Speakers
Description
This session is framed within the emerging field of Transatlantic Music Studies, an interdisciplinary approach that examines the circulation of music, musicians, and musical and choreographic practices across the Atlantic from the fifteenth century to the present. Rooted in Atlantic history, this field explores how music was shaped by transoceanic exchanges and, in turn, how it contributed to shaping them. It highlights music’s role in intercultural encounters and the contributions of non-white musicians to Western music history, particularly in the early modern period. Through three case studies spanning four centuries, this session investigates the transatlantic circulation of music and dance, analyzing dissemination strategies, cultural appropriation and transformation, and the role of music in constructing transnational and transcultural identities. By examining this long historical arc, the session demonstrates the productivity of this approach in revealing continuities and transformations across time. The participants are members of the ‘Música y Estudios Americanos’ (MUSAM) Study Group of the Spanish Society for Musicology (SEdeM), which promotes the study of Ibero-American music from a transatlantic perspective, with a focus on contact and exchange with the Iberian and European world in a global context.
The session opens with an introduction by the chair, who underscores the potential of transatlantic exchanges to rethink music historiography from a postcolonial and multidirectional perspective.
The first paper, “Tracing the Lineage of the Zarabanda”, examines debates on the origins of one of the most popular—and controversial—dance-songs of the late Renaissance. While prevailing theories link it to Latin America, possibly through African or Indigenous influences, a Spanish origin has also been suggested. Through a critical analysis of historical and etymological sources, this paper argues that the zarabanda emerged from a process of hybridization between American, African, and Iberian traditions.
The second paper, “Circulation and Mobility of Baroque Music in Spanish America: The Case of Roque Ceruti”, explores the dissemination of European music in colonial Latin America. Focusing on the Bolognese composer Roque Ceruti, active in Peru between 1716 and 1760, it examines the influence of Corelli and Vivaldi on his works and the circulation of his villancicos between the cathedrals of Lima and Sucre. By combining musical analysis, manuscript evidence, and historical documentation, the paper highlights transnational musician mobility and the direct transfer of Italian repertoire to the New World.
The third paper, “Transatlantic Dance Exchanges between Spain and Latin America during the Second Francoism: Official Promotion and Reception”, analyzes the tours of Spanish dance companies across Latin America during the 1950s and 1960s, within the framework of Francoist cultural diplomacy and developmental policies (Desarrollismo). Drawing on hemerographic and archival sources, it examines official initiatives by the Ministry of Information and Tourism, the tours of the Sección Femenina’s Coros y Danzas, and the activities of private companies such as the Ballet de Antonio. The paper explores the artistic, political, and diplomatic dimensions of these exchanges, highlighting how Spanish state-sponsored and independent dance troupes navigated international reception and cultural negotiation across Latin American countries.
