OTD in Music History: Important 20th Century Spanish composer and conductor Manuel de Falla (1876 - 1946) is born in Cadiz. Widely hailed as one of the greatest Spanish composers in history, de Falla actually lived and studied in France for many years during his youth. Following the tremendous international success of his ballet "El sombrero de tres picos" ("The Three-Cornered Hat," 1917), however, he relocated to Granada, Spain -- where, in 1922, he organized an Andalusian folk music festival and composed a puppet opera entitled "El retablo de Maese Pedro" ("Master Peter's Puppet Show," 1923). Like his subsequent Harpsichord Concerto (1926), which also contains prominent echoes of Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757), "El Retablo" is a neoclassical work which shows Falla much influenced by Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971). After 1926, however, he wrote very little, instead enjoying a quiet retirement in Spain before moving to Argentina in the wake of the Spanish Civil War. de Falla's other important works include his ballet "El amor brujo" ("Love, the Magician") (1915), which contains the well-known "Ritual Fire Dance," and his tone poem "Noches en los jardines de España" ("Nights in the Gardens of Spain") (1916). PICTURED: A c. 1930s real photo postcard, showing the elderly de Falla.
