Central Spain includes the cultural melting pot of Madrid and Castille. Their culture is historically Celtiberian in character, and influences from the Moors, Portugal and other sources are important. A down-tempo version of jota is common, as well as a variety of Andalusianflamenco. The gaita, a Galician bagpipe, is widespread in northern Leon. The city of Madrid is known for chotis music, while Salamanca is home to tuna, a form of serenade played by students in medieval clothing who play the guitar and tambourine.
Castillian folk music is largely rural, and agricultural work songs are common. Simple, romantic songs are typical, and many of the composers from from Burgos.
Madrid (city), city in central Spain, capital of the country and of the autonomous region and province of Madrid, on the Manzanares River.
Among the many institutions of higher education in the city are the University of Madrid, the Pontifical University (1892), the Autonomous University of Madrid (1968), the Polytechnic University of Madrid (1971), the Open University (1972), and the Royal Academy of Music (1830).
Madrid subsequently grew rapidly and reached a peak of prosperity and importance in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Music notation developed in Spain as early as the eighth century (the so-called Visigothic neumes) to notate the chant and other sacred music of the Christian church, but this obscure notation has not yet been deciphered by scholars, and exists only in small fragments.
The music of the Christian church in Spain was known as the music of the Mozarabic Rite, and developed in isolation, not subject to the enforced codification of Gregorian chant under the guidance of Rome around the time of Charlemagne.
Baroque music in Spain, when it arrived, was a pale imitation of Italian models; musical creativity mainly moved into areas of folk and popular music until the nationalist revival of the late Romantic era.
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