Copyright by Yu-Hsuan Liao 2007 The Treatise Committee for Yu-Hsuan Liao Certifies that this is the approved version of the following treatise: MANUEL DE FALLA’S CUATRO PIEZAS ESPAÑOLAS: COMBINATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE SPANISH FOLK MODES Committee: Elliott Antokoletz, Supervisor Gregory Allen, Co-Supervisor Lita Guerra A. David Renner K. M. Knittel Karron Lewis MANUEL DE FALLA’S CUATRO PIEZAS ESPAÑOLAS: COMBINATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE SPANISH FOLK MODES by Yu-Hsuan Liao, B.F.A.; M.M. Treatise Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2007 Dedication To Mom and Dad Acknowledgments I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my academic supervisor, Dr. Elliott Antokoletz, for his unfailing patience, inspiration, and encouragement. His invaluable assistance and expertise have supported me through every stage of this treatise. My warmest appreciation is extended to my piano teacher, Professor Gregory Allen, whose artistic acknowledge and guidance have been an inspiration for my musical development. I am most grateful for my family and friends, all of whom have provided endless support and caring throughout the course of study. Acknowledgment is made to the publisher for the use of the musical examples. Credit is given as follows: Manuel de Falla: Cuatro Piezas Españoles [public domain]. Piano score originally published by Durand, 1909. The revised edition (Manuel de Falla Ediciones, S. L., Madrid, 2001) was used for this treatise. v MANUEL DE FALLA’S CUATRO PIEZAS ESPAÑOLAS: COMBINATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE SPANISH FOLK MODES Publication No._____________ Yu-Hsuan Liao, D.M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2007 Supervisors: Elliott Antokoletz, Gregory Allen The intention of this study is to demonstrate how special modal and tonal constructions and their interactions in Cuatro Piezas Españoles (1906-1909) are basic in the integration of Manuel de Falla’s musical language. His modal techniques represent a significant contribution to the rebirth of Spanish nationalism. His use of modal variants, which are derived from his native folk-music sources, is the basis for expanding his musical language into a large-scale system. In this work, Falla employs various means of transforming the modes into a modernistic idiom. Falla’ Cuatro Piezas Españoles is considered his first major piano work, in which he arrived at a technical command and maturity in both compositional and pianistic practices. He had begun composing Cuatro Piezas Españoles in 1906 in Madrid and completed them in Paris. The four pieces, “Aragonesa,” “Cubana,” “Montañesa,” and vi “Andaluza,” were published by Durand in 1909. Although Falla wrote few piano works in general, Cuatro Piezas Españoles is exemplary of his development from Romantic tonality to the modalities of Spanish folk music. Thus, the study of Cuatro Piezas Españoles seems to be an ideal compositional source for evaluating Falla’s compositional process during the period of integration of his musical language. This treatise demonstrates how special modal and tonal constructions and their synthesis basic in the formulation and interoperation of the composer’s means of expression. In the introductory chapter, I explored Falla’s musical language, focusing on the historical background, modal constrictions in Spanish folk music, and the influence of Debussy. Chapters two to five contain the analyses of each piece of Cuatro Piezas Españoles, respectively. The result of the study is summarized in the conclusion. vii Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................ ix List of Figures .........................................................................................................x List of Musical Examples ..................................................................................... xi Regional Map of Spain ...................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Falla’s Musical Language: Introduction ................................................1 Historical Background ....................................................................................3 Influence of Debussy ......................................................................................4 Modal Constructions in Spanish Folk Music..................................................5 Chapter 2 Aragonesa ..............................................................................................7 Chapter 3 Cubana .................................................................................................23 Chapter 4 Montañesa ...........................................................................................42 Chapter 5 Andaluza ..............................................................................................53 Chapter 6 Conclusion ...........................................................................................76 Cited Works ..........................................................................................................79 Vita ……………....................................................................................................81 viii List of Tables Table 1: “Aragonesa.” Form .............................................................................7 Table 2: “Aragonesa.” Section A. Outline........................................................8 Table 3: “Aragonesa.” Section B. Outline ......................................................11 Table 4: “Aragonesa.” Section A′. Outline.....................................................13 Table 5: “Aragonesa.” The Compound Modal Scale (mm. 75-77).................14 Table 6: “Aragonesa.” The Compound Modal Scale (mm. 83-85).................15 Table 7: “Cubana.” Form ................................................................................23 Table 8: “Cubana.” Section A. Outline...........................................................24 Table 9: “Cubana.” Section B. Outline ...........................................................29 Table 10: “Cubana.” Phrase Units and Harmonic Progression (mm. 30-41)…30 Table 11: “Cubana.” Section A′. Outline..........................................................40 Table 12: “Montañesa.” Form...........................................................................42 Table 13: “Montañesa.” Section A. Outline......................................................43 Table 14: “Montañesa.” Pentatonic Scale and Expansions...............................44 Table 15: “Montañesa.” Section B. Outline......................................................47 Table 16: “Andaluza.” Form.............................................................................53 Table 17: “Andaluza.” Section A. Outline........................................................54 Table 18: “Andaluza.” The Compound Modal Scale (mm. 1-8) ......................55 Table 19: “Andaluza.” The Compound Modal Scale (mm. 9-17) ....................55 Table 20: “Andaluza.” Section B. Outline........................................................61 Table 21: “Andaluza.” Polymodal Combination (mm. 59-80) .........................64 Table 22: “Andaluza.” Section C. Outline........................................................66 Table 23: “Andaluza.” Modal Constructions in Section C (mm. 81-99)..........69 ix List of Figures Figure 1: Modal Overlapping (mm. 70-74)......................................................13 Figure 2: Rotational Relation of A-major and E-Mixolydian Modes ..............25 Figure 3: Compositional Design (m. 14)..........................................................26 Figure 4: Rotational Relation of C-major and G-Mixolydian Modes ..............27 Figure 5: Scale and Tonality Design (mm. 42-44)...........................................32 Figure 6: Non-diatonic Folk Mode...................................................................33 Figure 7: Compositional Design (m. 46)..........................................................33 Figure 8: Four Sets of Modal-Variants and Possibilities of Combination. ......56 Figure 9: Two French-Sixth Chords in Harmonic Contexts ............................60 x List of Musical Examples Example 1: “Aragonesa” (mm. 1-5).................................................................7 Example 2: “Aragonesa” (mm. 34-43)...........................................................11 Example 3: “Aragonesa” (mm. 45-50)...........................................................12 Example 4: “Aragonesa” (mm. 68-77)...........................................................14 Example 5: “Aragonesa” (mm. 83-97)...........................................................16 Example 6: “Aragonesa” (mm. 98-102) ........................................................19 Example 7: “Aragonesa” (mm. 103-107) ......................................................19 Example 8: “Cubana” (mm. 1-3)....................................................................23 Example 9: “Cubana” (mm. 8-14)..................................................................25 Example 10: “Cubana” (mm. 16-27)................................................................28 Example 11: “Cubana” (mm. 30-44)................................................................30 Example 12: “Cubana” (mm. 41-56)................................................................34 Example