Full Description
This book intends to reflect the variety and diversity of the musical responses that arose in favour of the Republic and against fascism during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), encompassing a wide range of music (classical music, film music, popular music), geographies (the US, the URSS, Britain, Germany) and individuals (from well-known figures such as Paul Robeson and Dimitri Shostakovich, to unknown men and women). In doing so, the book expands upon existing bibliography on the Spanish Civil War, which has enjoyed significant advances in the last fifteen years but has paid limited attention to the international dimensions of such musical activity. In particular, the six chapters of this book together bring in pioneering perspectives to the study of music and the Spanish Civil War (e.g., race issues), while at the same time calling for an increased transnational approach to the study of music and war more generally.
Spain in our Ears will be of great value to students and researchers interested in Spanish politics and history, as well as the relationship between music and politics. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of War and Cultural Studies.
Contents
Introduction — 'Spain in our Ears: International Musical Responses in Support of the Republic during the Spanish Civil War' 1. 'Ol' Man River' at the Front: Paul Robeson, Music, and Blackness in Republican Spain 2. The Spanish War as Dress Rehearsal for Paul Robeson's Political Song 3. Some British Musical Responses to the Spanish Civil War 4. Victoire de la vie and L'Espagne vivra by Henri Cartier-Bresson: Two Different Musical Strategies at the Service of Republican Propaganda 5. Transnational Networks of Communist Musical Propaganda in the Spanish Civil War 6. Shostakovich's Music for Salute, Spain! Discoveries and Perspectives
