El Sombrero de Tres Picos
Encyclopedia
The Three-Cornered Hat is a ballet
composed by Manuel de Falla
, commissioned in its development by Sergei Diaghilev
and performed in its completed form in 1919.
The story of The Three-Cornered Hat is based on the well-known novella
by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (born in Granada). It is about a magistrate who has become infatuated with a miller's faithful wife and his attempts to seduce her. The story itself has been filmed several times, usually in Spanish.
ballet in two scenes and called it The Governor and the Miller's Wife ( El corregidor y la molinera). The work was scored for a small chamber orchestra and was performed in 1917.
, saw the premiere of El corregidor y la molinera and commissioned de Falla to rewrite the ballet. The outcome was a two-act ballet scored for large orchestra called The Three-Cornered Hat ( El sombrero de tres picos). The Three-Cornered Hat was first performed in London at the Alhambra Theatre
on 22 July 1919. Diaghilev asked de Falla to conduct the premiere but de Falla felt he was not experienced enough to conduct a work so complex. After the first rehearsal de Falla handed the baton over to Ernest Ansermet
. Sets and costumes were done by Pablo Picasso
and choreography by Léonide Massine.
Soon the magistrate, his wife, and their bodyguard pass by, taking their daily walk. The procession goes by and the couple returns to their work. The dandified, but lecherous, magistrate is heard coming back. The miller tells his wife that he will hide and that they will play a trick on the magistrate.
The miller hides and the magistrate sees the miller's wife dancing. After her dance she offers him some grapes. When the magistrate gets the grapes the miller's wife runs away with the magistrate following her. Finally he catches her, and the miller jumps out of a bush with a stick. The miller chases the magistrate away and the miller and his wife continue working.
The Governor undresses and hangs his clothes on a tree and goes to sleep in the miller's bed. The miller has escaped from prison and sees the magistrate in his bed. The miller thinks that the magistrate is sleeping with his wife and plans to switch clothes with the magistrate, and avenge himself by seducing the magistrate's wife. The miller leaves, dressed as the magistrate, and the magistrate soon wakes up. He goes outside and sees that his clothes are gone, so he dresses in the miller's clothes. The bodyguard comes and sees the magistrate dressed as the miller and goes to arrest him. The miller's wife sees the bodyguard fighting with what looks like her husband and joins in the fight. The miller comes back and sees his wife in the fight and joins it to protect her. The magistrate explains the entire story and the ballet ends with the miller's guests tossing the magistrate up and down in a blanket.
. The two songs sung by the mezzo-soprano
are examples of cante jondo
singing, which often accompanies flamenco music. Cante jondo tells a story and is usually sad.
At one point he quotes
the famous opening of Beethoven
's 5th Symphony
.
for London Records
(aka Decca
). The music was played by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
, and the cante-jondo soloist was Teresa Berganza
. It has also been recorded by such conductors as Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
and Jesús López-Cobos
, and Leonard Bernstein
has recorded the two suites from the ballet with the New York Philharmonic
.
The original pantomime El corregidor y la molinera has been recorded by Josep Pons
and Orquestra del Teatro Lliure for Harmonia Mundi
.
has recently issued a performance of the complete ballet on a DVD
entitled Picasso and Dance. The performance uses not only Massine's original choreography, but actual reproductions of Picasso's sets and costumes. It is, so far, the only performance of the ballet issued on video.
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
composed by Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
, commissioned in its development by Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
and performed in its completed form in 1919.
The story of The Three-Cornered Hat is based on the well-known novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (born in Granada). It is about a magistrate who has become infatuated with a miller's faithful wife and his attempts to seduce her. The story itself has been filmed several times, usually in Spanish.
The Governor and the Miller's Wife
During World War I Manuel de Falla wrote a pantomimePantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
ballet in two scenes and called it The Governor and the Miller's Wife ( El corregidor y la molinera). The work was scored for a small chamber orchestra and was performed in 1917.
The Three-Cornered Hat
Sergei Diaghilev, of the Ballets RussesBallets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
, saw the premiere of El corregidor y la molinera and commissioned de Falla to rewrite the ballet. The outcome was a two-act ballet scored for large orchestra called The Three-Cornered Hat ( El sombrero de tres picos). The Three-Cornered Hat was first performed in London at the Alhambra Theatre
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
on 22 July 1919. Diaghilev asked de Falla to conduct the premiere but de Falla felt he was not experienced enough to conduct a work so complex. After the first rehearsal de Falla handed the baton over to Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet was a Swiss conductor.- Biography :Ansermet was born in Vevey, Switzerland. Although he was a contemporary of Wilhelm Furtwängler and Otto Klemperer, Ansermet represents in most ways a very different tradition and approach from those two musicians. Originally he was a...
