Cristóbal Oudrid y Segura : El sitio de Zaragoza arr. by Alicia Dominguez Arcos

El sitio de Zaragoza is a descriptive fantasy on military themes composed by Cristóbal Oudrid around 1848. Originally, the work was conceived as incidental music for the play El Sitio de Zaragoza de 1808 by Juan Lombía, a drama in three acts written in verse. The music was to be performed throughout the play and ended with a rondalla playing the Jota aragonesa. Since the piece became very popular with the public, Oudrid created an anthology from it and the rest of the work to form an instrumental piece in the style of a descriptive fantasy, independent of the play. During the second half of the 20th century, the piece gained popularity due to the national exaltation of siege heroes such as Agustina de Aragón. It became common for military and police bands to perform it in recitals, and today it continues to be performed by municipal and military bands as well as orchestras and ensembles, with various versions offering different interpretations of the work.