Description
Whilst traditional music was thriving in Spain in the late 19th /early 20th centuries, Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) was the first native Spanish composer to write any significant ‘classical’ music in four centuries. He effortlessly blended traditional Spanish music sounds and rhythms with his own unique style.
After a stint living in Paris, Falla returned to Spain during World War One, along with many European cultural figures who went there seeking new opportunities in the neutral country. This included Falla’s friend, Stravinsky, who introduced Falla to the dance impresario Diaghilev. Diaghilev was looking for new music for his Ballets Russes and he persuaded Falla to expand and re-score the incidental music he had written for a mime based on Alarcón’s El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat). With choreography by Léonide Massine and sets and costumes by Pablo Picasso – this was quite the dream team!
The Three-Cornered Hat is a story based on love, jealousy and infatuation in which an elderly magistrate (who wears the titular hat) attempts to seduce the young, beautiful wife of a miller. The Miller’s Dance is a dark, solemn and fiery ‘farruca’ (a type of flamenco dance). The music features imitations of flamenco guitar strums and ends in a frenzy of heightened tempo, volume and excitement.
