Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season November-December 2015 | Page 25

In his suitcase was the score of Nights
in the Gardens of Spain, which he
finished in 1915 in the seaside resort of
Sitges near Barcelona. Originally titled
Nocturnes, it was intended as three
piano pieces for his friend, the Spanish pianist Richard Viñes, but Viñes
convinced him to transform it into an
orchestral work. It was premiered in
Madrid in April 1916.

Falla’s fragrant music
flows from the mysteriously
winding Andalusian melody
sung tremulously by muted
violas and harp.
Nights in the Gardens of Spain is not
a true piano concerto emphasizing the
soloist, but rather a three-movement
orchestral tone poem in which the piano
is treated as simply another instrumental
color — though the predominant one —
in a magical palette. The delicacy and
variegated colors of the scoring, the veiled
harmonies and the fragile, evocative
melodies all proclaim the world of French
impressionism. Ravel introduces Spanish
elements with the settings he evokes, and
the Andalusian-inspired flamenco dances
of the second and third movements.
Movement one is called “In the
Generalife.” The Generalife is one of
the buildings comprising the Alhambra,
the world-famous Moorish palace in
Granada, and is renowned for its exquisite water gardens. Falla’s fragrant music
flows from the mysteriously winding
Andalusian melody sung tremulously by
muted violas and harp.
“Danza Lejaña” or “A Distant
Dance” follows. Suzanne Demarquez
describes it well: “It consists of fragments
of dances, shreds of melodies, harmonies
punctuated by guitars and tambourines
[imitated by other instruments] that
suddenly burst forth and then are gone
almost as quickly. It is music carried on
the breeze of a balmy night.”
This movement eventually flows directly into the vivacious, dance-propelled

You don’t need a Ph.D. to understand

why Roland Park Place is the right choice.

How To Keep Your Imagination Racing.
Healthy minds make for healthy bodies. And nowhere does
it apply more than at Roland Park Place. It’s true, we do have
delectable dining, exceptional amenities and well-designed
apartment homes and cottages.
But it’s the intellectual stimulation that attracts so many residents. Perhaps this is why
engaging individuals from all walks of life have chosen to live here. Residents enjoy
world-class musicians and lecturers discussing a variety of topics. They also participate in
a range of special interest clubs, creative arts, wellness classes, singing groups and more.
There are regular outings to local cultural attractions such as Everyman Theater,
Centerstage, the Meyerhoff, the Lyric Ope