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Revista y Gaceta Musical

(Madrid, 1867-1868)

Prepared by Esperanza Berrocal
1 volume (2001)

Published weekly in Madrid from 6 January 1867 to 21 June 1868, the journal produced seventy-eight issues that were distributed in the Spanish capital, the provinces and the colonies. The journal’s editor Bonifacio Eslava—a violoncellist, professor, music publisher and owner of a piano factory and a music store—supported his publication through a variety of commercial musical endeavors.

While the Revista y Gaceta Musical contains music criticism, literature, and articles of historical and biographical interest, the journal focuses primarily on Spain’s, and particularly on Madrid’s, developing musical culture. For this reason the creation of Spanish national opera receives particular attention—in a heated exchange of correspondence between writers including Párada y Barreto, Mariano Soriano Fuertes and Oscar Camps—as do the activities of the Sociedad de Conciertos, the Sociedad de Cuartetos, the Sociedad Artístico Musical de Socorros Mutuos (a benevolent society), the newly established orfeones (choral societies) and conservatories.

Reviews of zarzuela productions are also an important feature of the journal, and include discussion of at least seven works by Emilio Arrieta, seven by Joaquín Gatzambide, two by Francisco A. Barbieri, and one each by Manuel Fernández Caballero, Cristóbal Oudrid and Antonio Rovira.

In keeping with contemporary European concerns the Revista y Gaceta Musical contains reports and discussions concerning the reform of religious music. There are also featured reviews dealing with sacred music compositions by Hilarión Eslava and Mariano Rodríguez Ledesma. Pioneering work in documentation is reflected in the journal’s publications dealing with the archives of the cathedrals in Albarracín, Tarazona, Segovia and Zaragoza.

Among the many reviews are notices of the activities of Spanish performers, namely, the violinists Jesús de Monasterio and Rafael Pérez; the pianists Dámaso Zabalza and Juan Bautista Pujol; and the tenor Julián Gayarre (then at the outset of his career). Equally interesting are Spanish reactions to visiting artists such as the singers Anna de Lagrange, Adelaida Borghi-Mamo, Rosina Penco, Constance Nantier-Didiée and Emilio Naudin; the pianists Oscar de la Cinna and Eloisa d’Herbil; and the violoncellist Féri Kletzer.

The Italian and French operas that made up the Teatro Real’s repertory—works by Auber, Donizetti, Flotow, Halévy, Meyerbeer, Pacini and Verdi—are reviewed regularly during the opera season. Two supplements were distributed to subscribers: the Museo Clásico de los Pianistas, a collection of piano compositions, and the Diccionario técnico, histórico de la música.

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