During the baroque period the Italian influence
spanned all European countries, especially in the field of opera. In Spain
there were some baroque operas composed by Spanish musicians which were based
on a libretto written by famous writers: Lope de Vega,
with La jungla sin amor (1629), and Calderon de la Barca, with Celos aún de
aire matan (1660). However, the truth is that they were actually a rarity
because this genre was not destined to prosper as it did in Italy, France,
Germany and even England.
These pictures show, from top, to bottom, two pictures
of both Calderón and Lope, respectively. Opera in Spain developed more slowly
than in the rest of Europe. At the time, most critics disregarded it as being
less worthy due to a strong tradition of spoken drama in Spain. That being
said, mixing spoken drama and music had a long history in Spain. For example,
in the 16th century Juan del Encina, a composer, poet and playwright from
Salamanca, known as the founder of Spanish drama, was already incorporating
songs into his plays.
One of the main opera composers with which Calderón de
Barca and Lope de Vega worked was Juan Hidalgo de Polanco. However, the truly
musical theatre that succeeded in Spain was similar in style to the English ballad opera and the French opera comique. Their influence, along
with the particular features of Spain’s culture opened the door for Spanish
composers to develop their own style of opera which would be known as “zarzuela”. The main difference between
an opera and a zarzuela is that a zarzuela includes spoken parts (such as the
ballad opera and the opera comique), whereas an opera is totally sung
This is an excerpt from Celos aún del aire matan, by Juan Hidalgo and Calderón de la Barca.
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