The role of music in the aesthetic discussion of the Spanish Enlightenment

Observations and writings on music by eighteenth-century Spanish authors re veal the following developments. Until late into the second half of the cen tury, a more conservative circle defined music as a science, in contrast to a group of more advanced writers who classified music within the recently formulated concept of the fine arts (belle artes). It was not until the 178 0s that the fine arts in Spain came to be emancipated from the science and, finally, established in their own right. Most writers attempted to upgrade the position of music, and the resulting increase in its social relevance can be seen in a growing preoccupation with the discipline in newspapers an d other writings. Under the influence of empirical and sensualist trends, t he effect of music on society received considerable attention, as seen in t he writings of the Benedictine, Feijoo, who awarded music the highest place among the fine arts. In addition, the rapid development of opera caused ma ny authors to launch an intensive discussion on the compatibility and synth esis of the various art forms involved in that genre.