Sara Navarro Lalanda
Il mecenatismo musicale di Maria Cristina di Borbone – Due Sicilie 1806-1878
(Voci di musiciste, 2)

254 pp.; 21 x 14,8 cm

Princess Maria Christina of Bourbon–Two Sicilies (Palermo, 1806 – Sainte-Adresse, 1878) played a major role in the cultural/social transformation of early 19 th century Spain, especially in the field of music. The daughter of Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies, and Mary Isabel of Bourbon, Infanta of Spain, she got her education in Palermo and Naples. In 1829 she married her uncle, the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII. She was Queen consort, Governor during the King’s illness, and, after his death, Regent on behalf of her daughter, Isabel II, during the grim years of the Carlist wars. She had the Real Conservatorio de Música y Declamación María Cristina founded in 1830. Also, her Royal Decree, issued on February 28, 1839, authorized the birth of associations, thus favoring the spread of art and music schools and societies. This book is the result of extensive research in many Italian and Spanish archives. It tells the history of early 19 th -century Spanish musical institutions, from the court to the Conservatory, up to theaters and associations, focusing on the adoption of multiple ways of cultural organization and the networking of institutions. One section is devoted to the Queen’s private music library and the music dedicated to her. She had received her education in the humanities in Italy, hence her musical policy emulated such Italian institutions as the Conservatory and the Royal Theater while aiming at gradually integrating them with the Spanish ones—for example by reopening economic and political societies, which thus acquired greater cultural significance. These actions were also welcomed by the Spanish people, who sang songs and hymns during the war in defense of Isabel II’s throne. Under and around the Queen, music took on a major role in the new social order—that of a link with the court and with all of society. This, in turn, was to lay the foundations for the future state model of musical citizenship.

Sara Navarro Lalanda graduated in Music History Sciences and Primary Education Sciences in music and got her music PhD cum laude with European mention at the Universidad Autónoma, Madrid. Her academic training was completed with masters and courses in music education, library science, and music communication. She collaborated with the Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, the Universidad Internacional, Valencia, and the Guglielmo Marconi University, is a Researcher in Music and Academic Coordinator of the Máster Universitario in Pedagogía Musical, Universidad Internacional, La Rioja, and Senior Professor in both Musical Language (Real Conservatorio Superior de Música, Madrid) and Musicology. She currently collaborates with the European University, Rome, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia education department. Her research deals with music from the 18 th to the 21 st century along the lines of pedagogical and historical-bibliographic approaches. Her essays were the result of such research projects as Sólo Madrid es corte (2009-11), De la música colonial a la música nacional (2011-13), and Democracia en las escuelas as fundamento de una educación para la justicia social (2018-21).