Carol A. Hess Assistant Professor of Music Bowling Green State University's Books

Sacred Passions : The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

By: Carol A. Hess Assistant Professor of Music Bowling Green State University

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Sacred Passions : The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

By: Carol A. Hess Assistant Professor of Music Bowling Green State University

The work of composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) ranges from late-romantic salon pieces to evocations of flamenco to stark neoclassicism. Yet his music has met with conflicting reactions, depending on the audience. In his native Spain, Falla is considered the most innovative composer of the first half of the twentieth century. Likewise, in the United States, Falla enjoyed a strong following in the concert hall. But many of his works, especially some of the "colorful" or "exotic" dances from The Three-Cornered Hat and El Amor Brujo, were taken up during the Latin music craze of the 1930s and 40s and appeared in everything from jazz and pop arrangements to MGM musicals. Similarly enigmatic are the details of Falla's life. He never sustained a lasting, intimate relationship with a woman, yet he created compelling female roles for the lyric stage. Although he became incensed when publishers altered his music, he more than once tinkered with Chopin and Debussy. Despite insisting that he was apolitical, Falla ultimately took sides in the Spanish Civil War, initially allying himself rather half-heartedly with Franco's Nationalists but later rejecting the honors they proffered. All his life, his rigorous brand of Roman Catholicism brought him both solace and agony in his quest for spiritual and artistic perfection. In Sacred Passions: The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla, Carol A. Hess explores these contradictions and offers a fresh understanding of this fascinating composer. Building on over a decade of research, Hess examines Falla's work in terms of musical style and explores the cultural milieus in which he worked. During a seven-year sojourn to Paris just pior to World War I, Falla associated with composers Dukas, Stravinsky, Ravel, and the rest of the group known as les Apaches. Later, back in Spain, he played a pivotal role in the remarkable cultural renaissance known as the "Silver Age," during which Lorca, Bunuel, Dali, Unamuno-and of course Falla himself-made some of their boldest artistic statements. Hess also explores a number of myths cultivated in earlier biographies, including Falla's supposed misogynistic tendencies and accusations of homosexuality, which have led some biographers to consider him a saint-like ascetic. She offers a balanced view of his behavior during the Spanish Civil War, a wrenching event for a Spaniard of his generation, and one that Falla biographers have left largely untouched. With superb analysis of his music and enlightening detail about its critical reception, Hess also examines Falla's status in some circles as little more than a high-class pop composer, given the mass appeal of much of his music. She incorporates recent research on Falla, draws upon untapped sources in the Falla archives, and reevaluates his work in terms of current issues in musicology. Ultimately, Hess places Falla's variegated ouevre, which straddles popular and serious idioms, securely among the best of his better-known European contemporaries. What emerges is a gracefully written, balanced portrait of a man whose lofty spiritual values inspired singular musical utterances but were often at odds with the decidedly imperfect world he inhabited.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

369

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199724288

ISBN 13

9780199724284

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

By: Carol A. Hess

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

By: Carol A. Hess

Although studies of Modernism have focused largely on European nations, Spain has been conspicuously neglected. As Carol A. Hess argues in this compelling book, such neglect is wholly undeserved. Through composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), Hess explores the advent of Modernism in Spain in relation to political and cultural tensions prior to the Spanish Civil War. The result is a fresh view of the musical life of Spain that departs from traditional approaches to the subject and reveals an open and constantly evolving aesthetic climate.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

361

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226330389

ISBN 13

9780226330389

Sacred Passions

The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

By: Carol A. Hess

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Sacred Passions

The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

By: Carol A. Hess

This biography offers a fresh understanding of the life and work of Spanish composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), recognized as the greatest composer in the Spanish cultural renaissance that extended from the latter part of the 19th century until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The biography incorporates recent research on Falla, draws on untapped sources in the Falla archives, reevaluates Falla's work in terms of current issues in musicology, and considers Falla's accomplishments in their historical and cultural contexts.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

368

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195145615

ISBN 13

9780195145618

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

By: Carol A. Hess

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

By: Carol A. Hess

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

361

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226330389

ISBN 13

9780226330389

Book's by Carol A. Hess Assistant Professor of Music Bowling Green State University

Sacred Passions : The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

Sacred Passions : The Life and Music of Manuel de Falla

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

Sacred Passions

Sacred Passions

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email