Manuel
de Falla
1876-1946
The port of Cadiz is one of Southern Spain’s most beautiful
towns. Bordered on three sides by the sea, it is also the birthplace and the
last resting-place of Manuel de Falla. Franco’s gunboats carried his embalmed
body back from Argentina and laid him to rest in Cadiz cathedral.
Falla was an austere man,
exacting and yet modest, totally dedicated to his work and deeply religious.
His precise personality is reflected in his music. There are no superfluous
notes, yet it is always finely wrought, with a sensitive emotional impact and a
sense of striving for perfection.
He was an intelligent, cultured and brilliant musician, composing the most
richly colourful and sensuous evocations of Spain.
In Madrid he studied with Pedrell, from whom he developed a
deep interest in indigenous folk music. In 1907 he went to Paris, where he was
influenced by the Impressionism of Debussy, Ravel and Albeniz. By 1914, when he
returned to Spain, he had written the “Trois
Melodies” and the “7 Canciones”, “La Vida Breve” was a critically
acclaimed success and he had begun sketches on “Nights in the Gardens of
Spain”.
In
Paris, he had met Gregorio Martínez Sierra, playwright, poet and journalist,
who wrote in collaboration with his wife María de la O Lejárraga. He worked
with them for 7 years on his return to Madrid, at first composing incidental
music for their theatre pieces, then composing “El Amor Brujo” and the ballet
“El Sombrero de Tres Picos” for Gregorio’s librettos. Turina conducted the
ballet and Picasso designed the sets and costumes.
He
spent the Civil War in Granada, where his friend Lorca was executed despite the
efforts of Falla and other friends to prevent it. He was horrified by the war
and was unsympathetic to the new regime; but not a Republican because of his
devout Catholicism. No royalties had been paid because of the war and he was
left destitute. Falla accepted the Institución Cultural Española’s invitation
to Buenos Aires to direct a series of concerts in 1935. He did not return to
Spain and died in Argentina in 1946.
My translations
Canciones de María Lejárraga
These songs are actually Maria’s texts and are from what
little remains of her collaboration with Falla. Many of the other songs that they
wrote are still unpublished and remain in the archives of Maria’s descendants.
“Oración de las
Madres que tienen a sus hijos en brazos” was written in 1914, in the build up to WW1 and marked the
beginning of Falla’s collaboration with the Martínez Sierras. Upset by the
climate of war, Falla and María wrote the song to evoke deep emotions about war
without making a political statement. It was
premiered by Josefina Revillo and Falla on the 8th Feb 1915 in the Ritz Hotel, Madrid for the
inaugural concert of the Sociedad Nacional de Música.
In the spring of 1915, Falla and María went on a journey
through Andalusia. She was preparing a new play called “Pascua florida”
(Easter). “El Pan de Ronda que sabe a
verdad” is from the libretto. There were to have been others but Falla had
already begun working on “El Amor Brujo” with Gregorio. He finished this song
in Barcelona on the 18th December 1915.
For more information about Maria
Oración
de las Madres que tienen a sus hijos en brazos
Listen on YouTube
Sweet
Jesus, who is sleeping!
By
the holy breast that suckled you,
I
beg you, that this son of mine,
Will
not be a soldier!
They
will take him away,
And
he was my flesh!
They
will kill him,
And
he was my joy!
When
he dies, he will say “Mother!”
And
I will not know the hour nor the day.
Sweet
Jesus, who is sleeping!
By
the holy breast that suckled you,
I
beg you, that this son of mine
Will
not be a soldier!
El Pan de
Ronda que sabe a verdad
‘Though
all in the world were a lie,
It
leaves us this bread!
Brown,
toasted,
Smelling
of wild mountain roses,
That
tastes of the truth!
Through
the streets so white
Under
the blue sky
Let
us go slowly, sharing this bread,
That
tastes of health!
‘Though
all in the world were a lie.
This
is not!
Let
us live the good times slowly,
And
let the bad times come after!
Siete canciones populares españolas
The songs were
written in Paris 1914, but not premiered until Falla’s return to Spain. At The
Ateneo de Madrid’s concert in homage to Falla and Turina, on the 15th Jan 1915,
both composers performed their piano works and songs accompanied by the soprano
Luisa Vela.
Falla
assimilated folk influences within his own style believing that “in popular
song the spirit is more important than the letter”. These songs are a synthesis
of folk song and art song, reflecting the human spirit and the soul of Spain: a
mixture of Gothic intellect and Moorish sensuality, Castillian and Andalusian.
Although
they are not a song cycle, the contrast and sequence has been carefully chosen.
They make the best impact when performed complete, forming an anthology from
the various regions of Spain. El Paño Moruno and Seguidilla Murciana are from
the region of Murcia, Asturiana is from the North, while Jota is based on a
traditional dance from Aragon. The Andalusian Polo represents Falla’s subtle
response to the Cante jondo, and the flamenco tradition.
1. El Paño
Moruno Listen on YouTube
On the delicate cloth in
the shop
There fell a stain.
It sells for less
Because it has lost its
value. Ay!
2. Seguidilla
Murciana Listen on YouTube
People who live in glass
houses
Should not throw stones at
their neighbours.
We are muleteers;
It could be that we meet on
the road!
For your many infidelities
I shall compare you to a
peseta
Passing from hand to hand,
Until it is finally worn
down-
And believing it is fake,
Nobody will take it!
3.
Asturiana Listen on YouTube
To
see if it would console me
I
approached a green pine tree.
Seeing
me weep, it wept,
And
the pine tree was so green,
To
see me weep, it wept!
4.
Jota Listen on YouTube
They
say we are not in love
Because
they do not see us talk.
Let them ask your heart
and mine!
Now
I must leave you,
Your
house and your window.
And
although your mother disapproves,
Goodbye,
darling, until tomorrow.
5.
Nana Listen on YouTube
Sleep,
little one, sleep,
Sleep,
my soul, sleep little morning star.
Lullay,
sleep little morning star.
6. Cancion Listen on YouTube
Since your eyes are
treacherous
I am going to bury them
You do not know what it
costs, “del aire”,
Darling, to gaze into them.
“Madre á la orilla”
They say that you do not
love me
But you loved me once.
Make the best of it, “del
aire”,
And cut your losses.
“Madre á la orilla”
7. Polo Listen on YouTube
Ay! I keep a pain in my
heart,
Which I can tell no one.
A curse on love! Ay!
And a curse on the one whom
made me feel it! Ay!
©Copyright Helena Kean
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