Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies Journal of the Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies Volume 38 | Issue 1 Article 7 2013 Why Did Spain Fail To Develop Nationalist Opera? Clinton D. Young University of Arkansas - Monticello,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.asphs.net/bsphs Recommended Citation Young, Clinton D. (2013) "Why Did Spain Fail To Develop Nationalist Opera?," Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies: Vol. 38 : Iss. 1 , Article 7. https://doi.org/10.26431/0739-182X.1086 Available at: https://digitalcommons.asphs.net/bsphs/vol38/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies. It has been accepted for inclusion in Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies by an authorized editor of Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. BSPHS 38:1 (2013) Why did Spain Fail to Develop Nationalist Opera? CLINTON D. YOUNG It was a common sight in European opera houses during the latter nineteenth century: a chorus portraying peasants, costumed in traditional dress, singing music based on traditional folk music. The operas they were performing would have been based on works enshrined as important pieces of literature in their native countries. Mikhail Glinka’s A Life for the Czar and Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov defined what Russian music should sound like; Bed řich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride and Antonín Dvo řák’s Rusalka demonstrated that the richness of Bohemian music should be part of the case for political independence.