TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
The book cover has been modified by the Transcriber and was addedto the public domain.
The spelling of Spanish names and places in Spain mentioned in the texthas been adjusted to the rules set by the Academia Real Española.
A number of words in this book have both hyphenated and non-hyphenatedvariants. For the words with both variants present the one more usedhas been kept.
Punctuation and other printing errors have been corrected.
The Music of Spain
BOOKS BY CARL VAN VECHTEN
MUSIC AFTER THE GREAT WAR 1915
MUSIC AND BAD MANNERS 1916
INTERPRETERS AND INTERPRETATIONS 1917
THE MERRY-GO-ROUND 1918
THE MUSIC OF SPAIN 1918
from a photograph by Mishkin
Mary Garden As Carmen, Act IV
The Music of Spain
CARL VAN VECHTEN
New York Alfred A. Knopf
MCMXVIII
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Pour Blanchette
Preface
When the leading essay of this book, "Musicand Spain," first appeared it was, so far as I havebeen able to discover, the only commentary attemptingto cover the subject generally in anylanguage. It still holds that distinction, I believe.Little enough has been published aboutSpanish music in French or German, little enoughindeed even in Spanish, practically nothing inEnglish. It has been urged upon me, therefore,that its republication might meet with some success.This I have consented to although no onecan be more cognizant of its faults than I am.The subject is utterly unclassified; there is nocertain way of determining values at present. Itis almost impossible to hear Spanish music outsideof Spain; not easy even in Spain, unless oneis satisfied with zarzuelas. Worse, it is impossibleeven to see most of it. Many important scoresremain unpublished and our music dealers andour libraries have not an extensive collection ofwhat is published. Under the circumstances Ihave worked under great difficulties, but my enthusiasmhas not slackened on that account. Mymain purpose has been to open the ears of theworld to these new sounds, to create curiosity regardingthe music of the Iberian Peninsula.When more of this music is famil