Higher artistic music education within the legal framework of the Spanish educational system and the case of the percussion specialty

Abstract

The article analyses higher artistic music education in Spain from a legislative perspective, from its introduction as an academic subject at the University of Salamanca in the 13th century to the present. The main objectives are, on the one hand, to carry out a critical review of the various vicissitudes that music education has suffered throughout its history in Spain based on the legal framework and, on the other, to highlight the process of introducing the percussion specialty into Spanish formal education on equal terms with the other instrumental specialties that form part of the symphony orchestra. A chronological review of the different laws and provisions that have regulated musical instruction is carried out, analysing the different positions for or against its inclusion in the university academic institution. Finally, attention is focused on the introduction and development of the percussion specialty within formal studies in the Spanish educational field. The conclusions point out that musical education has been and continues to be a controversial issue whose institutional and legislative evolution is still in the process of improvement.