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Posts: 370
Joined: May 23 2007
From: Frederick, MD
De Falla
I'm sure many of you heard La Vida Breve in Paco's performance. I happen to have a very nice sheet music for this. Paco I believe plays it as a duet, which makes it much easier. I have a solo version which means you have to do a lot between just two hands. There was a time when I worked on it, and got it to an Ok standard but it's been a while and I want to redevote myself to it. I believe at some point someone on the foro asked me for a sheet. I don't remember who it was and if that someone is still here I'd like to know...HOW DID IT GO?
Also you all may know that De Falla took a lot of inspiration from flamenco even though his music is more of a classical guitar type. So I'd like to hear some thoughts on his stuff from those who've played flamenco for a while.
actually i saw a de falla recital a few months ago, a local guy who's a professor somewhere near here.
i friended him on myspace, he's apparently a real fan of flamenco. dunno if he plays atall. however i noted in the performance that he was very strict with the rhythm and there were notes in the progra m about flamenco and its influence on de falla.
I think DeFalla, just like a lot of his romantic contemporary's did lend from the folkmusic of their native countries. Because that was the fashion. Other examples are Grieg, Sibelius, the Russians ( moussorgsky, Prokovjev and even Stravinsky ).
Btw. deFalla did lend from flamenco/ spanish folklore, but he didn't care much for the guitar as far as I know. He never wrote one piece for it. Nor did Albeniz, as far as I know.
Bogdan: Also you all may know that De Falla took a lot of inspiration from flamenco even though his music is more of a classical guitar type.
Most of his music is for orchestra, chamber ensemble, or piano, or voice with one of those.
quote:
Koella: Btw. deFalla did lend from flamenco/ spanish folklore, but he didn't care much for the guitar as far as I know. He never wrote one piece for it.
On the contrary, Falla was very interested in the guitar, and he certainly did write one famous piece for it,
Falla together with Lorca and others organized the Concurso de Cante Jondo in Granada in 1922 because they wanted to raise the profile of cante jondo at a time when there was a lot of commercialisation of flamenco shows featuring the lighter types of songs. The influence of flamenco can be heard in much of his music.
There you go. That's right, and I guess the previous comparison with Albeniz can be made because both composed for piano among other things. THat's why Albeniz is so hard to play on the guitar. So is Falla. I never got excited by Tombeau, but Breve and other dances that Paco does are amazing. And Miller's dance is all flamenco I think.
Falla together with Lorca and others organized the Concurso de Cante Jondo in Granada in 1922 because they wanted to raise the profile of cante jondo at a time when there was a lot of commercialisation of flamenco shows featuring the lighter types of songs. The influence of flamenco can be heard in much of his music.
Thanks Estevan for bringing that up. There is no question that de Falla was hugely influenced by Flamenco. He also lived in the Alhambra palace for a while in the Calle Real. He was invited to live in Granada by Lorca but found the town too noisy. It is also worth noting that Andres Segovia was the third person in the collaboration to organise the Concurso de Cante Jondo.
Segovia, soleares?? Didn't he say once that flamenco was for kids? "Kid's toys" I think were the actual words. Mr. Ego. Interestingly hi technique is not very good in terms of classical music of course. When he was young he was very musical but if you listen to some of his later things, not good at all. Asturiaz is downright pathetic. Also he was supposed to play Aranjuez and bailed out in the last moment and I think Celedonio Romero or one of the brothers replaced him and breezed through it.
Can't fake Aranjuez. . Don't get me wrong, I think he was a great man and very impressive player, I just can't imagine him playing soleares.
Yes it's surprising at first, especially considering his very limited concept of flamenco later on, but in fact his first guitar lessons were in flamenco and that's what he played in his youth. This performance was in a 'preliminary session' before the actual Concurso, which he and Lorca did as a fundraiser for the main event. According to Segovia:
"First, Federico recited his poem dedicated to Silverio (a great master of cante jondo, already passed away), and then I started to play the guitar, rasgueando some soleares composed by me for that occasion, and others by Paco Lucena."
The crowd went wild and "the concert ended up turning into an informal juerga, given that the audience was made up of friends and acquaintances."
And [really off-topic, but you started it ] if you want to know the real story of The Old Man and Aranjuez (nothing like the one you were told), read this (it's in English): Rodrigo-Segovia
Printable Version
(i dont have a clue with classical anyway)
] if you want to know the real story of The Old Man and Aranjuez (nothing like the one you were told), read this (it's in English): 
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