Music in Portugal and Spain is the continuation of the extensive Global Music Series edited by Bonnie Wade and Patricia Campbell, filling in an important gap in European and Mediterranean music. A strength of the Global Music Series is its ability to draw on the specific regional expertise of prominent ethnomusicologists, and Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco and Susana Moreno Fernández, as two of the foremost scholars on music in the Iberian Peninsula, epitomize this trend. This book fulfills three primary functions: as an introductory textbook to the musical cultures of Portugal and Spain, as a rich discussion of the music’s current and historical political contexts, and as a resource to dive more deeply into complex ethnomusicological analyses of selected musical genres, styles, and practices of both countries. Readers can take what is most useful to them out of this self-described textbook.
Drawing on years of field and archival research and teaching experience, Castelo-Branco and Fernández identify three key themes that are interwoven throughout the book: 1) music and dance are used to construct, articulate, and vindicate national and regional identities; 2) music making is deeply embedded in power structures; 3) transnational cultural flows, cosmopolitanism, and globalization contribute to configuring expressive culture in the past and present. The three themes flow in and out of the chapters, sometimes mixing into each other to illuminate the complex tapestry of Iberian music.
Chapter 1 sets the stage with a brief historical background of the region, and Castelo-Branco and Fernández assert that neither Spain nor Portugal can be viewed as a homogenous cultural entity. They instead situate Iberian culture and music as a “multiplicity of heterogenous hybrid cultures and musics” (14). This framework is built on a trajectory from Arab conquest to maritime expansion to authoritarian regimes, and ending in democracy. Through each step Castelo-Branco and Fernández point to corresponding emergent musical examples which highlight the bi-directional influence between music and politics. More in-depth analysis is provided of two traditional dance-song genres—the jota and the vira—including musical recordings on the accompanying CD as well as classroom activities for both genres.
In chapter 2, building on the idea that political ideology and power are enacted and sustained through musical performance, the authors compare the cultural policies of the two Iberian countries during their periods under dictatorship. Both regimes used music and dance to strengthen and cement their nationalist ideologies. After the transition from authoritarianism to democracy, according to Castelo-Branco and Fernández, music and dance genres such as sardana, cante, and laço, have been revitalized and used as regional icons. The expression of these genres is further explored in chapter 3, which discusses fiestas, privileged contexts for expressing culture and enacting identities.
Chapters 4 and 5 are a shift away from the previous narrative and provide further in-depth examinations of two particularly significant genres, fado in chapter 4 and flamenco in chapter 5. These hybrid genres serve as case studies for national musical icons. Here the authors focus more heavily on ethnographic storytelling and musical analysis, offering rich detailed examples and coverage of activities and recordings. Either chapter could easily be used independently to build a curriculum around studying fado or flamenco.
The flamenco and fado discussions provide nuance that brings what are often exoticized stereotypes into a modern context. By looking at how these musical communities interact with transnational movement and globalization, students will be able to understand flamenco and fado as current, vibrant, and fluid. Despite devoting the most space to flamenco and fado—the two most internationally well-known musical styles of the region—Castelo-Branco and Fernández also refreshingly highlight a multitude of other significant musical styles, providing examples and analysis as well as coverage of contexts and recordings. This movement away from essentializing flamenco as the lone musical representative of the Iberian Peninsula is an important contribution in this introductory ethnomusicology textbook.
Whether you’re an educator, a student, an ethnomusicologist, or simply have an interest in the region, Castelo-Branco’s and Fernández’s Music in Spain and Portugal has something important to offer. However, the analytical exercises could be overwhelming for beginning students. With careful instruction, educators may be able to bridge this knowledge gap, but many of the exercises would be most effective in a class with a strong grounding in music theory.
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[Review length: 705 words • Review posted on April 16, 2020]