Biography of Manuel de Falla
Spanish Composer of Classical Music and Dances of Andalusia
Life and Works of Manuel de Falla, famous for ballets 'Love, the Magician' and 'The Three-Cornered Hat.'
Spanish composer Manuel de Falla remains the most celebrated figure in Spanish music. Considered his masterpiece is "Noches en los jardines de Espana" ("Nights in the Gardens of Spain"). He is also known for ballet "El Amor brujo" (Love, the Magician) and opera La vida breve (The Short Life).
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was born in Cadiz, Spain, on the 23rd of November 1876. He studied in Cadiz and in Madrid around the late 1890s, where he was a pupil of Trago for the piano and Pedrell for composition.
Successful Musical Career Despite WWI
At 26 years old, de Falla produced a zarzuela, Los amores de Ines (Loves of Ines), written with very little tuition in composition. He lived in Paris when he was 31 until he was 38. There he met prominent composers who influenced him: Debussy, Ravel, Rodrigo, and Dukas, who influenced.
At the outbreak of World War I, he returned to Spain and settled in Madrid. The production of La Vida Breve (The Short Life) at Nice and Paris, and later, of his very popular ballet El Sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) in London, spread his reputation.
With the rise of fascism in Spain in 1939, he moved to Argentina, where he died in November 14, 1946, in Argentina. He left unfinished his most ambitious work, the cantata L’Atlantida (The Atlantis) which was later completed by his former pupil, Ernesto Halffter.
His other works include the opera La Vida Breve (The Short Life), the ballet El Amor brujo (Love, the Magician), his most ambitious concert work and considered by most critics as his masterpiece, Noches en los jardines de Espana (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), as well as songs and pieces for piano and guitar.
Manuel de Falla music is alive with sound of guitars and spirit of flamenco.
List of De Falla's Major Works
- Opera, La Vida Breve (The short Life) including "Spanish Dance No.1", 1905
- Ballet, El Amor brujo (Love, the Magician) including Ritual Fire Dance, 1915
- Symphonic Noches en los jardines de Espana (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), 1916
- Ballet, El Sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) including "Miller's Dance", 1919
- Chamber opera, El Retablo de Maese Pedro (Master Peter's Puppet show), 1922
- Concerto for harpsichord and chamber ensemble, 1926
- Cantata, Atlantida (Atlantis) unfinished, and later completed by Ernesto Halffter, 1946
Sources
Dictionary of Composers and their Music, by Eric Gilder, Sphere Reference (1987)
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham, OUP (2002)
