(Maria) de, great Spanish composer; b. Cadiz, Nov. 23, 1876; d. Alta Gracia, Cordoba province, Argentina, Nov. 14, 1946. Falla studied piano with his mother, then, after further instruction from Eloisa Galluzo, he studied harmony, counterpoint, and composition. He then went to Madrid, where he studied piano and composition at the Conservatory.

In 1902 Falla wrote several ZARZUELAS; one of them, Los amores de la Inés, was performed in Madrid. His opera La vida breve won the prize of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1905 but was not premiered until eight years later. In 1905 he also won the Ortiz y Cusso Prize for pianists.

In 1907 Falla went to Paris, where he became friendly wit h CLAUDE DEBUSSY, PAUL DUKAS, and MAURICE RAVEL, who aided and encouraged him. Under their influence, he adopted the principles of IMPRESSIONISM without, however, giving up his personal and national style.

Falla returned to Spain in 1914 and produced his tremendously effective BALLET El amor brujo a year later. It was followed by the evocative Noches en los jardines de España for piano and orchestra (1916). In 1919 he made his home in Granada, where he completed work on his celebrated ballet El sombrero de tres picos (1919).

Fallas art was rooted in both the folk songs of Spain and the purest historical traditions of Spanish music. Until 1919 he was particularly influenced by the music of Spain's Andalusian province, particularly the traditional style of playing the guitar. Falla would often imitate effects that were created by traditional guitarists in his writing for other instruments.

Fallas later works showed a return to European classicism. In his puppet opera El retablo de maese Pedro (1919-22) he turned to the classical tradition of Spanish (especially Castilian) music. The keyboard style of his Harpsichord Concerto (1923-26) shows the influence of DOMENICO SCARLATTI, who lived in Spain for many years.

Falla became president of the Instituto de España in 1938. When the Spanish Civil War broke out and General Franco overcame the Loyalist government with the aid of Hitler and Mussolini, Falla left Spain and went to South America, never to return to his homeland. He went to Buenos Aires, where he conducted concerts of his music.

Falla then withdrew to the small locality of Alta Gracia, where he lived the last years of his life in seclusion, working on his large scenic CANTATA Atlá ntida. It remained unfinished at his death and was later completed by his former pupil Ernesto Halffter.