PERMANENT SEMINAR IN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL STUDIES IN MUSIC
The Permanent Seminar of the research group Historical and Cultural Studies in Music of INET-md intends to be a forum where all its members (integrated and collaborators), as well as other invited researchers from the academic, cultural and artistic circles, may present their work and discuss ongoing projects and research.
22-04-2026 | 4 pm | NOVA FCSH, Av. de Berna, Lisbon | Tower B – Room B307 & Online
Free access, in person and online:
Alterity and eighteenth-century music: Sounds of foreigners in the Iberian Peninsula
Javier Gándara-Feijóo | iHUS-Organistrum/Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
The difficulty of being distinct (otherness) increased in turbulent times of the Ancien Régime. This paper analyzes some relationships between music and foreign people in Portuguese and Spanish territory during the eighteenth century. To offer an approach that reflects reality, two diametrically opposed cases will be examined: one concerning the humble Galicians of Lisbon and the other about the powerful Portuguese ambassador in Madrid (3rd Marquis of Louriçal). Galicians were poor migrants whose identity appeared associated with popular melodies, most of them spread throughout Ibero-America. Regarding the ambassador, this communication studies his salon on Calle Hortaleza, a domestic space for serenades to celebrate double royal weddings. Methodologically, my work uses tools from New Musicology and Digital Humanities. Among results, it is a 3D reconstruction of the aforementioned salon in Madrid (made possible by the collaboration of several institutions), as well as a book to be published about musical characteristics of marginalized Galicians. All of this reinforces the need to continue jointly researching musical phenomena in different social strata.
Javier Gándara-Feijóo | Postdoctoral researcher at USC (Organistrum Group-iHUS). His academic contributions have been published in journals such as Música Hodie (Brazil), El oído pensante (Argentina), Resonancias (Chile), Diacrítica (Portugal) and RdM/Quintana (Spain). Gándara has done stays in Madrid (Casa de Velázquez/UAM), Lisbon (Nova) and Porto (UPorto/PPorto, currently). His doctoral dissertation explored musical theatre as a political tool during the Enlightenment. Previously, he obtained a master’s degree in Cultural Heritage and another in Teacher Training (both from UVigo), as well as two bachelor’s degrees in Art History (USC) and Music (CSM A Coruña). Javier taught at EASD Pablo Picasso and CSM Vigo. He also received the Andrés Segovia-José Miguel Ruiz Morales Prize (Musicology).
This event is financed by national funds through FCT — Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., with the project INET-md – Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre for Studies in Music and Dance, reference UID/00472/