Ritual Fire Dance, for orchestra (from "El Amor brujo")

This is a popular encore piece taken from a larger work, along the lines of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee or Khachaturian's Sabre Dance. In this case, the Ritual Fire Dance is taken from Falla's ballet El Amor brujo (1914 - 1915). And just like those other pieces, it has been arranged for all sorts of instruments and ensembles. Falla's original scoring, in the first version of the ballet, was for a small ensemble of 14 or so instruments. He later extracted a piano suite from the ballet and in 1925, revised it for a larger orchestra. The Ritual Fire Dance since, then, has taken on a life of its own. The dance is mesmerizing and whirling, performed by the gypsies to exorcise a ghost; but it is also, like those other famous encores, a dramatic, exciting piece with a recognizable melody. In the opening, between the slower-paced bass line (originally in the piano) and the twice-faster melody (first in the oboe, then the violins), there is a driving, curling, repetitive figure, almost a rumbling (in the piano and strings). In the second section, the piano and lower strings resolutely bounce, while the brass and woodwinds take up the charge. Both sections are repeated before the coda, entirely expressed in full chords, to drive the ghost away once and for all. Alongside the many orchestral recordings, there are arrangements for the more typical ensembles: violin and piano, cello and piano, guitar or guitars, brass ensemble, two pianos, trumpet and piano. And there are arrangements for the atypical ensembles and instruments: trombone and piano, harmonica and piano, eight pianos, eight cellos, recorder and accordion, vibraphone. The piece works well on the piano or pianos because the instrument played an important role in Falla's original scoring. The guitar is also a natural, given the overall Spanish and folk flavor of the work. The effectiveness of the arrangement or performance is tied to conveying the fiery energy of the dance with proper reverence for the ritual.

© Patsy Morita, Rovi