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 Manuel Maria
de Falla y Matheu was born in Cadiz on November 23, 1876 which
is located in the extreme south of Spain, a land which is unmistakenly
Andalusian. The mystic atmosphere of this area made a deep impression
on Falla as a child and continued to influence him throughout
his entire musical career.
As a boy, Falla had a wonderful imagination. One of his favorite
childhood games was creating make-believe cities, one of which
was named Col6n. In these cities, everything imaginable was
provided - the city's construction plans, organization, and
the routines of daily life. He even created a theater in which
plays, characters, and sets were all fashioned by Manuel himself.
The first to be staged was one about Don Quixote and this imaginary
play was to materialize later in his mature composition, Master
Peter's Puppet Show.
Falla's parents came from Valencia and Catalonia. His father
was not a musician but his mother was an excellent pianist.
There were three children in the family who, because of their
financial stability, were tutored at home every day by Don Clemente
Parodi. This early private training gave Falla a discipline
which proved to be very advantageous later on in his life.
One of the most lasting impressions made on Manuel, as a child,
was caused by a cholera epidemic that killed an aunt whom he
particularly loved. The epidemic forced the family to move to
El Puerto and then to Seville. The experience of the sudden
change of homes also made a lasting impression on him. But soon
his family returned to Cadiz. His love for piano started just
before returning so his parents entrusted him to the best teacher
of Cadiz, Eloisa Galluzzo, who later passed him on to her former
teacher, Alejandro Odero, to study solfeggio and harmony. At
eleven years old, Falla took part in a performance of Haydn's
"The Seven Last Words of Christ" with his mother.
After the death of Odero, he continued his studies of harmony
and counterpoint with the composer, Enrico Broca at which time
he also began to compose. Falla's first real work wasGavotte
et Musette which he wrote out of his inspiration
from a piece by Bach. He was very secretive at first, but as
the work progressed he worked more openly on it.
In addition to his lessons in harmony with Broca, he began to
study with Jos~ Trag6, a famous piano teacher, and eventually,
at the age of twenty, attended the school where he later taught
called The Real Conservatorio
De Musica y Declamacion of Madrid. At the conservatory,
he went through a seven year course in two years. He proceeded
to compose five zarzuelas (comic operas and dances), and the
piano compositions Serenata Andaluza,
Vals Capricho, and Nocturno. The first of these three
is characteristic of an old Madrid street tune and Nocturno
is filled with chromaticism, rapid accents on the first beats,
and varied arpeggios in the bass. The last of Falla's juvenile
works to be mentioned is Allegro
de Concert which had been written for the Madrid
Conservatory composition competition, and it was this piece
that was the deciding factor in his decision to make a career
as a composer.
The teacher who most greatly influenced the direction of Falla's
work, was the composermusicologist, Felipe Pedrell, who is said
to have caused the rebirth of Spanish music. With Pedrell's
guidance, Falla was able to assimilate his concepts into his
own musical compositions; that is that each people should "steep
themselves into two inexhaustible sources: the lofty Spanish
polyphonic tradition, going back to the thirteenth century,
and the immense riches of Spanish folklore."*
In his teaching, Pedrell did not conduct his classes on formal
lines but rather conversed with the pupils on aesthetics and
on the analyses of musical compositions. In Pedrell's usage
of traditional melodies and in his study of the music of primitive
times, he was able to write with an expression of serenity,
mystery, strength, and with a sense of poetry. Falla adapted
Pedrell's style as a basis upon which to build his own compositions.
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Felipe Perdell |
After completing his studies at the Conservatory, Falla dedicated
his time to his composition,
La Vida Breve (Life is Short). This famous lyric
drama won first prize in a competition for national opera conducted
by the Real Academia de Bellas
Artes. It is a very picturesque opera set in Granada,
giving the impression of the land of Spain.
In 1907, two years later, Falla moved to Paris where he studied
French music and acquired the French technique of orchestration.
Here he caine in contact with many leading French composers,
including Debussy and Ravel. He also made friends with Dukas
and Albeniz. In fact, he dedicated his "Four Pieces for Piano"
to Albeniz who was also influenced by the French movement. As
an example of his admiration of the French composers, Falla
wrote a hommage to Debussy at his death, Hommage
pour le Tombeau de Debussy, for classic guitar. Though
it is the only piece he wrote for the guitar, it has since become
an item in the repertoire of all concert guitarists and has
influenced other composers to write for it also. Lastly, Falla's
"Three Songs" which is based on the poems of Theophile Gautier,
is viewed as his homage to the new French music.
