Bankia, the Institut Valencià de Cultura and the FSMCV publish the book ‘Música a la llum: documentació i patrimoni de les bandes de música’

• This book presents an overview of the cultural heritage preserved or generated by the music bands of the Comunidad Valenciana
• The book includes the works presented at the 'I Congreso Internacional Música a la Llum' held in 2018

Bankia and the Institut Valencià de Cultura (IVC), in collaboration with the Federación de Sociedades Musicales de la Comunidad Valenciana (FSMCV), publish the book 'Música a la llum. Documentació i patrimoni de les bandes de Música', a volume that includes 32 articles by 40 authors, written in Spanish, Valencian and English, as well as the works presented at the 'I Congreso Internacional Música a la Llum' held in 2018.

The book is distributed through the Llibreria de la Generalitat (Llig) and, soon, it will feature an electronic edition promoted by the University of Valencia through the Institute of Creativity and Educational Innovations.

Between 13 and 15 December 2018, La Nau Cultural Centre of the University of Valencia hosted the 'I Congreso Internacional Música a la Llum. El patrimonio documental de las bandas de música', sponsored by Bankia and co-organised by the Institut Valencià de Cultura (IVC), the Federación de Sociedades Musicales de la Comunidad Valenciana (FSMCV) and the University itself, through its Institute of Creativity and Educational Innovations.

his congress was part of the Música a la llum programme, which was launched in 2016 to collaborate with musical societies in the conservation, enhancement and dissemination of the cultural heritage that has been gathered around its bands. 'Música a la llum' brings together, above all, documentary and social aspects, but also scientific aspects.

Now the volume that includes a part of the works presented at that forum, suitably reviewed and adapted to the written format, comes to light. The co-directors of the congress, Remigi Morant (Universidad de Valencia and FSMCV) and Jorge García (IVC), are also the coordinators and authors of the prologue contained in this volume.

A collective work

The work is divided into six chapters: the first, 'Archives and history of musical societies', offers panoramic views of the trajectory of some societies, with an emphasis on the documentary heritage they generated or safeguard, or focuses on certain creators. The second, 'Documentation in public and private institutions', presents the scarcely known band heritage of relevant library or archival institutions, as well as addressing the relationship and the parallels between professional archives and archives of musical societies.

The third and fourth parts focus on sources for the study of music bands such as press clippings, phonography and personal and family archives, usually linked to a creator. An important part of these chapters is devoted to organology work, where we can see, for example, how the components of music bands have evolved, with their aesthetic consequences.

The fifth chapter, 'The popular and the cult in the formation of the band repertoire', moves between documentation and musicology to address issues in which academic music and traditional music intersect, underlining the dual personality so often brought to attention in band music.

For the sixth and final part, 'Band heritage and social context', there are several works in which the cultural heritage of musical societies is approached from legislative perspectives that reflect progressive changes of sensitivity and also from socio-political perspectives, referring both to our recent history and the invisibility of women in the collective movement that is so important for the maintenance and promotion of the band phenomenon.