RITUAL FIRE DANCE (score & parts)

Danza ritual del fuego (Ritual Fire Dance) is a movement from the ballet El amor brujo (Love, the Sorcerer) by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). The ballet was written in 1914-15 for the renowned Flamenco dancer and singer, Pastora Imperio and her family.

In the ballet, Candela – an Andalusian gypsy girl – is haunted by the ghost of her late husband who is jealous of her new lover, Carmelo. To exorcise the ghost she and her fellow gypsies gather at midnight, forming a large circle around a campfire. Within the circle Candela performs a fire dance which induces the ghost to appear. Together they dance, whirling round ever faster until, at the climax, the ghost is drawn into the fire and is finally laid to rest.

With its fast, repetitive trills and ornaments Falla’s music aptly portrays this frenetic scene with fiery energy. Although Spanish to its core Falla asserted that, “There is not a single folk tune in it, anywhere, from beginning to end.”

The ballet was originally scored for a small chamber ensemble but achieved much greater success in a much-expanded version for full orchestra. The Ritual Fire Dance remains one of Falla’s best known works. Many arrangements of the piece have been made, most notably the composer’s own arrangement for solo piano.

In this arrangement for bassoon choir the part for bassoon 7 is easy and optional. That part is also transposed for use by mini bassoons in F and G.

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