Classical Music Milestone, April 15
The ballet Il amor brujo (Love, the Magician) by Manuel de Falla is first performed on April 15, 1915, in Madrid, Spain. It was initially commissioned (1914-1915) as gitaneria (gypsy piece), it wasn't successful. But when De Falla transformed it into a ballet (1945) scored for a full symphony with three short songs for mezzo-soprano, it was successful. The work is distinctively Andalusian, with the songs in the Andalusian Spanish dialect of the gypsies.
Brief Synopsis
El amor brujo is about an Andalusian gypsy girl called Candela who falls in love with a man called Carmelo, after her unfaithful husband had died. She had only been forced to marry him.
The ghost of the dead husband returns to haunt Candela and Carmelo. To rid them of the ghost, all the gypsies make a large circle around their campfire at midnight. In this circle Candela performs the Ritual Fire Dance. This causes the ghost to appear, with whom she dances. The story goes that as Candela and the ghost dance around faster and faster, the fire dance magic causes the ghost to be drawn into the fire, eventually making him eaten up by the fire never to return.
De Falla's ballet El Amor Brujo premieres
The ballet Il amor brujo (Love, the Magician) by Manuel de Falla is first performed on April 15, 1915, in Madrid, Spain. It was initially commissioned (1914-1915) as gitaneria (gypsy piece), it wasn't successful. But when De Falla transformed it into a ballet (1945) scored for a full symphony with three short songs for mezzo-soprano, it was successful. The work is distinctively Andalusian, with the songs in the Andalusian Spanish dialect of the gypsies.
Brief Synopsis
El amor brujo is about an Andalusian gypsy girl called Candela who falls in love with a man called Carmelo, after her unfaithful husband had died. She had only been forced to marry him.
The ghost of the dead husband returns to haunt Candela and Carmelo. To rid them of the ghost, all the gypsies make a large circle around their campfire at midnight. In this circle Candela performs the Ritual Fire Dance. This causes the ghost to appear, with whom she dances. The story goes that as Candela and the ghost dance around faster and faster, the fire dance magic causes the ghost to be drawn into the fire, eventually making him eaten up by the fire never to return.
Video Credit:
Manuel de Falla - El amor brujo | Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen. Youtube, uploaded by Flanders Symphony Orchestra. Accessed November 23, 2023.
Resource:
Kennedy, Michael, Ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Music (2006), 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4
© April 2016. Updated November 23, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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