Manuel Maria de los Dolores Falla Matheu (Cadiz, November 23, 1876 – Alta Gracia, Argentina, November 14, 1946) was a Spanish composer. Representative of musical nationalism, is one of the most important Spanish composers of the early twentieth century, with Isaac Albeniz, Enrique Granados, Joaquin Turina and Joaquin Rodrigo. Musical nationalism refers to the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them.
As a musical movement, nationalism emerged early in the 19th century in connection with political independence movements, and was characterized by an emphasis on national musical elen such as the use of folk songs, folk dances or rhythms, or on the adoption of nationalist subjects for operas, symphonic poems, or other forms of music (Kennedy 2006). As new nations were formed in Europe, nationalism in music was a reaction against the dominance of the mainstream European classical tradition as composers started to separate themselves from the standards set by Italian, French, and especially German traditionalists (Miles n. . ). [unreliable source] More precise considerations of the point of origin are a matter of some dispute.
One view holds that it began with the war of liberation against Napoleon, leading to a receptive atmosphere in Germany for Weber’s opera Der Freischutz (1821) and, later, Richard Wagner’s epic dramas based on Teutonic legends. At around the same time, Poland’s struggle for freedom from Czarist Russia produced a nationalist spirit in the piano works of Frederic Chopin, and slightly later Italy’s aspiration to independence from Austria resonated in many of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi (Machlis 1979, 125-26).
Countries or regions most commonly linked to musical nationalism include Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, Spain, UK, Latin America and the United States. Historical Background: Manuel Maria de los Dolores and Matheua b Falla was born on November 23, 1876 at the family home in the Plaza de Mina No. 3 in Cadiz, son of Jose Maria Franco Falla Matheu Jesus and Mary and Zabala. He received his first lessons in music theory from the hand of his mother, a pianist, and his grandfather.
At 9 vea old he continued his musical studies with piano teacher named Eloisa Galluzzo. From 1896 he began to travel to Madrid, where he attended the Royal Conservatory of Music and Declamation. There he perfected in piano with Joseph drink, a classmate of Isaac Albeniz. Melody composed in 1897, a work for cello and piano and dedicated to Salvador Viniegra, as Falla participated in chamber music sessions that were held in this house.
What are some of the composer’s musical and artistic influences (use musical and visual examples): In 1901 he met Felipe Pedrell, who have significant influence on his later career as it awakened in him an interest in flamenco and, especially, by the flamenco singing. He composed works like Procession of gnomes and Serenata, both for piano and after composing some zarzuelas, now lost or forgotten, as the loves of Ines and alms of love.
The April 12, 1905 premiered at the Comedy Theatre in Madrid, the loves of Ines and that same year he met Joaquin Turina and the Society of Authors published Vals- Capricho and Andalusian Serenade. That same year, he began his collaboration with Amadeo Vives Pow zarzuelas, the cornet Order and the Cross of Malta, of which only fragments remain. The years of study in the Spanish capital culminated in the composition, in 1904, the opera La Vida Breve , in collaboration with Carlos Fernandez Shaw, that creditor a first prize organized by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in San contest was Fernando .
Analysis of the Composer;s Musical Works (use musical examples): During his stay in Paris he composed his most famous works: the pantomime El Amor Brujo and the ballet The Three-Cornered Hat (compound to fill an order of the famous Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev), Seven Spanish popular songs for voice and piano, the Baetica Fantasy for piano and Nights in the Gardens of Spain, premiered at the Royal Theatre in 1916.
His style evolved through these compositions from the folklorist nationalism that reveal these early scores, inspired by themes, melodies, rhythms and turns Andalusian or Castilian, to a nationalism that sought inspiration in the musical tradition of the Spanish Golden Age and responding to puppet opera El retablo de Maese Pedro, one of his most praised works, and the Concerto for harpsichord and five instruments.
How did the composer;s music influence his or her contemporaries (use musical and visual examples): As a tribute to his artistic work, the Bank of Spain decided to use a portrait of Manuel de Falla in the front of the banknotes of 100 pesetas , which were issued on or after November 17, 1970 (although they were put into circulation in 1973). This ticket was the most outstanding during the 70s until, due to inflation, in 1982 the decision to mint coins of 100 pesetas was taken. The ticket 100 pesetas with the effigy of Manuel de Falla then began to be withdrawn by the banks, but remained legal tender until the introduction of the euro.
