Franco and Spanish music of resistance: the role of Spanish singers and popular songs for musical films before and after our civil war (1936-1939)

Abstract

During Fracoism dictatorships (1939-1975) popular songs played diverse roles, especially the ones interpreted by popular female singers who were famous already for acting in musical films since 1929; during the three years of the civil war they continued performing as propaganda. When the war finished and Franco started his long 40 years as Generalisimo, those popular songs which were performed with different meaning, and they took another ones from new musical films which can be called songs for resistance. We think that the importance of research on musical films produced in Spain has to start not only during the beginning of the dictatorship but a decade earlier, during the Second Republic and with a emphasis in the 60, the last years of the dictatorship before the democracy in 1975. With the analysis of several musical numbers from different musical films, since 1929 to 1975, we can check three distinct realities intrinsically representing the social and cultural change, as a way of resistance: by one hand, musical films (later, musical television programs) popularize songs, where female young singers and prodigy girls had a very important role performing them. On another hand, we find the most reactionary element to any changes, a feature Spanish cultural identity, the song starring aflamencado style, the most popular Spanish musical films symbolizing the "Spanish soul”. Finally, by another hand, since the 60s, during the last decade of Francoism dictatorship we found lazarovriana aesthetics (from Valerio Lazarov) for a Spanish television moving itself toward openness and innovation, with strong rhythms and contemporary choreographers who would do the transition to democracy in 1975. After watching several examples, we can develop a general discussion of the manifold correlations and interdependencies in times of dictatorialship when cultural activities can avoid censure magically. Also, the role of those popular songs can be discusses with the context of ideologies of progress and/or innovation