F.J. Giménez-Rodríguez: What Spanishness?

Avant-garde Vs. Nationalism, Neopopularism and IRASM 49 (2018) 1: 95-114

Espagnolade in El Amor Brujo de Manuel de Falla (1915-1923)

In this excerpt, written over thirty years later and not without self-represen-
tation, Maria Lejárraga comes to illustrate that close collaboration that tried to
unify literary and musical expression. This original way of working between the
writer and the musician undoubtedly resulted in a new conception of the show.

The Music: »A Strange, New Yet Essentially Gypsy Work«

El Amor Brujo creates a new way of linking music and theatre with spoken
and sung parts, many dance numbers and with music playing a key role, some-
thing which was unusual in the traditional Spanish zarzuela of the time. It
responded to the needs of an artistic genre chico that Jacinto Benavente had already
clamoured for in his essay »Teatro del pueblo« (People’s theatre) in 1909, some-
thing that would rescue the zarzuela from its textual and musical decline and
expand the possibilities of playwrights and other writers with new trends and
diverse pieces to expand, in turn, the taste of audiences.15
As the Teatro Lara did not have an orchestra pit, it was necessary to reduce
the size of the orchestra to fourteen players (a wind section with flute, piccolo,
oboe, French horn and cornet; a string section with two first violins, two second
violins, two violas, two cellos and a double bass, plus piano and percussion
bells).16 With this small group, he wrote a score in which the music was the driving
force of the entire work.
Rather than caricaturing gypsy traits – castanets, ayeos or traditional dances,
for example – Falla’s score drew inspiration from gypsy rhythms and melodies to
create a completely new form of music. To these ’traditional’ rhythms and
melodies he added detailed orchestration to achieve the suggestive effects
required by the piece, as María Lejárraga remembered in her memories. More-
over, Falla looked for a characterisation of musical motifs (amor brujo or bewitching
love with which the work begins and vulgar love which is introduced in the second
scene), which represent a true text-associated programme. These motifs undergo
significant changes in the different situations of the piece, reaching a level of
internal coherence which goes far beyond what we may conceive if we were to
listen to it. It was completely different from a variety show.
The composer himself – aware of the originality of the piece – wrote some
explanatory notes which were handed out with the program:

This series of songs and dances preserve the untamed and sensual character of the
Andalusian-gypsy people with all its strange sounds and peculiar rhythms.

15
Jacinto BENAVENTE, Obras completas, VI, Madrid: Aguilar, 1942, 619.
16
Manuel de FALLA, El amor brujo (1915 version), London: Chester, 1996, XX.

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 F.J. Giménez-Rodríguez: What Spanishness?
Avant-garde Vs. Nationalism, Neopopularism and
IRASM 49 (2018) 1: 95-114
Espagnolade in El Amor Brujo de Manuel de Falla (1915-1923)

The somewhat strange musical sonorities in some passages depend on tonal superpo-
sitions, and were created so as to try to suggest the sound of primitive Arab instru-
ments, which correspond to the archaic character of the dances: mostly monodic
instruments (i.e. that produce only one note at a time), accompanied rhythmically by
percussion instruments.17

In this explanation for the Teatro Lara audience, Falla highlights the Andalu-
sian-gypsy element, but without any hint of picturesqueness. He warns about the
strange sounds and very peculiar rhythms and justifies at length the originality of
the sonorities for the audience, the tonal superpositions to suggest the sound of
primitive Arab instruments.
In the following pages of this explanation, Falla goes through the different
musical numbers of El Amor Brujo and highlights the origin of the songs and
dances (specifically, he cites the tarantula dance and the song El Vito), which
would later appear in the press. He also adds detailed descriptions of the intense
semanticity of the music. So at the beginning »the monotonous and disturbing
music represents the evocation of the distant sound of the waves and a dull an-
guish of doom«.

The Dancer: »The Sculpture of a Bonfire«

This was how the writer Jacinto Benavente described Pastora Imperio in 1912:

Her singing and dancing alone is enough to enrapture you, to drive you crazy and to
tears of admiration. Is she so beautiful? More than beautiful, as the French would say,
she is marble and she is fire. I would say that she epitomises the sculpture of a bonfire.
Praise God! Because when you see Pastora Imperio you will believe in God as you do
when you read Shakespeare.18

