An Unexplored Issue of not only Urban Scope: Salon Music in Galicia during the Eighteenth Century

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5216/mh.v25.81530

Keywords:

music; theatre; rural and urban palaces; Galicia; Ancien Régime.

Abstract

The role that music played in Galician palaces and their areas of influence during the Ancien Régime is still unknown today. There are no specific studies on the subject, except for brief generalist allusions in works unrelated to the sound issue. The purpose of this paper is to research a complicated topic due to the dispersion (and even scarcity) of manuscripts, the immateriality of the musical fact, the domesticity of practices and the hermeticism that surrounds certain houses. Methodologically, qualitative techniques typical of Historical Musicology are combined with elements derived from Cultural Studies related to intangible heritage. Regarding the results, authorship is attributed to anonymous scores, a link is established between music and alchemy in the Arias family (whose members were related to the University) and the connection that the Galician salons had with other territories is demonstrated. All this refutes the preconceived idea of Iberian Northwest as an isolated place.

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Author Biography

Javier Gándara Feijóo, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, España, javier.gandara.feijoo@usc.es

Post-doctoral researcher hired by the University of Santiago de Compostela. He obtained a distinction «cum laude» and the International PhD mention for his thesis on the use of musical theatre as a political and identity tool at the end of the «Ancien Régime». Previously, Gándara studied the Master's Degree in Valuation, Management and Protection of Cultural Heritage and the Master's Degree in Teaching (both at the University of Vigo). Before, he concluded the Bachelor’s Degree in History of Art (University of Santiago de Compostela), the Bachelor’s Degree in Music (Higher Conservatory of Music of A Coruña) and the Diploma in the same field (Professional Conservatory of Music of Ourense). Gándara worked at the College of Art and Design Pablo Picasso, the Higher Conservatory of Music of Vigo, the Council for Galician Culture and the Curros Enríquez Foundation. As for the distinctions, he received the Andrés Segovia-José Miguel Ruiz Morales Prize in the specialty of Musicology, awarded by the international courses Music in Compostela. Currently, he belongs to the Organistrum Research Group and iHUs-University of Santiago de Compostela; at the same time, Gándara links part of his post-doctoral project to two more institutions: CITCEM-University of Porto and ESMAE-Polytechnic of Porto. Until now, he has participated in different national and international conferences, as well as done research stays in Madrid (Casa de Velázquez/CSIPM-Autonomous University of Madrid) and Lisbon (CESEM-Nova FCSH, to whose Caravelas Research Group Javier is attached). Gándara wrote book chapters edited by Iberoamericana/Vervuert (Madrid/Frankfurt am Main) or the Spanish Society of Musicology Press (Madrid); he is also the author of articles published in impact journals such as Quintana (Santiago de Compostela), RdM (Madrid) and Resonancias (Santiago de Chile).

Published

2025-04-04

How to Cite

GÁNDARA FEIJÓO, Javier. An Unexplored Issue of not only Urban Scope: Salon Music in Galicia during the Eighteenth Century. MÚSICA HODIE, Goiânia, v. 25, 2025. DOI: 10.5216/mh.v25.81530. Disponível em: https://revistas.ufg.br/musica/article/view/81530. Acesso em: 5 dec. 2025.

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