Towards a History of Music Criticism in Spain International Conference

Towards a History of Music Criticism in Spain, International Conference X MUSPRES
28-30 April 2022 Universidad de Almería

Organizers Introduction Music criticism as an object of study in Spanish musicology began in the 90s. However, its most remarkable development has taken place in the last decade, coinciding with the massive digitization of press sources. The emergence of music criticism in the Spanish press occurred in the second half of the 18th century, associated with the birth of the first periodicals and public opinion. In the following century, known as "the civilization of the newspaper", the first specialized magazines appeared and the figure of the music critic was professionalized in our country. The press as a mass medium in Spain coincided with the twentieth century. During the first decades, music criticism lived through one of its golden ages, with the presence of great figures of music journalism. After the Spanish Civil War and the early Francoism (the 1940s), it was particularly ideologically conditioned by the intervention of the State. Already in the 80s and 90s of the 20th century, music criticism was revitalized before the diversification of urban popular music. However, at the dawn of the 21st century it plunged into a deep crisis, motivated by the collapse of the recording industry and the over-information and easy access to music provided by the internet. Currently, the digital age has revolutionized the scene of journalism and music criticism, posing new challenges that involve an adaptation of the critic's activity to new information channels. This conference aims to offer a framework for exchange and debate on the history of music criticism in Spain published in the press, as an essential source of musicological research to learn about our musical past. In particular, it aspires to host research proposals helping to elucidate stages, contexts, discourses, personalities, events and transfer processes in the history of music criticism, still pending for the Spanish case. We accept proposals based on historical and current press sources on music criticism in Spain, linked -although not exclusively- to the following topics: Presentations Communications will be 20 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes for debate. Proposals should include a summary of 300 to 500 words, accompanied by a short CV. The languages admitted in this conference are Spanish and English.
 * Comission “Música y prensa”, Sociedad Española de Musicología (SEdeM)
 * Research Group HUM 756 “Historia del Tiempo Presente”
 * Currents, approaches and historiography of music criticism in Spain
 * Critical reception of certain composers and works premiered in Spain, as well as of specific periods, styles, genres and musical practices
 * Unexplored visions around the production of recognized music critics and the recovery of figures and signatures
 * Analysis of the journalistic discourse used in Spanish music criticism in specific periods
 * Relationship of music criticism with other related disciplines (literary, theatre, fine arts, cinematographic criticism, ...)
 * Music criticism in Spain and gender studies: construction and dissemination of stereotypes. Topics, media and speeches written by women
 * Amateurism, intrusion and professionalization of the music critic
 * Music criticism in specialized and general press in the geographical, economic, political and ideological peripheries
 * Music criticism in a specific journalistic headline, including the non-specialized press
 * Crisis in music criticism in the 21st century: new communication channels
 * Issues under debate in current music criticism and redefinition of the critic's work and the role of the public in Spain
 * Travels, exchanges and transfers of critics, themes and speeches with Europe and America

Publication A selection of some of the presentations in the Conference is intended to be published in e-print. Website www.muspres.com Dates Direction board Belén Vargas (UGR) Mauricio Rodríguez (UAL) Mónica Fernández (UAL) Scientific board Carol A. Hess (University of California, Davis) Francesc Cortès I Mir (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) Gemma Pérez Zalduondo (Universidad de Granada) Walter A. Clark (University of California, Riverside) Francisco Giménez Rodríguez (Universidad de Granada) Eva Moreda Rodríguez (University of Glasgow) José Ignacio Suárez García (Universidad de Oviedo) Teresa Cascudo García-Villaraco (Universidad de La Rioja) M. Carmen Quiles Cabrera (Universidad de Almería) Enrique Encabo Fernández (Universidad de Murcia) Virginia Sánchez López (Universidad de Jaén) José Antonio Lacárcel Fernández (Universidad de Granada) Joaquín M. Piñeiro Blanca (Universidad de Cádiz) Diana Díaz González (Universidad de Oviedo) Javier González Martín (Universidad de Almería) Alberto Acebes de Pablo (Universidad de Valladolid) Organisation board (UAL) Francisco Luis Aguilar Pilar Fernández Emilia Martos Carlos Sánchez Adrian Tudorica Delegación de Estudiantes (Facultad Humanidades) Asociación Sapere Aude
 * Deadline for presentation submissions: 31 January 2022
 * Publication of accepted submissions: 28 February 2022