Understanding Spanish Ballads and Lyrics: History and Key Features
Spanish Ballads and Lyrics: An Overview
The Ballad (Romance)
The ballads (romances) are epic or lyrical compositions with an indefinite number of verses, composed to be sung or recited. They typically have eight-syllable verses with assonant rhyme. Being oral, several versions of the same ballad often exist.
Some theories suggest they originate from ancient epics, while others propose they predate epic songs and were created by individual authors. The Ballad is the collection of ballads performed in
Read MoreGarcilaso de la Vega and Fray Luis de León: Poetic Analysis
Garcilaso de la Vega
His poetic career has three creative periods:
- The influence of the Cancionero poetry, which features octosyllabic compositions alternating with the first Italian forms. It uses wordplay.
- The stage where he imitates Petrarch, internalizing love. Nature is used as a framework for reflection and a means to portray his beloved.
- The fullness of creation. He offers formal and sober compositions that are naturally expressive.
The Work
The poetic work, prepared and published by his friend
Read MoreCelestina, Garcilaso de la Vega, and Fray Luis de Leon: Key Aspects
The Celestina
In the theater of the religious legacy of the 15th century and the vitality of popular theater, authors began to experiment with secular subjects, poetic verses, and a greater variety of characters in religious drama (grown-up issues related to the life of Jesus). Secular theater includes burlesque elements, such as the subject of love and pastoral themes.
Authoring and Editing
The first known edition appeared in 1499. In 1500, new editions were published in Toledo and Salamanca, titled
Read MoreSpanish Theater Before 1936: Conservative vs. Innovative
Spanish Theater Before 1936
Spanish drama before 1936 was running on two aspects: innovative theater and experimental theater.
The Conservative Theatre
The conservative theatre prevailed in the late nineteenth century. In this line are: benaventina bourgeois comedy or the neo-romantic verse drama and theater comedy of manners. It is represented in private, with its public and mostly bourgeois entrepreneurs, and their characteristics were the consolidation of conservative principles, showing traces
Read MoreMedieval Literature: Jarchas, Minstrelsy, and Clergy
The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages marked the evolution of Romance languages from Latin, which, as a language of prestige, was used in monasteries. During this period, narrative in verse (epic), lyric, and drama began to be cultivated. These works were often transmitted through oral tradition. Prominent themes included love, war, and religion. The medieval world revolved around the figure of God (theocentrism).
The Jarchas
Jarchas are lyrical compositions written in eleventh-century Mozarabic. These are
Read MoreSpanish Theater Before the Civil War: Commercial vs. Renewal
Theater Prior to the Civil War
The renovation was triumphing in narrative, but Spanish poetry did not come with equal force to the drama. They differ dramatically twofold: the mall with the sole purpose of entertaining the public, and the renewal, with far fewer followers.
Commercial Theater
Designed to meet the demand for public entertainment by the bourgeois of the time. It is a drama of manners, comic or melodramatic, it avoids the ideological conflicts and the trend continues with traditional dramatic.
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