The Music of Valencia

Valencian Community

The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...

is rich and diverse, due to different external influences. It can be broadly divided into two categories: traditional and contemporary music.

Traditional Music

All the surrounding country is known for its own variety of Jota

Jota (music)

The jota is a genre of music and the associated dance known throughout Spain, most likely originating in Aragon. It varies by region, having a characteristic form in Valencia, Aragon, Castile, Navarra, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and Murcia. Being a visual representation, the jota is danced and...

 and a rich dolçaina (shawm

Shawm

The shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...

) tradition. Brass band

Concert band

A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...

s are found in almost every village in the region. The Muixeranga

Muixeranga

The Muixeranga is the collective name given to the performance of ancient street dances and human castles, originating in the Valencian Community, which are still preserved in the town of Algemesí, 30 km southwest from Valencia....

, a street festival, is an important tradition that originated in Valencia.

Religious and work song

Work song

A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....

s are common in Valencia, many are performed with accompaniment. El Misteri d'Elx is an old, religious musical play that dates back to mediæval times. Havaneres

Habanera

Habanera may refer to:*"Habanera" , an aria from Bizet's Carmen*Habanera , a 1984 Cuban film*La Habanera , a 1937 German movie...

 are popular all along the Valencian coast.

Valencian dances include:

• Brlea
• Fandango
  Fandango
  Fandango is a lively couple's dance, usually in triple metre, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping . Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has an instrumental introduction followed by "variaciones"...
  
   of Albaida
  Albaida
  Albaida may refer to:*Albaida, Syria*Albaida, Valencia*Albaida , a river in Spain...
  
  
• El Ball del Danzants
• El Ball dels Oficis
  Ball de bastons
  Ball de bastons is the name of a ritual weapon dance spread throughout Europe and the rest of the Iberian area . English and Welsh Morris dances are well-known relatives to these traditions. Most melodies are based on easy 2/4 rhythms...
  
  
• Los Alcides
• Els Bastonets
  Ball de bastons
  Ball de bastons is the name of a ritual weapon dance spread throughout Europe and the rest of the Iberian area . English and Welsh Morris dances are well-known relatives to these traditions. Most melodies are based on easy 2/4 rhythms...
  
  
• Els Porrots
• Paloteo of Requena
  Requena, Valencia
  Requena is a municipality in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, located on the left bank of the river Magro.The town was formerly a Moorish fortress, occupying a strong position in the mountainous region of Las Cabrillas . It is dominated by the ancient citadel of the Moors, and still has...
  
  
• Valencian Jota
  Jota (music)
  The jota is a genre of music and the associated dance known throughout Spain, most likely originating in Aragon. It varies by region, having a characteristic form in Valencia, Aragon, Castile, Navarra, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and Murcia. Being a visual representation, the jota is danced and...
  
  

Contemporary Music

In the nineteen eighties Bakalao was the dominant dance music form that appeared in the club scene of the city and the surrounding community. While pop and rock are forms enjoyed and played by local musicians there is a strong tendency towards electronica in the region. In the nineties Techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

 music continued to be a string favourite in the area with the heavier schrantz influence from northern Europe emerging in the early two thousands. Today minimal techno is popular and more recently the Trip-Tek style as attributed to outfits such as Electrika-MixTek.

Valencian/Catalan Rock

Rock català

The term Rock català is used to describe those bands singing in Catalan of any music style, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s.The last years of Spain under Franco were shattered by a generation of singers that claimed and called for democracy...

 and Ska music is also common all througout the autonomous community of Valencia.