Music of Spain

The musical traditions of Spain have played an important role in the development of both western classical and Latin American music. Spanish music includes many different traditional styles from across the country, among which flamenco and classical guitar are probably the best-known abroad. Music from the north-west regions is heavily reliant on bagpipes, the jota is widespread in the centre and north of the country, and flamenco originated in the south.

Spanish music played a notable part in the early developments of western classical music from the 15th through the early 17th century. The breadth of musical innovation can be seen in composers like Tomás Luis de Victoria, styles like the zarzuela of Spanish opera, the ballet of Manuel de Falla, and the classical guitar music of Francisco Tárrega. Nowadays, in Spain as elsewhere, various styles of commercial popular music are dominant.

Origins

Throughout its history, the Iberian Peninsula has received musical influences from around the Mediterranean Sea and across Europe. In the two centuries before the Christian era, Roman rule introduced the music and ideas of Ancient Greece. Early Christians, who had their own differing versions of church music, arrived during the height of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths, a Romanized Germanic people, took control of the peninsula following the fall of the Roman Empire, and later the Moors and Jews arrived in the Middle Ages.