Núria Feliu

Nova cançó is a Catalan-language singer‑songwriter movement that emerged in the early 1960s as a cultural and political expression under Francoist Spain. Artists used intimate, text‑forward songs to defend the Catalan language and identity while addressing social justice, freedom, and everyday life. Musically, nova cançó draws on French chanson’s literary focus and the folk revival’s acoustic simplicity: clear vocals, nylon‑string guitar or piano, sparse accompaniment, and memorable, strophic melodies. The lyrics are poetic and metaphor‑rich—often deploying allegory to evade censorship—yet they remain direct enough to function as anthems for collective solidarity.

Cuplé is a Spanish theatrical song style that flourished in the early 20th century, performed by star female vocalists known as cupletistas in cafés-concert, varietés, and revista (revue) stages. It is characterized by short, catchy strophic songs with memorable refrains, light dance rhythms (often in 2/4 or 3/4), and lyrics rich in double entendres, urban picaresque humor, and flirtatious innuendo. Musically, it leans on simple, singable melodies and straightforward harmonies (tonic–dominant–subdominant), frequently colored by habanera-tinged rhythms or gentle pasodoble sway, and is usually accompanied by piano or a small pit orchestra. While it shares space with zarzuela and later copla, cuplé is lighter, more risqué, and cabaret-like, foregrounding personality, gesture, and costume as much as the song itself.