Manuel de Falla

EL AMOR BRUJO


LOVE THE MAGICIAN
(Andalusian Gipsy-Tale)

Introduction
the Gipsies
(En la Cueva La Noche)
Song of the Unhappy love affair
(Canción del Amor Dolido)
the Ghost
(El Aparecido)
Dance of Fright
(Danza del Terror)
the Magic Circle
(El Círculo Mágico)
Midnight
(A Media Noche Los Sortilegios)
Ritual Dance of Fire to drive out the bad Spirits (Danza del Fuego)
Song of the Will-o'-the-wisp
(Canción del Fuego Fátuo)
Mime
(Danza del Juego de Amor)
Final: Chimes of the Morning
(Las Campanas del Amanecer)


Argument :
“Candelas,  a  young gipsy girl, loves Carmelo. But whenever she wants to hug him she sees the ghost of a man she formerly loved appear  haunting and terrifying her. A very good friend of hers accepts to seduce the ghost and in this way liberates Candelas who is able to join Carmelo and the two lovers can get away. After the Introduction during the Evening Gathering , the Ghost appears and provokes Candelas' Dance of  Terror ; she draws around her a Magic Circle in order to protect herself. Meanwhile Midnight strikes; Candelas and her friends perform the Ritual Danse of Fire to Drive the Bad Spirits Away . Then she sings the Song of the Will-O'-The-Wisp to which love is compared : "If you run from it, it pursues you, if you call it, it escapes from you" During the Pantomime, Lucia seduces the ghost and succeeds in dragging it into the Dance of the Game of Love . Liberated, Candelas sings her Love Song before joining Carmelo, while the Morning Bells announce dawn and the night evil powers vanish.
Audio : Dance of the play of Love (extract)

 

SUITE of the THREE CORNERED HAT

 

Danza del Corregidor
Danza de los Vecinos (Seguidillas)
Las Uvas
Danza de la Molinera (Fandango)
Danza del Molinero (Farruca)

With these dances of the Three Cornered Hat we are face to face with the protagonists of this satirical fable about Power : the Miller and his Wife (symbols of liberty), the Corregidor (the local despot) and the Neighbours (the public opinion). It is Leonid Massine, the celebrated choreographer of Diaghilev's Russian Ballets who tells the story : visiting Falla, then engrossed in his Carmen in Grenade, they walked on the nearby Alhambra hill. At that time the project of the Three Cornered Hat was taking form. A blind guitarist played in the street asking for alms; Falla took his notebook and quickly wrote a theme. Massine affirms that this theme became the basis for the main theme of the Seguidilla (Dance of the Neighbors) of the Three Cornered Hat.
The legend says that the Farruca of the Three Cornered Hat  was made up in one night. It was to satisfy the principal dancer, Massine, furious and jealous of the success of the Fandango de la Molinera during the repetitions at the time of the ballet creation. Knowing the slowness and the meticulousness of Manuel de Falla's work, and considering the astonishing affinity of this piece with the technique, the color and the usual tonalities of the flamenco guitar, I put forth the assumption that the author, driven back by the urgency, used and quickly orchestrated a piece, nearly completed, and original for the guitar. It should be noted that Massine's choreography, does not correspond to the tradition of Farruca flamenca, in particular in the famous final "locomotive".

 

Audio : Danza de los Vecinos (extract)