. Sets and costumes were done by Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and choreography by Léonide Massine.
Act One
After a short fanfare the curtain rises revealing a mill in Andalusia. The miller is trying to teach a pet blackbird to tell the time. He tells the bird to chirp twice, but instead it chirps three times. Annoyed, the miller scolds the bird and tells it to try again. The bird now chirps four times. The miller gets angry at the bird again and his wife offers it a grape. The bird takes the grape and chirps twice. The miller and his wife laugh over this and continue their work.Soon the magistrate, his wife, and their bodyguard pass by, taking their daily walk. The procession goes by and the couple returns to their work. The dandified, but lecherous, magistrate is heard coming back. The miller tells his wife that he will hide and that they will play a trick on the magistrate.
The miller hides and the magistrate sees the miller's wife dancing. After her dance she offers him some grapes. When the magistrate gets the grapes the miller's wife runs away with the magistrate following her. Finally he catches her, and the miller jumps out of a bush with a stick. The miller chases the magistrate away and the miller and his wife continue working.
Act Two
That night, guests are at the miller's house. The miller dances to entertain them. His dance is interrupted by the magistrate's bodyguard, who has come to arrest him on trumped-up charges. After the miller is taken away, the guests leave one by one. The miller's wife goes to sleep and soon the magistrate comes to the mill. On his way to the door the magistrate trips and falls in the river. The miller's wife wakes up and runs away.The Governor undresses and hangs his clothes on a tree and goes to sleep in the miller's bed. The miller has escaped from prison and sees the magistrate in his bed. The miller thinks that the magistrate is sleeping with his wife and plans to switch clothes with the magistrate, and avenge himself by seducing the magistrate's wife. The miller leaves, dressed as the magistrate, and the magistrate soon wakes up. He goes outside and sees that his clothes are gone, so he dresses in the miller's clothes. The bodyguard comes and sees the magistrate dressed as the miller and goes to arrest him. The miller's wife sees the bodyguard fighting with what looks like her husband and joins in the fight. The miller comes back and sees his wife in the fight and joins it to protect her. The magistrate explains the entire story and the ballet ends with the miller's guests tossing the magistrate up and down in a blanket.
The Music
Throughout the ballet Manuel de Falla uses traditional Andalusian folk musicMusic of Andalusia
The Music of Andalusia is very diverse and includes many external influences such as Arabic, Romani, Sephardic, Roman, and Christian.-Influence of Andalusian music:...
. The two songs sung by the mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
are examples of cante jondo
Cante jondo
Cante jondo is a vocal style in flamenco. An unspoiled form of Andalusian folk music, the name means deep song It is generally considered that the common traditional classification of flamenco music is divided into three groups of which the deepest, most serious forms are known as cante jondo...
singing, which often accompanies flamenco music. Cante jondo tells a story and is usually sad.
At one point he quotes
Musical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
the famous opening of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's 5th Symphony
Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and best-known compositions in all of classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast...
.
Recordings
There are many recordings of the complete ballet, as well as of the suites extracted from it. In the early 1960s, Ernest Ansermet, the original conductor of the work, recorded it in stereoSTEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
for London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
(aka Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
). The music was played by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall...
, and the cante-jondo soloist was Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza, born on March 16, 1935), is a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. She is admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence and beguiling stage presence.- Biography :...
. It has also been recorded by such conductors as Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is a Spanish conductor and composer.Frühbeck studied violin, piano, and composition at the conservatories of Bilbao and Madrid...
and Jesús López-Cobos
Jesús López-Cobos
Jesús López-Cobos is a Spanish conductor.López-Cobos was born in Toro, Zamora, Castile-León, Spain. He studied at Complutense University of Madrid and graduated with a degree in philosophy...
, and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
has recorded the two suites from the ballet with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
.
The original pantomime El corregidor y la molinera has been recorded by Josep Pons
Josep Pons
Josep Pons is a Spanish conductor. He is the current conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra.-External links:**...
and Orquestra del Teatro Lliure for Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
.
Film versions
The Paris Opera BalletParis Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet is the oldest national ballet company in the world, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it...
has recently issued a performance of the complete ballet on a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
entitled Picasso and Dance. The performance uses not only Massine's original choreography, but actual reproductions of Picasso's sets and costumes. It is, so far, the only performance of the ballet issued on video.
Reference
- Kennedy, MichaelMichael Kennedy (music critic)Dr. George Michael Sinclair Kennedy CBE is an English biographer, journalist and writer on classical music. He joined the Daily Telegraph at the age of 15 in 1941, and began writing music criticism for it in 1948...
(2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4