VIII Internacional Conference MEDyREN
«Music and Contexts in the Medieval and Renaissance Iberian World»
Spanish Musicology Society
Granada, 19-21 June, 2026
Proposal submission deadline: 10 April 2026
Granada represents a privileged historical setting for the study of interactions between Islamic, Jewish, and Christian musical traditions. The coexistence of these cultures fostered a remarkably rich society whose musical legacy endured even after 1492. Charles V resided for several months in the Alhambra in 1526 and, captivated by its splendour, commissioned the construction of a palace befitting such an extraordinary site. The presence of a Flemish ruler in an Andalusian setting, newly married to a Portuguese consort and overseeing a project designed by a Castilian architect in the Italian Renaissance style, exemplifies the profoundly eclectic nature of this encounter. The 500th anniversary of the marriage of Charles V and Isabella of Portugal provides an exceptional opportunity to reflect on the cosmopolitan musical exchanges that shaped the soundscape of sixteenth-century Granada. The Alhambra emerges here as a space of cultural transition, where repertoires inherited from the Nasrid period coexisted with musical practices associated with the imperial court. In this context, music played a central role as a vehicle of political and ceremonial representation, articulating both continuity and rupture between distinct sonic worlds.
Taking the notion of transition as its interpretative axis, the conference aims to explore music as a dynamic phenomenon shaped by the movement of repertoires, practices, ideas, and sound objects across cultural boundaries, throughout Europe and along the new transatlantic routes. This perspective challenges static or compartmentalised views of the medieval and Renaissance musical past.