El amor brujo 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 that features expanded orchestration, elimination of the narration, small cuts and plot changes, and a different order to the numbers. 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", "Canción del fuego fatuo", and the "Danza del terror".
Versions and performance history
Gitanería
El amor brujo was commissioned in 1914 as a gitanería by Pastora Imperio, a renowned flamencogypsy 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 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 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. After many years Candela's husband has died, 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. 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. Dawn breaks, Candela and Carmelo are now truly free to enjoy their love.
Movements
Introducción y escena
En la cueva
Canción del amor dolido
El aparecido
Danza del terror
El círculo mágico
A media noche: los sortilegios
Danza ritual del fuego
Escena
Canción del fuego fatuo
Pantomima
Danza del juego de amor
Final – las campanas del amanecer
Recordings
Chamber music version (1915)
1991: Josep Pons with the orchestra of the Teatre Lliure, 'cantaora' Ginesa Ortega. Harmonia Mundi HMC905213
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 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.
