Tonadilla was a Spanish musical

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

form of theatrical origin; not danced. The genre was a type of short, satirical musical comedy popular in 18th-century

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and later in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and other Spanish colonial countries. It originated as a song type, then dialogue for characters was written into the tonadilla, and it expanded into a miniature opera lasting from 10 to 20 minutes. It drew its personages from everyday life and included popular and folk music and dance, and

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

language. The tonadilla also influenced the development of the zarzuela, the characteristic form of Spanish musical drama or comedy. The first tonadilla is ascribed to Luis Misón in 1757. Notable composers of tonadillas in Spain included Blas de Laserna, Pablo Esteve, and Jacinto Valledor. The tonadilla was particularly popular in

where more than 200 stage tonadillas were sung between 1790 and 1814, the year in which they began to be displaced from

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.945 ''Music in Cuba''. Minneapolis MN. p125 In 1959, Joaquín Rodrigo wrote a short guitar duet in popular style, called ''Tonadilla'' and inspired by the theatrical form.

Notable tonadilleras

* María Antinea (1915–1991), Spanish actress, vedette, dancer, cupletista and tonadillera * Paquita Escribano (1880–1970), Spanish singer, cupletista, and tonadillera * Perlita Greco (1906–2001), Argentine-born actress, vedette, tango singer, and cabaret singer * Amalia Molina (1881–1956), Spanish tonadillera and dancer * Paquita Rico, Spanish film actress and singer * Lolita Sevilla (1935–2013), Spanish actress and singer * Teresita Zazá (1893–1980), Spanish tonadillera, cupletista, and actress

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonadilla Spanish styles of music Cuban styles of music Musical theatre Theatrical genres