Description

The seven years the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla spent in Paris from 1907 to 1914 marked a pivotal shift in his musical style. His exposure to contemporary French Impressionist music had a profound impact, leading him to incorporate those influences into his own compositions, which had previously been grounded in Spanish folk traditions. It was thanks to the guidance of pianist Ricardo Viñes and composer Isaac Albéniz that Falla decided to expand his 1909 "Nocturnes" for solo piano into the three-part symphonic suite "Noches en los jardines de España" ("Nights in the Gardens of Spain") for piano and orchestra, which he completed in 1915. Yuja Wang later provided fingerings for the solo piano part of this enchanting musical evocation of Falla's Andalusian homeland.