MUSIC CRITICISM AS CULTURAL MEDIATOR IN THE INTRODUCTION OF MUSICAL IDEALISM IN SPAIN: FRANCISCO DE ASÍS GIL AND THE TOUR OF OSCAR DE LA CINNA (1855-1856)

Between 1855 and 1885, the Hungarian pianist Oscar de la Cinna (1830-1906) toured the Iberian Peninsula, where he programmed works by << Classical >> composers like Beethoven, Mozart and Mendelssohn. That was the very first time a performer played this type of repertory in the Spanish public sphere, which attracted the attention of musical critics such as Francisco de Asis Gil (1829-1861) -his articles being published in the newspaper Gaceta musical de Madrid-. In his texts, Asis Gil used Cinna's concerts as a starting point to reflect on issues that can be related to << musical ideal-ism >>, a transformative movement in European musical culture which until then had had little repercussion in Spain. This paper analyzes Asis Gil's role as a mediating agent in a process of cultural transfer aimed at introducing << musical idealism >> into Spanish culture. The first part of the article contextualizes Cinna's concert tour in order to explain its relevance in the Isabelino musical environment. In addition to examining the editorial policy followed by the Gaceta Musical de Madrid and the international models that were followedby this publication, it studies the main discoursive lines followed by Asis Gil before the arrival of Cinna. In the second part, the discourse deployed by Asis Gil in his critiques of the Cinna recitals is analyzed, and the references handled by the critic are identified. In this way, Asis Gil's reflections on the issues at the center of his discourse (the concept of << classical >>, the link between music and progress, the idea of genius, the image of Beethoven, and the definition of the classical performer) allow us to demonstrate to what extent the transfer of << musical idealism >> to mid-19th-century Spanish culture occurred through the interpretation of authors from the French sphere, such as Reicha, Cousin, Fetis, and Scudo.