The Wind Band Movement and Models of Represession in Spanish Prisons during the First Francoism: The Prison Production of the Guild of Valencian Musicians

Abstract

The early years of Franco’s regime were essentially an articulation of a cultural prison system that stretched from the constitution of the first institutions of repression of the ‘national zone’, until the end of the dictatorship. In this sense music was utilised as a propaganda tool, but also with a re-educational and assimilative purpose regarding punishment. Musicians and compo- sers suffered in the wake of various waves of repression, but the oppresive situation neverthe- less gave rise to the birth of creative and interpretative identities. The main aim of this text is to review the creation of music bands under the framework of redemption of penalties established by the Patronato de Nuestra Señora de la Merced. The implication of the musicians belonging to the bandistic movement coming from pre-war Levant area will also be analysed.