FALLA, Manuel de
b Cadiz, 23 November 1876
d Alta Gracia, Argentina, 14 November 1946, aged sixty-nine

He was the son of a wealthy merchant. At the age of twenty he passed all the piano examinations of the Madrid Conservatory as an external candidate. He won a first prize in 1905 in an opera-writing competition, but the opera, La Vida breve, was not performed at the time. In 1907 he took this work to Paris with him, and befriended Debussy, Ravel, Dukas, Stravinsky and Albeniz. He earned a living by teaching and translating. By the 1930s he was a sick man, and when in 1939 he was invited to Buenos Aires for a concert tour his ill-health made him stay on in Argentina.

1908 (32)

Pieces espagnoles, for piano

1909 (33)

Trois melodies, songs

Nights in the Gardens of Spain, for piano and orchestra (1909-15)

1913 (37)

fp La Vida Breve, opera

1915 (39)

fp El Amor Brujo, ballet

1919 (43)

fp The Three-cornered Hat, ballet

Fantasia betica, piano solo

1921 (45)

Homage pour le tombeau de Debussy, for guitar

1922 (46)

El Retablo de Maese Pedro, opera

Seven Spanish Popular Songs

1923-6 (47-50)

Concerto for harpsichord, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin and cello

1934 (58)

Fanfare for wind and percussion

1935 (59)

Pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas, for piano

1940 (67)

homenajes, orchestral version of homage pour le tombeau de Debussy