Manuel de Falla

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Manuel de Falla was born in Cadiz, Spain in 1876. He is regarded as one of Spain's greatest 20th Century composers. He was considered a nationalist and the pieces he composed had a definite Spanish style. He generally only used certain features or parts of original folk songs to give this Spanish style. Falla had a particular interest in native Andalusian music, especially flamenco. This is strongly heard in many of his works. He used the lively flamenco dance rhythms and the aspects of the 'cante hondo' type of song which are found in Andalusian folk music in many of his compositions. In 1902, he studied composition with Pedrell for three years. He taught that folk-song should be the basis of a nation's music. Falla then spent a few years in Paris, from 1907 to 1914. There he met many French composers, including Debussy, Ravel and Dukas, who's orchestrations influenced his style a lot. He then moved back to Madrid and wrote the music for 'El Amor Brujo' - a ballet. It was known for its great use of Andalusian folk music. He then composed many other works that made Falla known as the leading Spanish composer, for example 'Noches en los Jardines de España' (1916) and 'El Correegidor y La Molinera' (1917).