Whereas Spanish music theatre has become quite a prominent subject of research in recent decades, instrumental music in the ‘Iberian world’ is still more or less terra incognita. And this despite the well-known facts that Joseph Haydn composed string quartets for Madrid and that one of the most prominent composers of instrumental music in the second half of the eighteenth century, Luigi Boccherini, spent almost forty years in the Spanish capital. This well-run conference, organized by the Universidade de Évora, Universidad de La Rioja and Universidade Nova de Lisboa and held in the beautiful ambience of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, tried to bridge at least a part of this gap. The chronological limits (1760–1820) seem to have derived from the presence of Boccherini and another prominent composer of Italian birth, Gaetano Brunetti, on the Iberian Peninsula from the 1760s, with 1820 being an important landmark in Spanish and Portuguese history given the proclamation of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Portugal.

The conference was framed by four keynote lectures. Thierry Favier (Université de Poitiers) spoke on ‘Instrumental Music and Cultural Transfers in Eighteenth[-]Century Europe: Some Reflections on the Status of Genres’; António Camões Gouveia (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) discussed ‘O Reino de Portugal dos séculos XVII e XVIII. Muitos ritmos e escalas de muitas viagens’ (The Kingdom of Portugal in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Many Rhythms and Scales from Many Travels); and Fátima Nunes (Universidade de vora) delivered a lecture on ‘Luzes e Ilustração em território(s) ibérico(s): cultura, ciência e espaço público. Percursos de práticas culturais – contributos para a construção de uma Europa com rosto Atlântico’ (Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Iberian Territories: Culture, Science and Public Space. Circulation of Cultural Practices: An Approach to an Atlantic Face of Europe). The final keynote address came from Rui Vieira Nery (Universidade Nova de Lisboa / Fundação Calouste Gubenkian), who gave us ‘Distinção aristocrática e sentimentalidade burguesa: música instrumental doméstica no Portugal do Antigo Regime’ (Aristocratic Distinction and Bourgeois Sentimentality: Instrumental House Music in Ancien-Régime Portugal).

All the remaining contributions were arranged according to thematic criteria. The first topic to be covered was ‘“Viennese Classicism” and “Latin American Classicisms”: Discourses, Styles and Rhetorical Processes’, and the first paper was given by Alberto Hernández Mateos (Fundación Juan March, Madrid) on ‘“Sinfonía, quinteto, qué me quieres decir?” En torno al discurso ilustrado sobre la música instrumental en el mundo ibérico’ (Symphony, Quintet: Que me veux-tu?' Enlightened Discourse on Instrumental Music in the Iberian World). Then Stephanie Klauk (Deutsches Historisches Institut Rom), with ‘La Corte de Madrid entre Viena, España e Italia: sinfonías de Brunetti y Boccherini en un contexto europeo’ (The Madrid Court between Vienna, Spain and Italy: Symphonies by Brunetti and Boccherini in European Context), picked up on the European panorama of eighteenth-century instrumental music that had been outlined in the opening lecture by Favier. She explained how Brunetti as violin teacher of the Prince of Asturias and Boccherini as virtuoso de cámera of the Infant Don Luis were able to incorporate Viennese and Spanish influences into their symphonies so as to contribute to a genuine Italian tradition of instrumental music. Following this, Diósnio Machado Neto (Universidade de São Paulo) spoke on ‘A música instrumental como territorialidade de estéticas tópicas: um estudo da Sinfonia Fúnebre de José Maurício Nunes Garcia’ (Instrumental Music as Territoriality of Aesthetic Topics: A Study of José Mauricio Nunes Garcia's Sinfonia Fúnebre).

The second topic, ‘The Music Market and the Circulation of Repertories: Cosmopolitan Tendencies and Local Identities’, assembled contributions by Maria João Albuquerque (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) on ‘Sobre a edição e a disseminação da música instrumental em Portugal entre 1755 e 1840’ (On the Publishing and Dissemination of Instrumental Music in Portugal between 1755 and 1840), Vanda de Sá (Universidade de Évora) on ‘Transformação das práticas musicais em Lisboa no período final do Antigo Regime: novas dinâmicas comerciais, modelos cosmopolitas e reportórios’ (The Transformation of Musical Practices in Lisbon at the End of the Ancien Régime: New Commercial Dynamics, Cosmopolitan Paradigms and Repertories), Cristina Fernandes (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) on ‘Bailes, jogos de salão e repertórios instrumentais: o baralho de cartas musicais de José do Espírito Santo Oliveira’ (Dances, Parlour Games and Instrumental Repertories: José do Espírito Santo Oliveira's Pack of Musical Cards), and finally Carolina Queipo (Universidad de La Rioja) on ‘A Coruña portuaria (ca. 1815–1833): repertorio musical local vs. repertorio internacional’ (La Coruña, Seaport, c1815–1833: Local versus International Musical Repertory).

