Ritual as Music: On de Falla's El amor brujo
El amor brujo: Pastora Imperio, the Andalusian flamenco artist who commissioned El amor brujo in 1915. Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The famous Ritual Fire Dance has taken on a life of its own — but it is a scene, not a crowd‑pleaser. In his latest essay, artistic director Vegard Nilsen argues that El amor brujo does not depict a ritual from the outside; it is a ritual in music. From the 1915 Pastora Imperio commission and the Andalusian Roma world of Granada, the work carries the shape of an exorcism: a call, a lament, the fire that burns something out, and the morning bells that return us to day. On leading an audience through an action, not merely an image.
