El amor brujo
Encyclopedia
El amor brujo is a piece of music originally composed by Manuel de Falla
for a chamber group, then re-scored as a symphonic suite, and eventually as a ballet. The texts were by Gregorio Martínez Sierra
.
The work is distinctively Andalusian in character with the songs in the Andalusian Spanish
dialect of the Gypsies. The music contains moments of remarkable beauty and originality; it includes the celebrated Ritual Fire Dance, Cancion del Fuego Fatuo (Will-o'-the-Wisp
) and the Dance of Terror.
gypsy dancer. It was scored for cantaora voice
, actors, and chamber orchestra. It was performed at the Teatro Lara, Madrid
on 15 April 1915 but was not successful.
The following year, Falla revised the work for symphonic orchestra, with three short songs for mezzo-soprano
. This version was performed on 28 March 1916 with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra
under Enrique Fernández Arbós
.
In 1925, de Falla transformed it into a one-act 'ballet pantomímico'. The work's United States premiere was presented by the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company
at Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House
on March 17, 1927 with mezzo-soprano Kathryn Noll and conductor Alexander Smallens
.
gypsy girl called Candela. Candela falls in love with a man called Carmelo, after her unfaithful husband, whom she had been forced to marry, had died. The dead husband's ghost
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. As they whirl around faster and faster, the magic of the fire dance causes the ghost to be drawn into the fire, making it vanish forever.
directed a film version
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
, but lost to Jiří Menzel
's Closely Observed Trains. However it won the "National Syndicate of Spectacle, Spain" award.
In 1986, Spanish director Carlos Saura
directed El amor brujo
based on the ballet, starring, and choreographed by, Antonio Gades
. It was the third in his trilogy of dance films, following Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) and Carmen. The film filled out the story with spoken dialogue, but nevertheless used the entire score of the ballet, along with additional songs and dances performed by characters in the film. The Orquesta Nacional de España
was conducted by Jesús López-Cobos
, and the cante jondo
singer heard on the soundtrack was the late Rocío Jurado
. A soundtrack album
, now out of print, was issued by EMI
.
on his album Sketches of Spain
(1959) as "Will O' the Wisp".
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....
for a chamber group, then re-scored as a symphonic suite, and eventually as a ballet. The texts were by Gregorio Martínez Sierra
Gregorio Martínez Sierra
Gregorio Martínez Sierra , Spanish writer, dramatist and theatre director.A key figure in the revival of the Spanish theatrical avant-garde in the early twentieth century, Gregorio Martínez Sierra was one of the few progressive dramatists whose productions achieved any measure of commercial...
.
The work is distinctively Andalusian in character with the songs in the Andalusian Spanish
Andalusian Spanish
The Andalusian varieties of Spanish are spoken in Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar. They include perhaps the most distinct of the southern variants of peninsular Spanish, differing in many respects from northern varieties, and also from Standard Spanish...
dialect of the Gypsies. The music contains moments of remarkable beauty and originality; it includes the celebrated Ritual Fire Dance, Cancion del Fuego Fatuo (Will-o'-the-Wisp
Will-o'-the-wisp
A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...
) and the Dance of Terror.
Versions and performance history
El amor brujo was initially commissioned in 1914-15 as a gitanería (gypsy piece) by Pastora Imperio, a renowned flamencoFlamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
gypsy dancer. It was scored for cantaora voice
Cante flamenco
The cante flamenco is one of the three main components of flamenco, along with toque and baile...
, actors, and chamber orchestra. It was performed at the Teatro Lara, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
on 15 April 1915 but was not successful.
The following year, Falla revised the work for symphonic orchestra, with three short songs for 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...
. This version was performed on 28 March 1916 with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra
Madrid Symphony Orchestra
The Madrid Symphony Orchestra , founded in 1903, is the oldest existing Spanish symphony orchestra not linked to an opera house in Spain.-History:...
under Enrique Fernández Arbós
Enrique Fernandez Arbos
Enrique Fernández Arbós was a Spanish violinist, composer and conductor who divided much of his career between Madrid and London. He originally made his name as a virtuoso violinist and later as one of Spain’s greatest conductors.Fernández Arbós was born in Madrid...
