''El amor brujo'' (, "The sorcerer love") is a ballet by Manuel de Falla to a libretto by María de la O Lejárraga García, although for years it was attributed to her husband Gregorio Martínez Sierra. It exists in three versions as well as a piano suite drawn from four of its movements. Andalusian in character, its music includes the celebrated ''

Danza ritual del fuego Ritual Fire Dance (Spanish: Danza ritual del fuego) is a movement of the ballet '' El amor brujo'' (The Bewitched Love), written by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla in 1915. It was made popular by the composer's own piano arrangement. The da ...

(Ritual Fire Dance)'', the ''Canción del fuego fatuo (Song of the Will-o'-the-Wisp)'' and the ''Danza del terror''. Its songs use the

Andalusian Spanish The Andalusian dialects of Spanish ( es, andaluz, , ) 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 varietie ...

dialectal modality. The plot: a gypsy in a love unreturned goes to her arts of magic to soften the ingrate's heart, and succeeds, after a night of enchantments, recitations and ritual dances, so that at dawn he awakens to love; bells proclaim her triumph.

Versions and performance history

Gitanería (1915)

''El amor brujo'' was commissioned in 1914 as a ''gitanería'', or danced gypsy entertainment, dedicated to the flamenco dancer and cantaora Pastora Imperio. It was finished the next year but its premiere, on 15 April at the Teatro Lara in Madrid, proved unsuccessful. This version, in two scenes, is for dancers and actors and is scored for cantaora voice and chamber ensemble.

First revised version (1916)

Falla then revised the ballet by removing its spoken dialogue, replacing the cantaora part with three songs for

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

and enlarging the accompaniment for sextet and small orchestra. The plot was slightly changed as well. This more concise version, still in two scenes, was played on 12 March 1916 by members of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra under Enrique Fernández Arbós. But it was modified several times, starting the following year when Fernández Arbós proposed a production at the Teatro Real.

Ballet pantomímico (1924)

By 1924 Falla had evolved ''El amor brujo'' into the one-act ''ballet pantomímico'' best known today, mainly by enlarging its orchestration. This was published by Chester the next year and given in Paris. It premiered in America on 17 March 1927 at Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House with Alexander Smallens conducting the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company and mezzo-soprano soloist Kathryn Noll.

Suite of excerpts for piano (1922)

Before completing the published ballet, Falla made a suite for piano comprising four of the movements: ''Pantomima'', ''Danza del terror'', ''Romance del pescador'' and ''Danza ritual del fuego''. This is G69 in the published works.

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 ("

"), 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

# ''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'' # ''

'' # ''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')

Recordings

Gitanería (1915)

*1991:

Josep Pons Josep Pons (born Josep Pons i Viladomat; 1957) is a Spanish conductor. Biography Pons was born in Puig-reig, Berguedà. He received his musical training at L'Escolania de Montserrat and continued his musical studies in Barcelona with such teac ...

with the orchestra of the Teatre Lliure, 'cantaora' Ginesa Ortega. Harmonia Mundi HMC905213

Ballet pantomímico (1924)

*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 *1959: Jesus Arambarri conducting Orquesta De Conciertos De Madrid, contralto Inés Rivadeneira *1960: Leopold Stokowski with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

, mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett-Carter, Columbia MS 6147 *1961 & 1964:

Carlo Maria Giulini Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...

with the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Victoria de los Ángeles EMI 7 69 037 2 *1963: Fritz Reiner with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, soprano Leontyne Price, Mercury *1965:

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (, March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in th ...

with the Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry, Deutsche Grammophone *1966: Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, mezzo-soprano

Nati Mistral Natividad Macho Álvarez (13 December 1928 – 20 August 2017), known by the stage name Nati Mistral, was a Spanish actress and singer. She won the National Theater Prize in 1997. Selected filmography *''The Captain's Ship'' (1947) *''Gold and ...

, 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 Charles Édouard Dutoit (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and co-director of thMISA Festival in Shanghai In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of th ...

with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, mezzo-soprano

Huguette Tourangeau Huguette Tourangeau, (August 12, 1938 – April 21, 2018) was a French-Canadian operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories. Life and career Huguette Tourangeau was born in Montreal, Quebec, and gra ...

, London 410 008-2 *1994: Eduardo Mata with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, mezzo-soprano Marta Senn,

Dorian Dorian may refer to: Ancient Greece * Dorians, one of the main ethnic divisions of ancient Greeks * Doric Greek, or Dorian, the dialect spoken by the Dorians Art and entertainment Films * ''Dorian'' (film), the Canadian title of the 2004 film ' ...

*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 The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, but lost to

Jiří Menzel Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films ...

's ''

Closely Observed Trains ''Closely Watched Trains'' ( cs, Ostře sledované vlaky) is a 1966 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel and is one of the best-known products of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as ''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 ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

''. 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 María del Rocío Mohedano Jurado (, 18 September 1944 – 1 June 2006), better known as Rocío Jurado, was a Spanish singer and actress. She was born in Chipiona (Cádiz) and nicknamed "La más grande" ("The Greatest"). In 2000 in New York Cit ...

. A

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

, 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 Sources * Kennedy, Michael, ed. (2006). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music''. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

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 2009Libretto on Spanish Wikisource, accessed 25 December 2009Notes on El Amor Brujo by Sato Moughalian, Artistic Director, Perspectives Ensemble
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amor Brujo, El 1910s in Spanish music 1915 ballet premieres 1915 compositions 1916 compositions 1925 compositions Ballets by Manuel de Falla Compositions about wizards Compositions by Manuel de Falla Orchestral suites