Music of Spain

The music of Spain has a long history and has played an important part in the development of western music. It has had a particularly strong influence upon Latin American music. The music of Spain is often associated abroad with traditions like flamenco and the classical guitar but Spanish music is, in fact, diverse from region to region. Flamenco, for example, is an Andalusian musical genre from the south of the country. In contrast, the music in the north-western regions is centred on the use of bagpipes, while the nearby Basque region, with its own traditional styles, is different again, as are traditional styles of music in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Castile and León. Spain has also played an important role within the history of western classical music, particularly in its early phase from the 15th to the 17th centuries; ranging from a composer like Tomás Luis de Victoria, the zarzuela of Spanish opera, the ballet of Manuel de Falla, to the classical guitar music of Pepe Romero. Nowadays, like elsewhere, the different styles of commercial popular music dominate.