The Enduring Magnificence of Flamenco On Sunday, February 27, my Patreon Zoom session (which goes by the rather precious title of “The Dr. is In!”) focused on Spanish music for the piano that has been transcribed for the guitar. Co-lead and largely created by my patron Joe Sullivan, the session featured music by some of the greatest of all Spanish composers: Joaquin Turina (1882-1949), Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), Enrique Granados (1867-1916), and Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). What all of the music we examined had in common was that it was inspired by the flamenco tradition of Andalucía, in southern Spain. The last piece on the program was the “Ritual Fire Dance” from Manuel de Falla’s ballet El Amor Brujo (“Love, the Magician”, or “Spell-bound Love”, or “The Bewitched Love”, 1925), which has been transcribed for two guitars by the husband/wife guitar duo, the “Duo Kupinski.” Before playing a video of the Duo Kupinski’s two guitar version, I wanted us to hear de Falla’s original, orchestral version of the “Ritual Fire Dance.” Specifically, I wanted to play the flamenco ballet version from director Carlos Saura’s film El Amor Brujo (of 1986). That film (and the “Ritual Fire Dance” in the film) features the awesome flamenco […]