El amor brujo
El amor brujo (Love, the Magician, literally,
Spell-bound Love or The Bewitched Love,
sometimes translated as Wedded by
Witchcraft) is a ballet composed in 1914–
15 by Manuel de Falla to a libretto by
Gregorio Martínez Sierra. In 1916, Falla
arranged a rendition of the work for sextet
and small orchestra and the following year
he made a concert version, also for small
orchestra. Later, he fashioned a piano
suite from it and finally, a second ballet
version (1925) that features expanded
orchestration, elimination of the narration,
small cuts and plot changes, and a
different order to the numbers.[1]
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
"Danza ritual del fuego" (Ritual Fire Dance),
"Canción del fuego fatuo" (Song of
Wildfire, or Song Of The Will-o'-the-Wisp),
and the "Danza del terror" (Dance of
Terror).
Versions and performance
history
Gitanería …
El amor brujo was commissioned in 1914
as a gitanería (gypsy piece) by Pastora
Imperio, a renowned flamenco gypsy
dancer. It was scored for cantaora voice,
actors and chamber orchestra and
performed at the Teatro Lara, Madrid, on
15 April 1915, unsuccessfully.
Orchestral version …
The following year, Falla revised the work
by cutting its length, enlarging the
orchestration, removing the dialogue and
reducing the vocal part to three short
songs for mezzo-soprano. This version
was performed on 28 March 1916, by the
Madrid Symphony Orchestra under Enrique
Fernández Arbós.
Ballet …
In 1924 Falla finished a transformation of
El amor brujo into a one-act 'ballet
pantomímico'; it is in this version that the
work is best known to this day. Published
by Chester, the ballet was given in Paris
the next year (1925) and by the
Philadelphia Civic Opera Company at
Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House
on 17 March 1927, with mezzo-soprano
Kathryn Noll and conductor Alexander
Smallens.
Piano suite …
Later, the composer arranged a suite for
piano solo (catalog G. 69) of four
movements from the 1925 ballet:
"Pantomima", "Danza del terror", "Romance
del pescador", and Danza ritual del fuego.
Synopsis
El amor brujo is the story of an Andalusian
gypsy woman called Candela. Although
her affection is for a man named Carmelo,
as a girl she was promised to be married
to another man (then a boy). After many
years Candela's husband has died (at the
hands of the husband of a woman named
Lucia), but he continues to haunt his wife.
The entire village knows about the
haunting, but still brands Candela as crazy
because she dances every night with her
husband’s ghost ("Danza del terror").
Candela, now a widow, is free to establish
a relationship with Carmelo, but continues
to be haunted by her husband's ghost.
After a conversation with other women of
the village, Candela finally comes to
realise that her husband was unfaithful to
her, despite all her efforts to make their
marriage work; her husband's lover is
revealed to have been Lucia.
Candela and Carmelo get advice that a
ritual dance is necessary to cast the ghost
off ("Danza ritual del fuego"), but it does
not work. The ghost is still obsessed with
Candela's soul.
Candela manages to trick Lucía to come
that night, with the excuse of hooking her
up with Carmelo. As she turns up, the
nightly ritual of Candela's dance with her
husband's ghost begins, but at the last
moment Candela moves away from her
husband and Lucía is taken away by her
now dead lover ("Danza del juego de
amor").
Dawn breaks, Candela and Carmelo are
now truly free to enjoy their love.
Movements
1. Introducción y escena ('Introduction
and scene')
2. En la cueva ('In the cave')
3. Canción del amor dolido ('Song of
suffering love')
4. El aparecido (El espectro) ('The
apparition')
5. Danza del terror ('Dance of terror')
. El círculo mágico (Romance del
pescador) ('The magic circle')
7. A media noche: los sortilegios
. Danza ritual del fuego
9. Escena ('Scene')
10. Canción del fuego fatuo ('Song of the
will-o'-the-wisp')
11. Pantomima ('Pantomime')
12. Danza del juego de amor ('Dance of
the game of love')
13. Final – las campanas del amanecer
('Finale – the bells of sunrise')
Recordings
Chamber music version (1915) …
1991: Josep Pons with the orchestra of
the Teatre Lliure, 'cantaora' Ginesa
Ortega. Harmonia Mundi HMC905213
Symphonic version …
1946 (February 5): Fritz Reiner with the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,
Contralto Carol Brice. Columbia
Masterworks MM-633 (3 12" 78 RPM
discs); Also Columbia LP ML-2006.
1953: Ataúlfo Argenta with the
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du
Conservatoire, mezzo-soprano Ana-
Maria Iriarte. EMI 7243 5 69235 2 2
1955: Ernest Ansermet with the
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,
mezzo-soprano Marina de Gabaráin,
Decca 417 691–2
1960: Leopold Stokowski with the
Philadelphia Orchestra, mezzo-soprano
Shirley Verrett-Carter, Columbia MS
6147
1961 & 1964: Carlo Maria Giulini with
the Philharmonia Orchestra, soprano
Victoria de los Ángeles EMI 7 69 037 2
1963: Fritz Reiner with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, soprano Leontyne
Price, Mercury
1966: Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos with
the New Philharmonia Orchestra,
mezzo-soprano Nati Mistral, Decca 417
786–2
1978: Luis Antonio Garcia Navarro with
the London Symphony Orchestra,
mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza,
Deutsche Grammophon 429181-2
1983: Charles Dutoit with the Orchestre
Symphonique de Montréal, mezzo-
soprano Huguette Tourangeau, London
410 008-2
1996: Edmon Colomer with the
Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona,
'cantaora' Esperanza Fernández. Valois
Auvidis V 4768.
Films
In 1967 Francisco Rovira Beleta 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 Rocío Jurado. A
soundtrack album, now out of print, was
issued by EMI.
Music
The section "Cancion del Fuego Fatuo"
was recorded in 1960 by jazz musician
Miles Davis as "Will O' the Wisp" in an
arrangement by Gil Evans for their album
Sketches of Spain.
References
Notes
1. "AllMusic website" .
Sources
Kennedy, Michael, ed. (2006). The Oxford
Dictionary of Music. Oxford:Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-861459-4
External links
An essay on El amor brujo by Peter
Gutmann, accessed 25 December 2009
El amor brujo from the Martha Argerich
Project
YouTube: Ritual Fire Dance from El amor
brujo, accessed 25 December 2009
Libretto on Spanish Wikisource,
accessed 25 December 2009
Notes on El Amor Brujo by Sato
Moughalian, Artistic Director,
Perspectives Ensemble
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