Magic Of Spain Shows In Its Music

For more than 40 years, the Spanish government tried to root out indigenous cultural traditions and replace them with a heterogenous pan Spanish culture.

Kind of like bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. trying to stomp out bluegrass and jazz, and handing their imprimatur to Neil Diamond.

Fortunately, the government failed, and today Spain is a blur of ethnicities and micro-cultures, some of them the fictional creations of politicians and artists hoping to cash in on the new regionalism.

There’s no doubting the legitimacy of La Musgana, though. The Spanish instrumental quartet, which plays The Met tonight, disdains fashion and plays the traditional music of the inland territories, from Castile, Leon, Salamanca, Extramadura and La Mancha.

This isn’t the music of stereotypical Spain - forget the castanets, the blazing guitars and the bull-ring trumpets. La Musgana plays lyrical, Celtic-flavored pieces on flutes and pipes, accordions, citterns and frame drums.

La Musgana plays a blend of dance tunes, marches and song airs. Much of their music is born of ritual, and the religious songs, wedding marches and festive dances are the musical linchpins of ancient cultures that live on in the valleys of Central Spain.

Much of their music also harkens to medieval times - the bagpipes and hurdy-gurdy lend a clear medieval air - and there are Arabic influences that reflect Spain’s polyglot past. But the La Musgana musicians are not archivists, and they also throw in the occasional clarinet and sometimes get funky with an electric bass holding down the bottom end.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT The concert begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets, Street Music or call (800) 325-SEAT.