Recent Approaches to Sound and Music in Spanish Audiovisual Media

There is probably no other way to title this issue. If we look backwards to the historiography of sound and music in Spanish audiovisual media we realise that this is a 'recent' field of study. Even if it is possible to find some texts on this topic written since the 1930s, most of them by film music composers in the context of cinema conferences,¹ we cannot consider these contributions as research material, but rather as interesting sources that help us understand the way these composers worked and thought. Also, a great number of publications up to the twenty-first century do not belong to the academic field but to amateur enthusiasm. Thus the early literature on film music tends to become an enumeration with no critical reflection, taking into account the international context rather than the Spanish case.

It is not until the late 1980s, and especially during the 90s, that the relation between music and image becomes a theme for academic research, and it is due to the 'obsession' of some of these early authors that the basis was set for the extraordinary expansion of this field in the early years of the current century.

The beginnings of this field of study are characterised by an exclusive attention to film music. Even if research was being developed within a multimedia context, where music was present in television, videogames, etc., most of the publications deal with film music and the work of several film composers. This is easy to understand if we consider that most studies on music and audiovisual media in Spain were published by academics from the realms of the history of art and media studies, approaching audiovisual production from film theory. On the one hand, cinema was at that point already considered a serious art, suitable for study in a department of art history, something still difficult for other audiovisual media such as television, video art or videogames. On the other hand, there are several publications on television and other audiovisual media in Spain from the 1980s and 90s, but, as in other countries, music was not taken into consideration in most cases.

Musicology became a degree in Spanish universities in the late 1980s. The early years of this discipline in Spain were characterised by the development of traditional research methodologies, focusing on a necessary recovery of the national musical legacy, elaborating biographical statements of composers, and editing and analysing scores. Thus, it was several years before the relationship of music and image could be taken into consideration. In this context, it is not surprising that the early stages of music and audiovisual research centred exclusively on cinema, focusing on theoretical reflections on music and cinema and reviewing the texts of classical authors (Eisenstein, Colpi, Balázs, etc.).² Furthermore, efforts were especially made for the reconstruction of Spanish film music history and the recovery of a legacy that had been completely neglected - a task that continues.

At the turn of the century this panorama began to change. The increasing interest on sound and music in audiovisual production gave rise to a great amount of research from different perspectives and academic fields. Nowadays we find subjects dealing with music and media in musicology and media studies degrees in most Spanish universities. It is now common to find papers on this topic in music and communication conferences, and there has been a thematic biannual conference at the University of Salamanca since 2002.

The attention given by scholars to this field of study runs parallel to the increasing social interest in soundtracks during the nineties. Thus, in the last few years there have been many meetings with film composers renowned in Spain, among which the annual meeting in Úbeda (Andalucía) is becoming increasingly established. There are many associations of soundtrack fans, a few specialised magazines and - which is worth noting - the number of soundtrack editions on CD has increased substantially. In addition, conservatories now include explicit topics in audiovisual composing.

Even if film music is still the main concern (as seen in this issue), it is...