7 years ago
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
"El paño moruno" by Manuel de Falla
Teresa Berganza, mezzo soprano
Gabriel Estarellas, guitar
"El paño moruno" from Siete Canciones Españolas by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Text: Traditional
Al paño fino, en la tienda,
una mancha le cayó;
Por menos precio se vende,
Porque perdió su valor.
¡Ay!
*********************************
On the fine cloth in the store
a stain has fallen;
It sells at a lesser price,
because it has lost its value.
Alas!
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I love the intro! The music is going along just fine, and then all of a sudden, there are these cool chromatic descending figures that interrupt it. I think they are supposed to illustrate the stain that falls on the cloth, or in reality, the lover that strayed.
ReplyDeleteEach time through the lines, the first iteration seems to fit the blatant explanation of the poetry at face value and the second iteration tells the story behind the metaphor. Often going from major for the first iteration of the line to minor for the second.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is at once simple and profound, and de Falla has captured both these elements in his musical setting. Teresa Berganza also reflects this in her performance. Her performance is extraordinary because she refrains from commenting on the song, which would have been very easy to do. Instead, she gives a performance that is focused and poignant, but just ambiguous enough to communicate the magical mystery of the poem to the audience.
ReplyDeleteWhat gets me on this piece is the melody. I'm not sure if it's based on the harmonic minor scale, but there are moments that remind me of this scale that I really like hearing with the guitar's repetitive motif.
ReplyDeleteI really like hearing these performers again from the previous recording. The vocalist has such an open and full sound that seems to really compliment this style of music.
What gets me on this piece is the melody. I'm not sure if it's based on the harmonic minor scale, but there are moments that remind me of this scale that I really like hearing with the guitar's repetitive motif.
ReplyDeleteI really like hearing these performers again from the previous recording. The vocalist has such an open and full sound that seems to really compliment this style of music.
This short piece contains so much with just four lines of text. It reminds me a lot of Wolf's compositional style and ability to add a fullness and drama in his relatively short compositions. It is important that the fullness of meaning is there with the poem and all of it's double meanings.
ReplyDeleteI love the historic nature of this folk song. The structure of the piece feels very traditional, yet also very lively. I think the interplay between the piano and the vocal line are quite fine, as both the guitar and the vocalist take turns with the melody line.
ReplyDeleteThis piece displays a really nice sense of conversation between the guitar and singer, especially because the singer usually finishes her line on a note that wants to continue moving the line forward, but the line is continued and resolved by the guitar. The folk text and light interplay between the voice and guitar make me think that not only is this piece conversational, but it is almost like being let in on an inside joke between the voices. There's a sense of humor that I don't really understand, but I know it's there.
ReplyDeleteI find that text in this particular song has a more folk-like element which is reflected in a folk quality in the music. I hear a certain pride in national identity in this song.
ReplyDeleteThe repeated notes sound much better on guitar than on piano as there is greater clarity (it's never easy to play repeated notes on piano...) My favorite part is "It sells at a lesser price, because it has lost its value." as it is set to a descending melodic line. With rubato at the end of the phrase, the sadness and disappointment just sounds so vivid.
ReplyDeleteThis piece reminded me also of Wolf's work. The playfulness of both the piano and vocal lines, while intertwining around each other is at once both traditional folk song and also profound poetry. De Falla does such a beautiful job at capturing both of these characteristics. I love the humor, so much like Wolf's!
ReplyDeleteThe decorations in the vocal line and accompaniment in this piece, and Spanish music in general, always sound unforced and natural to me. There's something about folk influence that connects a musician to a grounded and unaffected performance. I feel that I would benefit from keeping this in mind for decorations in music from the Baroque, Classical, and other eras and regions as well.
ReplyDeleteI really feel the effectiveness of the guitar accompaniment in this song. I have sung the piano version and it really does not feel as satisfying as hearing it with guitar. The grace notes are done with such a feeling of clarity and economy of sound and effort. I feel that there is too much of a tendency for the short notes to be over exaggerated. In this case, they sound effortless and yet are completely integrated into the phrase.
ReplyDeleteI loved the singer in this, her fast notes were clean, not to aggressive, and just seemed to flow out of her. The guitarist was wonderful. I have never heard this done with guitar before and loved the difference in color from the piano.
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ReplyDeleteBerganza
ReplyDeleteI love hearing these pieces with such masterful guitar playing. It brings an entirely different character out of the pieces than I have heard before, and it’s apparent that they were written with this timbre in mind because of the interaction between the voice and guitar.
After having spent hours analyzing and discussing German Romantic poetry, I cannot help but chuckle when first looking at the text in "El paño moruno" I think it represents the simplicity of Spanish songs, but also displays the folk-like nature of the piece. I am entirely unfamiliar with Spanish art song, and these videos are my introduction to the genre; that being said, I find that it is interesting that people are commenting on the uniqueness of the guitar accompaniment in the pieces. I would be interested to see how a pianist goes about emulating the rhythmic feel of the guitar.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful example of Moorish exotic rhythms, especially in the guitar interludes. Perhaps my impression of vocal improvisation in Spanish Art Song was somewhat overstated. This vocal is ripe with rhythmic intensity and some of the "snaps" that are so prevalent in Spanish music.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to sing this song in class on Monday! As Grant said, it does feel exotic, yet strangely familiar. The guitar is incredible, and I am eager to hear Grant incorporate that instrumentation into the piano part. :) Again, the vocal ornamentation feels improvisatory, especially for the Spanish region it comes from, and begs the question what the performance practice is as each of the Siete Canciones come from different regions...
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the song is a warning to any girl who would act unwisely and let her reputation be sullied. She will lose any chance of marriage and will be persecuted or even killed. I think here of the character called Paca la Roseta in Lorca's play La Casa de Bernarda Alba.Like the precious fabric of the song, she has lost any value.
ReplyDeleteThis piece shows a lot of motives from Spanish folk music and sounds very traditional, the first one that comes to my mind is the dance rhythm with the accentuated second beat. Comparing with the piano accompaniment version, I think the guitar makes the musical texture more vibrant.
ReplyDeleteI've heard this song performed by different people from my studio and it's so fun. Berganza's approach is from different from other performances I've seen, as hers seems like it's coming from an older, wiser character instead of playing up the sexual innuendo. I think she sings it wonderfully!
ReplyDeleteWow! The first few bars were in a very different key and I was prepared for a very different song, as a result. Lovely little piece!
ReplyDeleteI'm very quickly becoming a fan of de Falla's music! The flat 7 mixolydian modal flare of this song is amazing and it so effortlessly switches between major and minor characteristics. Berganza effortlessly captures the mood and character of these pieces and it is thrilling to see these pieces interpreted so thoughtfully.
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