.
In 1925, de Falla transformed it into a one-act 'ballet pantomímico'. The work's United States premiere was presented by the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company
Philadelphia Civic Opera Company
The Philadelphia Civic Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was actively performing between 1924 and 1930. Founded by Philadelphia socialite Mrs. Henry M. Tracy, the company was established partially through funds provided by the city of...
at Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Philadelphia)
The Metropolitan Opera House is a historic opera house located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 858 North Broad Street. Built over the course of just a few months in 1908, it was the ninth opera house built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I. It was initially the home of Hammerstein's Philadelphia...
on March 17, 1927 with mezzo-soprano Kathryn Noll and conductor Alexander Smallens
Alexander Smallens
Alexander Smallens was a Russian-born American conductor and music director.Smallens was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated to the United States as a child, becoming an American citizen in 1919...
.
Synopsis
El amor brujo is the story of a young AndalusianAndalusian people
The Andalusians are the people of the southern region in Spain approximated by what is now called Andalusia. They are generally not considered an ethnically distinct people because they lack two of the most important markers of distinctiveness: their own language and an awareness of a presumed...
gypsy girl called Candela. Candela falls in love with a man called Carmelo, after her unfaithful husband, whom she had been forced to marry, had died. The dead husband's ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
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. As they whirl around faster and faster, the magic of the fire dance causes the ghost to be drawn into the fire, making it vanish forever.
Movements
- Introducción y escena ('Introduction and scene')
- En la cueva ('In the cave')
- Canción del amor dolido ('Song of suffering love')
- El aparecido (El espectro) ('The apparition')
- Danza del terror ('Dance of terror')
- El círculo mágico (Romance del pescador) ('The magic circle')
- A media noche: los sortilegios
- Danza ritual del fuego ('Ritual fire dance')
- Escena ('Scene')
- Canción del fuego fatuo ('Song of the will-o'-the-wisp')
- Pantomima ('Pantomime)
- Danza del juego de amor ('Dance of the game of love')
- Final - las campanas del amanecer ('Finale – the bells of sunrise')
Chamber music version (1915)
- 1991: Josep PonsJosep PonsJosep Pons is a Spanish conductor. He is the current conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra.-External links:**...
with the orchestra of the Teatre LliureTeatre LliureThe Teatre Lliure is a theatre in Barcelona considered one of the most prestigious in Catalonia. It was created in 1976 in the neighborhood of Gràcia by a group of professionals from Barcelona's independent theater scene. It became distinguished for its practice of presenting theater in Catalan,...
, 'cantaora' Ginesa Ortega. Harmonia Mundi HMC905213
Symphonic version
- 1946 (February 5): Fritz ReinerFritz ReinerFrederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century.-Biography:...
with the Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraPittsburgh Symphony OrchestraThe Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.-History:...
, Contralto Carol BriceCarol BriceCarol Brice was an American contralto. Born in Sedalia, North Carolina, she studied at Palmer Memorial Institute and later at Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, where she received a Bachelor of Music in 1939. She continued her studies at the Juilliard School of Music from 1939 to 1943...
. Columbia Masterworks MM-633 (3 12" 78 RPM discs); Also Columbia LP ML-2006. - 1953: Ataúlfo ArgentaAtaúlfo ArgentaAtaúlfo Exuperio Martín de Argenta Maza , was a Spanish conductor and pianist.-Biography:Argenta was born in Castro Urdiales, Cantabria, one of the two children, and the only son, of the local station master and a worker with the railways, Juan Martín de Argenta, and Laura Maza...
with the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ConservatoireOrchestre de la Société des Concerts du ConservatoireThe Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini....
, mezzo-soprano Ana-Maria Iriarte. EMI 7243 5 69235 2 2 - 1955: Ernest AnsermetErnest AnsermetErnest 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...
with the Orchestre de la Suisse RomandeOrchestre de la Suisse RomandeThe Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall...
, mezzo-soprano Marina de Gabarain, Decca 417 691-2 - 1960: Leopold StokowskiLeopold StokowskiLeopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
with the Philadelphia OrchestraPhiladelphia OrchestraThe Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
, mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett-CarterShirley VerrettShirley Verrett was an African-American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato...
