intentions in writing this disordered farrago of thoughts, in which I neither want to offend the friend with whom I dispute, nor fail to be guided by another idea – which is that love and gratitude I profess to Spanish music in general, and in particular to the zarzuela. Madrid, March 30th 1864. Francisco Asenjo Barbieri G 49. iii. Queen Isabel II of Spain (c.1860) iv. María Cristina de Borbón, Queen of Spain (Vicente López y Portaña, 1830) v. The Prado, Madrid, 1841 (David Roberts) (Royal Collection) vi. Puerto del Sol, Madrid, 1864 vii. Teatro Real (1850s) viii. Teatro de la Zarzuela (1850s) COUTHURST PRESS LONDON 2021