King of Spain from 1621 to 1665, Philippe IV made music and theatrical performances a real craze, and under his reign, Spain experienced the full development of its musical school. In the Baroque era, whether in the courtyard or in the city, Spanish music consisted mainly of dances and songs with a distinctly national flavour, although many Italian musicians were based in Spain, country rich in folk traditions. “Scholarly” music and popular music have mutually nourished each other, to produce clear, elegant, simple and accessible works, mixing folklore, traditions and refined art.

Songs (tonos, villancicos, romances, Sapnish canciones) developed throughout Europe, and alongside delicately poetic or nostalgic intonations, we discover in Spain under the pen of musicians like Hidalgo or Durón almost theatrical accents. It was around this time that the typically Spanish genre of zarzuela flourished, which takes its name from the name of a hunting lodge of the Kings of Spain near Madrid. Mainly during the reign of Philip IV, this place was given sumptuous poetic and musical shows magnificently staged. Made up of an alternation of dialogues, choirs and verses generally derived from popular melodies, the zarzuela can, if one wishes, evoke the form of vaudeville or operetta.