, Columbia MS 6147 - 1966: Rafael Frühbeck de BurgosRafael Frühbeck de BurgosRafael Frühbeck de Burgos is a Spanish conductor and composer.Frühbeck studied violin, piano, and composition at the conservatories of Bilbao and Madrid...
with the New Philharmonia OrchestraPhilharmonia OrchestraThe Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
, mezzo-soprano Nati Mistral, Decca 417 786-2 - ? Carlo Maria GiuliniCarlo Maria GiuliniCarlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
with the Philharmonia OrchestraPhilharmonia OrchestraThe Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
, sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Victoria de los ÁngelesVictoria de los ÁngelesVictoria de los Ángeles was a Spanish Catalan operatic soprano and recitalist whose career began in the early 1940s and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Her obituary in The Times noted that she must be counted “among the finest singers of the second half...
EMI 7 69 037 2 - 1978 Luis Antonio Garcia Navarro with the London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, mezzo-soprano Teresa BerganzaTeresa BerganzaTeresa 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 :...
, Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche GrammophonDeutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
429181-2 - 1996 Edmon Colomer with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, 'cantaora' Esperanza Fernandez. Valois Auvidis V 4768.
Films
In 1967 Francisco Rovira BeletaFrancisco Rovira Beleta
Francisco Rovira Beleta was a twice Academy Award nominee Spanish screenwriter and film director. His film Los atracadores was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival. His 1962 film Los Tarantos was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category...
directed a film version
El amor brujo (1967 film)
Bewitched Love is a 1967 Spanish drama film directed by Francisco Rovira Beleta and based on the eponymous ballet by Manuel de Falla. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.-Cast:* Antonio Gades as Antonio...
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, but lost to Jiří Menzel
Jirí Menzel
Jiří Menzel is a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography...
's Closely Observed Trains. However it won the "National Syndicate of Spectacle, Spain" award.
In 1986, Spanish director Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés is a Spanish film director and photographer.-Early life:Born into a family of artists , he developed his artistic sense in childhood as a photography enthusiast.He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies...
directed El amor brujo
El Amor brujo (1986 film)
El amor brujo or Carlos Saura Dance Trilogy, Part 3: El Amor Brujo is a 1986 Spanish musical film written and directed by Carlos Saura. It was directed and choreographed in the flamenco style. It is the third part of the Saura's flamenco trilogy he made in the 80's, after Bodas de sangre in 1981...
based on the ballet, starring, and choreographed by, Antonio Gades
Antonio Gades
Antonio Gades was a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer . He helped to popularise the art form on the international stage...
. It was the third in his trilogy of dance films, following Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) and Carmen. The film filled out the story with spoken dialogue, but nevertheless used the entire score of the ballet, along with additional songs and dances performed by characters in the film. The Orquesta Nacional de España
Orquesta Nacional de España
The Orquesta Nacional de España is a symphonic orchestra based in Madrid, Spain.-History:Although working since in 1937 during the Spanish civil war, the orchestra was legally founded in 1940, by the merging of the Perez Casas' Filarmónica and the Orquesta Sinfónica of Arbós...
was conducted by 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 the 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...
singer heard on the soundtrack was the late Rocío Jurado
Rocío Jurado
María del Rocío Trinidad Mohedano Jurado , was a Spanish singer and actress. She was born in Chipiona, Cádiz, Spain and was nicknamed "La más grande" . Jurado was once married to boxer Pedro Carrasco, with whom she had a daughter, Rocío Carrasco...
. A soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
, now out of print, was issued by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
Music
The section "Cancion del Fuego Fatuo" was covered by jazz musician Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
on his album Sketches of Spain
Sketches of Spain
Sketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City....
(1959) as "Will O' the Wisp".
External links
- An essay on El amor brujo by Peter Gutmann, accessed 25 December 2009
- El amor brujo from the Martha ArgerichMartha ArgerichMartha Argerich is an Argentine pianist.-Early life:Argerich was born in Buenos Aires and started playing the piano at age three...
Project - YouTube: Ritual Fire Dance from El amor brujo, accessed 25 December 2009
- Libretto on Spanish Wikisource, accessed 25 December 2009