El cambio en las políticas musicales de la transición democrática (1975-1982): el caso del Festival Cincuenta Años de Música Española

Abstract

This paper analyzes a festival project planned for 1978, dedicated to the last fifty years of Spanish music as a political-cultural negotiation area during the transition to democracy. Jesús Aguirre and the Dirección General de Música (Ministry of Culture) appointed the ISCM Spanish Section and three associations of composers (ACSE, ACC, and the Colectivo de Jóvenes Compositores) as the festival organizers. These associations sought more democratic music management, and their inclusion was understood as a progressive attitude. However, the starting work meetings were characterized by an increasing tension due to the continuous changes made by Aguirre regarding the associations’ scheduling. The inclusion of new compositional languages and exiled or little programmed composers during Franco’s regime was so disruptive that Aguirre decided to cancel the festival and replace it with a concert series directly managed by the Ministry of Culture. The silencing of the associations provoked several reactions in the press, which we study along with unpublished information extracted from different archives (AGA, Paul Sacher Stiftung). We conclude that the failed festival worked as a scene of the struggle between the continuity inherited from the regime (Ministry) and the democratizing mood (associations).

Keywords

• democratic transition
• francoist continuity
• press
• festivals
• associations of composers
• jesús aguirre