«Elogio de la alegre retaguardia»: La música en la España de los sublevados durante la guerra civil*

The article, through archival and library sources from Basque and Andalusian cities, investigates the reasons for the constant presence of music in the press published on the Francoist side during the Spanish Civil War. Furthermore, given that the objective of these publications was to justify the present and construct the identity of the new Spain, it analyzes the intervention of music in the strategies that sought to legitimize the coup d’état and overthrow the Republican legacy. It also explores the transformation of spaces in the public sphere in which pre-war musical practices had been carried out, as well as the shifts in meaning of the musical genres that interceded in the events organized around the conflict—those for fund-raising and patriotic celebrations. The conclusions drawn show both common elements and local singularities—particularly those related to folklore—to establish categories of a general nature regarding the propaganda use of identitarian musical symbols and the shift in their meaning in the context of war.