UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Zarzuela : or lyric theatre as consumer nationalism in Spain, 1874-1930 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80f3623g Author Young, Clinton David Publication Date 2006 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Zarzuela; or Lyric Theatre as Consumer Nationalism in Spain, 1874-1930 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Clinton D. Young Committee in Charge: Professor Pamela Radcliff, Chair Professor David R. Ringrose, Co-Chair Professor Rachel Klein Professor David Luft Professor Jann C. Pasler 2006 Copyright Clinton D. Young, 2006 All rights reserved. The dissertation of Clinton D. Young is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Co-Chair _________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2006 iii To my parents, in recognition of their boundless love and support. iv Il faut méditerraniser la musique. —Friedrich Nietzsche, The Case of Wagner You have described very nicely an indubitably moral element in the nature of music: to wit, that by its peculiar and lively means of measurement, it lends an awareness, both intellectual and precious, to the flow of time. Music awakens time, awakens us to our finest enjoyment of time. Music awakens—and in that sense it is moral. Art is moral, in that it awakens. But what if it were to do the opposite? If it were to numb us, to put us asleep, counteract all activity and progress? And music can do that as well. It knows all too well the effect that opiates have. A devilish effect, gentlemen. Opiates are the Devil’s tool, for they create dullness, rigidity, stagnation, slavish inertia. There is something dubious about music, gentlemen. I maintain that music is ambiguous by its very nature. I am not going too far when I declare it to be politically suspect. —Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Extraordinary how potent cheap music is. —Noël Coward, Private Lives v TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ....................................................................................................... iii Dedication .............................................................................................................. iv Epigraphs ............................................................................................................... v Table of Contents .................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... vii Vita ........................................................................................................................ xi Abstract .................................................................................................................. xii Overture: Music, Nationalism, and Consumption ................................................. 1 I. Prosceniums, Politics, and Pesetas: The Changing Face of the Spanish Theatre and the Crisis of Zarzuela Grande ............................ 48 II. Making Spanish Music and Making Music Spanish ....................................... 96 III. Spanish Society Onstage: The Género Chico and Urban Nationalism ................................................................................................ 149 IV. The Popular Politics of Zarzuela .................................................................... 200 V. “Española soy”: Operetta and Regeneration ................................................... 258 VI. The Curtain Descends: Zarzuela in the 1920s ................................................ 320 Coda: Zarzuela; or the Significance of Frivolity ................................................... 375 Appendix: Zarzuelas Consulted ............................................................................ 388 Bibliography of Works Consulted ......................................................................... 392 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The fact that this dissertation has been completed at all is due only to the fact that I have had the fortune to be advised, guided, assisted, supported, and befriended by a great many people—all of whom have contributed to my academic career in one form or another. While the flaws of the scholarship and the arguments made herein are mine and mine alone, any quality inherent in the text is due in large part to the contributions of those listed below. One of my biggest debts is to Pamela Radcliff, whose keen intelligence and unfailing patience assisted me in untangling, clarifying, and sharpening many of my arguments. For her willingness to cope with my often erratic (and on one embarrassing occasion, nonexistent) proofreading, I can only express gratitude for her tolerance. Even as I hope that it will be possible to live up to the example she sets as a scholar, I know that I could not have asked for a better advisor. David Ringrose has also proved invaluable to my graduate school career. His unflappable goodwill, his consistent courtesy, and his unfailing helpfulness have made my progress through graduate school much smoother than it might otherwise have been. The other members of my dissertation committee—Rachel Klein, David Luft, and Jann Pasler— have provided valuable assistance over the past eight years and have greatly influenced my thinking about the relationship between history and music. One of best features of the History Department at the University of California, San Diego has been the strong core of Hispanists who have been my most constant companions. This is especially true of Hamilton Stapell and Ana Varela Lago: we vii entered the program together in 1998, and they are colleagues from whom I have learned much, who have provided me with hours of conversation and support, and who did much to smooth my initial travels in Spain. Enrique (Henry) Sanabria gave me much beneficial advice, while Matt Crawford and Daniel Stuber have inspired me with their unfailing good humor. Daniel Berenburg has been a constant and valuable friend; his guided tour of the Seville Cathedral was a highlight of my year in Spain— as was his gift of a ticket to the Madrid production of Hello, Dolly! Regarding Hispanists at other institutions, I have shared conference panels and stimulating intellectual debate with Scott Eastman and Andrew McFarland. I look forward to many more such interchanges in the future. Many of the graduate students at the UCSD have provided me both a stimulating intellectual community and a number of very strong friendships that I hope will last well into the future. Special thanks are due to my fellow students in European history who have provided feedback on my work (as well as hours of conversation on all sorts of topics, academic and otherwise): Cecily Heisser, Dryden Hull, Heidi Keller-Lapp, and Don Wallace. My life would have much poorer without the friendship of Andrew Coors, Ethan Hollander, Matthew Hotchko, Sarah Malena, Wendy Maxon, Sjahari Pullom, Brad Root, and Rachel Shaw. Finally, virtually all the graduate students in the History Department that I have interacted with—or simply bumped into in the hallways—have been sociable and pleasant; I hope that those I have not named here will forgive me. They have enriched my life, but listing them all would stretch these acknowledgements to an intolerable length. viii My research in Madrid during the 2001-2002 academic year (and a short return visit in 2003) was made possible by a J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship. I must especially thank Patricia Zahniser, the American Program Officer of the Spanish Fulbright Commission, for guiding me through the many rough patches one encounters when living and working in a foreign country. Predissertation research during the summer of 2000 was funded in part by the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies at UCSD. During that trip I was able to discuss my then-embryonic project with José Alvarez Junco, and I am grateful for his willingness to subsequently supply me with a letter of recommendation. Additional funding was provided at various times by the Program for Cultural Cooperation Between Spain’s Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports and United States Universities; the Epsilon Association of Phi Beta Kappa; and the History Department at UCSD. Institutional staffers in Spain and the United States were crucial in guiding me through the myriad details of academic life and research. I am grateful to the capable librarians and archivists of the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Archivo General de la Administración, and the Biblioteca de la Fundación Juan March, to whom fell the task of locating the books, scores, and documents on which this dissertation is built; not infrequently they alerted me to resources that I might otherwise have overlooked. I cannot neglect to thank the various staff members of the History Department at UCSD, who unfailingly guided me through the mountain of paperwork and other particulars that accompany academic life: Mary Allen, Ivonne Avila, Elan Howell, Carol Larkin, Lisa Rhodes, and Hermilla Torres. ix My list of thanks would be shamefully