The next two sessions were dedicated to analytical perspectives. The first concerned chamber music, and in the opening paper (Rainer Kleinertz, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken; ‘Gaetano Brunetti's String Quintets: An Analytical Approach’) I tried to show through selected examples from Brunetti's seventy-one string quintets the influence of Haydn (especially from his Op. 33 quartets), and possibly also of Mozart (several of whose string quintets are extant in the Madrid Palace Archive). Màrius Bernadò (Universitat de Lleida) and José María Dominguez (Universidad de La Rioja) then reported on ‘Los cuartetos de un pasticheur en Madrid: João Pedro de Almeyda ca. 1797’ (The Quartets of a Pasticheur in Madrid: João Pedro de Almeyda c1797). The second session branched out to consider orchestral genres, with papers from Mário Marques Trilha (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) on ‘Forma e procedimentos composicionais no concerto para cravo ou pianoforte de José Palomino: análise comparativa com o concerto para cravo ou pianoforte de Joseph Haydn. Hob. XVIII: 11’ (Form and Compositional Procedures in José Palomino's Concerto for Harpsichord or Piano: A Comparison with Joseph Haydn's Concerto hXVIII: 11) and Pedro Castro (Universidade de Aveiro), who spoke on ‘As aberturas das serenatas de João de Sousa Carvalho’ (The Overtures of João de Sousa Carvalho's Serenatas).

Two papers were dedicated to transatlantic perspectives on music for plucked string instruments: Alejandro Vera (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) on ‘Intertextualidad en la música para guitarra del siglo XVIII: citas, alusiones y apropiaciones musicales entre España e Hispanoamérica’ (Intertextuality in Eighteenth-Century Guitar Music: Musical Quotations, Allusions and Appropriations between Spain and Latin America), and Manuel Morais (Universidade de Évora) on ‘O machete madeirense oitocentista e o seu ímpar repertório’ (The Madeira Machete in the Eighteenth Century and Its Unique Repertory), the machete being a Portuguese form of lute that has four, five or six strings.

A subsequent session entitled ‘Concert Circuits and Instrumental Virtuosity’ assembled papers by Josep Martínez Reinoso (Universidad de La Rioja) on ‘Virtuosos en los conciertos públicos de Madrid y Lisboa a finales del siglo XVIII’ (Virtuosos in Public Concerts in Madrid and Lisbon at the End of the Eighteenth Century), Francesco Esposito (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) on ‘Um “medíocre divertimento”: concertos, benefícios e academias em Lisboa entre 1820–1840’ (A ‘Mediocre Amusement’: Concerts, Benefit Performances and Academies in Lisbon between 1820 and 1840) and Rui Magno Pinto (Universidade Nova de Lisboa), who considered ‘Virtuosismo na música instrumental solística lisbonense (1821–1860)’ (Virtuosity in Soloistic Instrumental Music in Lisbon, 1821–1860).

Special attention was drawn to a recently discovered collection of Spanish music in Parma in the following session. Contributions came from Ana Lombardía (Universidad de La Rioja), with ‘Los Reyes de Etruria y la música: actividad cotidiana, mecenazgo y coleccionismo’ (The Royal Couple of Etruria and Music: Daily Activity, Patronage and Collecting), Judith Ortega (Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, Madrid), with ‘Luis de Parma, dinamizador de la actividad musical en la corte de Carlos IV (1794–1801)’ (Luis de Parma as Catalyst for Musical Activity at the Court of Carlos IV (1794–1801)), and then Lluís Bertran (Université de Poitiers / Universidad de La Rioja), with the presentation ‘“En Madrid, en el almacén de papeles, e instrumentos de Música”: la edición manuscrita madrileña en la colección de los Reyes de Etruria’ (‘In Madrid, in the Store of Sheet Music and Instruments’: Madrid Manuscript Editions in the Collection of the King of Etruria). Lombardía, Ortega and Bertran all underlined the Spanish–Italian connection as they revealed surprising aspects of and contexts for the King of Etruria's music collection.

Finally, in a session on keyboard music, papers were presented on ‘Recepción y circulación de música de tecla en Valencia entre los siglos XVIII y XIX’ (Reception and Circulation of Keyboard Music in Valencia between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries) by Rosa Isusi Fagoaga (Valencia), ‘El manuscrito Ayerbe: una fuente importante de la música de teclado de mediados del siglo XVIII’ (The Ayerbe Manuscript: An Important Source of Keyboard Music from the Mid-Eighteenth Century) by Laura Cuervo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and ‘Glosa ou Variação? Eis a questão! – Contributos sobre o estudo comparativo entre a glosa e a varioção na música para tecla em Portugal’ (Glosa or Variation? That Is the Question!: Contributions to a Comparative Study of Glosa and Variation in Portuguese Keyboard Music) by Edite Rocha (Universidade de Aveiro). In the concluding segment, entitled ‘Sacred Contexts and Instrumental Repertories’, Cristina Mengel Sansó illustrated ‘La instrucción instrumental en la escolanía de Lluc (Mallorca)’ (Instrumental Instruction in the Escolanía of Lluc, Mallorca) and Filipe Mesquita de Oliveira (Universidade de Évora) covered ‘A formação orquestral durante o período final do Antigo Regime no contexto dos fundos musicais da Sé de Évora ? o testemunho da obra de Ignácio António Ferreira de Lima (†1818)’ (Orchestral Formation during the Late Ancien Régime in the Context of the Music Collection of Évora Cathedral: The Record of the Work of Ignácio António Ferreira de Lima, †1818).

The evenings were embellished with two concerts. The first was given by the instrumental ensemble Divino Sospiro and featured minuets written by Pedro António Avondano (1714–1782) for the unusual combination of two violins, two trumpets and bass, and the second was given by Mário Trilha (harpsichord), who played sonatas and minuets by João de Sousa Carvalho (1745–c1800), João Cordeiro da Silva (1737–1808) and Marcos Portugal (1762–1830).

While some contributions did not always meet what the title promised, the conference was nevertheless an important step towards a better knowledge and understanding of the history of instrumental music in the Iberian world, and at the same time it left many interesting questions to be answered in the future.