ATLÁNTIDA AND THE NEW WORLD
Once in Argentina, Manuel de Falla did not give up on his intention to finish Atlántida. The American continent was to present him with new ideas for the work. Sergio de Castro, one of the young friends who now surrounded the composer in Argentina, gave Falla some photographs of the ruins of Macchu-Picchu, near Cuzco, Peru. These photographs made a strong impression on Falla because, according to De Castro himself, “in his opinion they were the only thing that really looked like Atlantis and the set designs that he talked about”38[38] Typed notes by Sergio de Castro, dated Córdoba (Argentina), 16 November 1946. A.M.F. (appended documents folder 9013)..
On 18 November 1939, the people of Buenos Aires were able to see Falla conduct at the Teatro Colón. From that figment of his childhood imagination the Utopian city of “Colón” to this great concert hall where, in old age, he conducted the premiere of his suite Homenajes, he was guided, it seems, by a barely perceptible but unbreakable thread.
Falla also conducted two concerts in the Buenos Aires studios of Radio El Mundo in December 1940. The concerts were broadcast live, and Falla’s voice and music carried on the airwaves with an energy that his physical appearance seemed to belie. The only known recording of Falla’s voice dates from one of these occasions: 15 December 1940.
In 1942, Manuel de Falla and his sister María del Carmen moved to their final residence in Argentina, the chalet “Los Espinillos” near Alta Gracia. There, despite his failing health, the composer was visited by his closest friends, and was fêted on memorable occasions such as when, in August 1945, Rafael Alberti, Paco Aguilar and Donato Colacelli treated Falla to a concert in his own home: “a cantata for three voices: lute, piano and poetry”, as Rafael Alberti recalled in an intimate article published in the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación on 16 September 1945 39[39] ALBERTI, Rafael. "Una cantata sumergida. En Alta Gracia, con Don Manuel de Falla". La Nación. Buenos Aires, 16 September 1945. The article may be consulted as a press cutting at A.M.F..
There is an eloquent testimony of the many difficulties that Falla experienced during his final years in the form of a typed letter to his pupil and fellow composer Ernesto Halffter, dated 10 April 1946, in which he states: “[…] I’d feel that I was going against my moral principles if I were to stop composing, and I’d do everything I possibly could – as they say – in order to finish poor Atlántida”. But what is most striking and eloquent in this letter is the composer’s account of the vicissitudes he had suffered in attempting to finish this letter begun in March 1944. He continued again after yet another interruption in May 1946, keeping it short, “because otherwise it will never be sent…”40[40] Typed draft of a letter from Manuel de Falla to Ernesto Halffter, dated Alta Gracia, 10 April 1946. A.M.F. (correspondence folder 7099)..
On 18 November 1939, the people of Buenos Aires were able to see Falla conduct at the Teatro Colón. From that figment of his childhood imagination the Utopian city of “Colón” to this great concert hall where, in old age, he conducted the premiere of his suite Homenajes, he was guided, it seems, by a barely perceptible but unbreakable thread.
Falla also conducted two concerts in the Buenos Aires studios of Radio El Mundo in December 1940. The concerts were broadcast live, and Falla’s voice and music carried on the airwaves with an energy that his physical appearance seemed to belie. The only known recording of Falla’s voice dates from one of these occasions: 15 December 1940.
In 1942, Manuel de Falla and his sister María del Carmen moved to their final residence in Argentina, the chalet “Los Espinillos” near Alta Gracia. There, despite his failing health, the composer was visited by his closest friends, and was fêted on memorable occasions such as when, in August 1945, Rafael Alberti, Paco Aguilar and Donato Colacelli treated Falla to a concert in his own home: “a cantata for three voices: lute, piano and poetry”, as Rafael Alberti recalled in an intimate article published in the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación on 16 September 1945 39[39] ALBERTI, Rafael. "Una cantata sumergida. En Alta Gracia, con Don Manuel de Falla". La Nación. Buenos Aires, 16 September 1945. The article may be consulted as a press cutting at A.M.F..
There is an eloquent testimony of the many difficulties that Falla experienced during his final years in the form of a typed letter to his pupil and fellow composer Ernesto Halffter, dated 10 April 1946, in which he states: “[…] I’d feel that I was going against my moral principles if I were to stop composing, and I’d do everything I possibly could – as they say – in order to finish poor Atlántida”. But what is most striking and eloquent in this letter is the composer’s account of the vicissitudes he had suffered in attempting to finish this letter begun in March 1944. He continued again after yet another interruption in May 1946, keeping it short, “because otherwise it will never be sent…”40[40] Typed draft of a letter from Manuel de Falla to Ernesto Halffter, dated Alta Gracia, 10 April 1946. A.M.F. (correspondence folder 7099)..
