Manuel De Falla

Spanish composer, possibly the most important of the 20th century who did much to develop interest in the music of his homeland. Believing that a nation's folk songs should be the basis for its art music, de Falla developed a nationalistic style in his music. Composing opera, oratorio, piano, and ballet music, such as El Amor Brujo (Love, the Magician) and El Sombrero De Tres Picos (The Three-Cornered Hat), de Falla wrote bold, passionate, and colorful Andalusian gypsy dance forms with folk-style original melodies and operas. Very nearly all of de Falla's works achieved a polished precision and each responds to the demands of its genre, exploiting to the full the instrumental means employed. His formal musical education began with piano lessons, and when de Falla was 20 his family moved to Madrid where he studied with the distinguished teacher José Tragó. He then went on to study composition with Felipe Pedrell, the teacher and scholar who led the revival of Spanish music which took place towards the end of the nineteenth century. In 1904 de Falla's one-act opera "La Vida Breve" (Life is Short), won the composition competition of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes and at the same time he was awarded a prestigious piano prize. From 1905 to 1907 de Falla taught piano in Madrid, and from 1907 to 1914 he studied and worked in Paris. He lived and composed principally in Spain from 1914 to 1939, when he moved to Argentina. In 1907 he achieved a long-held ambition of traveling to Paris where he was welcomed by Ravel, Debussy and especially by Paul Dukas. The outbreak of war in 1914 compelled him to return to his native country. Following the deaths of his parents in 1919 he settled in Granada, where he remained until the end of the Civil War in1939, and composed several of his most important works. He then moved to Argentina and worked there until his death in 1946 just a few days before his 70th birthday, leaving the vast oratorio Atlántida still unfinished. Died on 11/14/1946, Alta Gracia, Spain. Link to Wikipedia biography