Music, Words, and Nationalism

Music, Words and Nationalism: National Anthems and Songs in the Modern Era considers the concept of nationalism from 1780 to 2020 through anthems and national songs as symbolic and representative elements of the national identity of individuals, peoples, or collectivities. The volume shows that both the words and music of these works reveal a great deal about the defining features of a nation, its political and cultural history, and its self-perception. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach that provides a better understanding of the role of national anthems and songs in the expression of national identities and nationalistic goals. From this perspective, the relationship between hymns and political contexts, their own symbolic content (both literary and musical) and the role of specific hymns in the construction of national sentiments are surveyed. Javier Moreno-Luzón is Professor of Political History at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. He is a specialist in the political life of Modern Spain. He has published several books in English including: Modernizing the Nation: Spain during the Reign of Alfonso XIII, 1902-1931 (2012); Metaphors of Spain: Representations of Spanish National Identity in the 20th Century (with Xosé M. Núñez Seixas, eds., 2017); and The Politics of Representation: Elections and Parliamentarism in Portugal and Spain, 1875–1926 (with Pedro Tavares de Almeida, eds., 2017). María Nagore-Ferrer is Associate Professor in Musicology at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. Her main area of research is Spanish music in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She is the author of several books, including La revolución coral (2001) and Sarasate, el violín de Europa (2013), as well as numerous articles published in national and international journals.