In addition to the French influence on Falla's music at this
time, he wrote "Seven Popular Songs" for piano and voice with
the text by Carlos Fernandez Shaw. In these songs, the artist
employed a variety of styles. Sometimes the melody is purely
folk-lore in character, at other times less so, and sometimes
entirely original. The Nana, an Andalusian cradle song, for
instance, is a tune based on the first music he had ever heard
from his mother's lips.
In order to earn a living in Paris, Falla gave lessons, accompanied
singers, and did translations. He stayed there until 1914, but
before moving back to Madrid, he began his famous composition,
Nights in the Gardens of Spain, a suite of three nocturns for
orchestra and piano.
The work is characterized by brightness and impressionistic
freshness of sight, sound, and smell. The themes are based on
the rhythms, modes, cadances, and ornamental figures typical
of the music of Andalusia though they are rarely used in their
original form. It was completed and performed in 1916 winning
praise from many of his own contemporaries including Arthur
Rtibinstein who later performed the piece himself.
After returning to Spain in 1914, "Seven Popular Songs" was
performed for the first time and was very successful. He set
to work on El Amor Brujo,
a Gypsy ballet, and it was performed in several cities. This
piece is considered the most finished and conclusive of all
his works. The ballet describes the life of the Gypsies in the
caves of the Sacro Monte
of Granada. It is a story of a beautiful Gypsy girl who is pursued
by the spectre of her dead lover who arises continually between
her and her new lover. In the portrayal of both the human character
and of the moods of mystery and tragedy, this piece provided
for Falla the blending of both the supernatural and the realistic.
The popular ballet, The Three
Cornered Hat, based on a novel by Pedro de Alarcon
was composed from 1918-1919. It was presented for the first
time at the Alhambra Theatre in London on July 22, 1919. The
drop curtain, decor, and costumes were created by the artist,
Pablo Picasso.
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Drawing
of Manuel de Falla
by Pablo Picasso |
Fantasia Baetica,
written in the same year, marks the turning point in Falla's
artistic career because it is in this composition that he begins
to change his style, breaking away from the typical Andalusian
style. In it, he had to borrow from folklore themes, flamenco
rhythms and from guitaristic effects to achieve the greatest
musical expression of the piano which it is written for. The
composition was dedicated to Rubenstein.
Also during this same year, Falla received a commission from
Princesse de Polignac to write the marienette, The
Puppet Show, based on an episode from Don Quixote.
Composing this work required a total change in style. The use
of melodic features, rhythms and modes, stemming from the age
of Cervantes required a harmonic and instrumental treatment
very different from those of the Andalusian melodies he had
used up until then. Thus, he had to draw from historical folklore
for primary sources that were most in keeping with the situation
on stage.
In 1920, FalIa moved to Granada and settlec there until he died.
The move gave him a re freshing atmosphere to finish The Puppet
Show which was eventually performed in all the majoi
cities of the world, delighting all audiences.
The Harpsichord Concerto
was written ir 1926. It is a very brief work in three movements
written in his neo-classical
style where the "Spanish character is manifested by abstraction
of form and purity of line combined with sim plicity of development."
The slow movemen is considered by Falla, the most original,
most beautiful, and most Spanish of all his works. Ir listening
to it, one feels the impression of beinj inside a great cathedral.
In 1929, FaIla wrote Soneto a
Cordoba for voice and harpsichord in memory of the
great poet, Gongora, and from 1931 until he died Falla lived
at the top of the beautiful gardens of the General-life
in Granada, devoting all his creative powers to his ultimate
piece, L'Atlantida.
This final composition, based on a great Catalan poem by Jacinto
Vendguer, and turned into musical beauty for stage by Falla,
marks the zenith of the evolution of his style. It is in this
composition that Falla finally achieves his universality of
technique and expression and realizes his ideal of uniting in
one work, the various musical styles of the different regions
of Spain. The work was never completed because of his untimely
death in 1946 but even so, the masterpiece still ranks among
some of the most beautiful expressions ever created, proving
the music of Manuel de Falla to be a turning point in the history
of Spanish music.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Demarquez, Suzanne. Manuel de Falla. Trans Salvator Attanasio.
Philadelphia: Ghiltor Book Company, 1968.
Pahissa, Jaime. Manuel de Falla, His Life anc~ Works. Trans.
Jean Wagstaff. London: Museum Press Limited, 1954.
Trend, J.B. Manuel de Falla and Spanish Music. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, Inc. 1929.
*Jaime Pahissa, Manuel de Falla, His Life and Works (London:
Museum Press limited, 1954), p. 131.
*Suzanne Demarquez, Manuel de Falla (Philadelphia: Chilton
Book Company, 1968), p. 23.
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