17
»Es una serie de canciones y danzas, en las cuales se ha procurado conservar el carácter a un
tiempo bravío y sensual de la raza gitana-andaluza con todas sus extrañas sonoridades y sus ritmos
peculiarísimos.
Las sonoridades un tanto extrañas de la música en algunos pasajes dependen de superposiciones
tonales, y están hechas para sugerir en lo posible el sonido de los instrumentos árabes primitivos, que
corresponden al carácter arcaico de las danzas: instrumentos en su mayoría monódicos (es decir, que
no producen más que una sola nota a la vez), acompañados rítmicamente por instrumentos de per-
cusión.« Manuel de FALLA, El amor brujo. Gitanería en dos cuadros, letra de Gregorio Martínez Sierra,
música de Manuel de Falla escrito expresamente para Pastora Imperio, Madrid: R. Velasco, 1915, 1.
18
»Pues canta y baila, y os apasiona, y os enloquece, y os hace llorar de admiración. ¿Es tan her-
mosa? Peor que hermosa – como dicen los franceses – Es mármol y es fuego. Yo diría que es la escul-
tura de una hoguera (…) Ve uno a Pastora Imperio y la vida se intensifica: van pasando amores y celos
de otras vidas y se siente uno héroe y bandido (…) ¡Bendito sea Dios! Porque cuando ve uno a Pastora
Imperio cree uno en Dios lo mismo que cuando lee a Shakespeare«. Jacinto BENAVENTE, De
sobremesa, El Imparcial, 7 October 1912, 3.

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 F.J. Giménez-Rodríguez: What Spanishness?
Avant-garde Vs. Nationalism, Neopopularism and IRASM 49 (2018) 1: 95-114
Espagnolade in El Amor Brujo de Manuel de Falla (1915-1923)

These passionate words were written by the distinguished writer two years
before the première of El Amor Brujo and are testimony to the dancer’s tremen-
dous reputation as she had already been performing for more than ten years on
stages in Madrid. He exalts her natural beauty, »mysteries of lust, death and
divinity«, her genius »without art« and the expressiveness of her gaze and her
songs. Pastora Imperio captivated the whole of society at that time, including the
intelligentsia, which regarded her as an authentic Spanish artist with duende.
Undoubtedly, the announcement of a piece by Manuel de Falla composed
especially for her would arouse the interest of her legion of fervent admirers.

The Scenery: »The Effect of Fire«

Commissioning Néstor Fernández de la Torre as the set designer (for scenery,

costumes and lighting) was clearly another bid to assert the work’s modernity. De
la Torre was a painter from the Canary Islands who had studied in Paris and
London and had a vast theatrical experience.
The first scene shows a dark gypsy cave with the opening revealing a blue
cobalt sky in all its glory, with colourful fabrics, guitars and tambourines on the
earth walls. Four hauntingly disturbing figures, »who seem to have been lifted
from a Zuloaga painting have a profound effect on the audience’s mood.«19
In the second scene (the witch’s cave) the only light comes from the fires and
the massive, golden full moon which appears at the back of the set in front of the
audience through the stony openings of the cave. Everything is hidden behind a
second black gauze curtain which slowly rises, but more than merely evoking
feelings of »surprise, pleasure or admiration, it sent shivers down your spine …«.20
Imperio’s costumes were worthy of review in El Imparcial:

(...) it is a very full dress, as inspired by the portraits of ladies from the court of Queen
Isabel II and painted by Federico Madrazo, or rather by those who surrounded Empress
Eugenia in the glorious days of the Second Empire as painted by Winterhalter. The skirt
is a deep blue, like a shred of Andalusian sky, and on this blue there are large roses of
fire. Pastora’s underskirts, stockings and shoes are the same colour red. A red spotlight
illuminates the strange figure and as she moves in a measured and rhythmic way to the
chords of Falla’s wise music, the flowing skirts produce the effects of a fire.21

19
MONTE-CRISTO, Los trajes de la Imperio en »El amor brujo«, El Imparcial, 18 Apri1915 l, 4.
20
Manuel ABRIL, Estreno de El amor brujo gitanería en un acto y dos cuadros hecha expresa-
mente para Pastora Imperio, letra de Gregorio Martínez Sierra, música del maestro Falla y decorados
de Néstor de la Torre, La Patria, 20 April 1915, 4.
21
»(...) es un traje de amplísimo vuelo, inspirado en los cuadros de las damas de la corte de doña
Isabel II, que perpetuó el pincel de Federico Madrazo, o más bien en aquellas otras que rodearon a la
emperatriz Eugenia en los días gloriosos del Segundo Imperio, retratada por Winterhalter; el color de
la falda es de un azul intenso, como jirón del cielo andaluz, y sobre ese azul, grandes rosas de fuego;

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 F.J. Giménez-Rodríguez: What Spanishness?
Avant-garde Vs. Nationalism, Neopopularism and
IRASM 49 (2018) 1: 95-114
Espagnolade in El Amor Brujo de Manuel de Falla (1915-1923)

The renovation that Néstor proposes in the sets, costumes and lighting, was
crucial for the perception of modernity in El Amor Brujo, »which was the first act
of Spanish scenic avant-garde within the national territory.«22

2. A Multi-faceted Reception: Nationalism, Neopopularism and

Espagnolade

And the fire began. The première of El Amor Brujo sparked critical reviews at
the time and also the rage of Teatro Lara theatregoers who wanted to go and see
Pastora Imperio singing and dancing coplillas (ditties). The symbolism of the
scenery, the unusual theatrical conception, the originality of the musical approach
and Pastora Imperio’s »completely unprecedented appearance« must, at the very
least, have completely bewildered audiences on her farewell performance.
In view of such bewilderment, the number of voices which were published in
the press represented a beautiful chorale to the introduction of avant-garde move-
ments in Spain.

