Manuel de Falla

Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) is widely regarded as the most important Spanish composer of the twentieth century. Born in Cádiz, he studied in Madrid and then lived in Paris from 1907 to 1914, where he befriended Debussy, Ravel, Dukas, and Stravinsky. These encounters refined his art, allowing him to synthesise Andalusian folk music with the most advanced compositional techniques of his time.

His output, though relatively small, is of extraordinary quality: the ballets El amor brujo and The Three-Cornered Hat, the Nights in the Gardens of Spain for piano and orchestra, the Harpsichord Concerto, and the Fantasia Baetica for solo piano. His Seven Popular Spanish Songs remain a cornerstone of the vocal repertoire. In 1939 he left Spain for Argentina, where he spent his final years.