Madrid (Teatro Lara, 15 April 1915 )

The critics at the premiere – one way or another – took the notes written by
Falla as starting point. The journal Ilustración Artística published a defence of the
’authenticity’ of the Andalusian-gypsy people, the originality of tones and
rhythms, and the enormous power of suggestion that emanates from the union of
music, poetry and text. This is all accompanied by images that enable this new
conception to be appreciated on the stage and in the costumes.23
El Imparcial recognised the value of the score – the music specifically – follow-
ing the musician’s explanations:
The piece has two scenes and the music is the most important part. The illustrious
author of La vida breve, looking for and finding the inspiration for his work in popular
melodies, has now admirably conceived a series of Andalusian-gypsy songs and dances
preserving all their character and purifying them through his fine artistic talent.24

del mismo color rojo son todas las faldas interiores y las medias y los zapatos que calza la gentil
Pastora. Un foco de luz roja ilumina la extraña figura, y al moverse ésta, acompasada y rítmica, a los
acordes de la sabia música de Falla, las faldas, desceñidas, producen el efecto de un incendio«. MON-
TE-CRISTO, Los trajes de la Imperio…, 4.
22
Pedro Juan ALMEIDA CABRERA, Néstor y el mundo del teatro, Las Palmas: Museo Néstor, 1995, 22.
23
Madrid. –Notas de actualidad, La Ilustración artística, Barcelona: 26 April 1915, 10.
24
»La obra tiene dos cuadros y su parte musical es lo más importante«. El insigne autor de la vida
breve, que busca y encuentra en los motivos populares la inspiración de sus composiciones, ha inter-

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 F.J. Giménez-Rodríguez: What Spanishness?
Avant-garde Vs. Nationalism, Neopopularism and IRASM 49 (2018) 1: 95-114
Espagnolade in El Amor Brujo de Manuel de Falla (1915-1923)

The origin of the songs and dances written by Falla also appear in this review,
and the music is characterised as intense: »The sensual and the indomitable
bubble and vibrate in the songs and in the orchestra music with force, austerity
and personality«. A certain weakness and monotony in dramatic action is
observed in the second scene, so that the music does not produce such a strong
and deep impression as in the first part. Thus, the music critic recognizes the
value of music, but also reviews the script and Pastora Imperio’s performance.
In La Correspondencia de España we also find a positive review which speaks of
the music and paintings being »at the service of the script.«25 The critic credits
Falla, »with truly masterful musical moments«, and spares no efforts to flatter the
painting artist, »who did much more than painting the scenery; he has designed
pictures in which figures seem to be alive«, and recognizes that Martínez Sierra as
»a great master of this lyric-dance-pantomimic genre«. He also praised Pastora
Imperio, but included a criticism repeated in all the subsequent reviews, »the
pretty gypsy woman, whose art is highly admired by our audiences, made us
forget about her bad singing with her superb dancing«. Undoubtedly, an interest-
ing aspect is added by this art critic: the way these musical pieces played after
spoken theatre performances actually saved the theatre season: »Let the enemies
of the little genre see how the work of a dancer results in good numbers for
so-called artistic performances at the Teatro Lara«.
All this praise was repeated in other newspapers. In El Heraldo de Madrid
there is more on the courage of Pastora Imperio when »throwing herself into the
dangers of declamation«, although the critic notes that her skills as an actress
need improvement, as does her singing and her »cañí« reciting. After recognizing
Falla’s work, the critic reminds him that

(...) Andalusian music has the colour of guitar, clapping, clicking fingers and casta-
nets; sometimes, if not often, it is happy, and others, melancholic, sad, often tragic,
because of the accents of the voice and the texts of the couplets. That colour can be lost
among orchestral fancies, virtuosity ostentation and inadequate tones, even when
melodies bear utmost purity.26

pretado ahora admirablemente una serie de canciones y danzas de la raza gitano-andaluza conser-
vando todo su carácter y depurándole a través de su fino y perspicaz temperamento artístico«. J. de L.,
Los teatros. Lara. –»El amor brujo«, El Imparcial, 16 April 1915, 3.
25
IGNOTUS, Los teatros. Estrenos –»El amor brujo«, La Correspondencia de España, 16 April 1915, 6.
26
»(…) la música andaluza tiene el color que dan el guitarreo, las palmas, los pitos y palillos; que
alguna vez, si no muchas, es alegre, y las otras, melancólica, tristona, con frecuencia trágica, por acen-
tos de la voz y texto de las coplas. Ese color, entre alardes de dominio para la instrumentación y tim-
bres poco adecuados, puede perderse entre fastuosidades orquestales, aunque las melodías en su línea
ostenten la más nutrida pureza.« S.-A. Vida teatral. Lara: »El amor brujo«, El Heraldo de Madrid, 16
April 1915, 2.

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