His major large-scale works are the above mentioned opera La Vida Breve (Life
is Short, 1905), the ballet-pantomine El amor brujo (Love the
Magician, 1915), Noches en los Jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of
Spain, probably his most popular work) for piano and orchestra (1916), the
ballet El Sombrero de Tres Picos (The Three-cornered Hat, 1919), the puppet play
El Retablo de Maese Pedro (Master Peter's Puppet Show, 1923), the austere
Harpsichord Concerto (1926), and the enormous scenic cantata Atlántida which
was begun in 1926, left unfinished and later completed by Ernesto Halffter.
Falla wrote only few piano works, which nevertheless are important additions
to the Spanish piano repertoire. The most important are the Albeniz-inspired
Quatro Piezas Españolas (1908) and the Fantasia Baetica (1919). He also provided
splendid piano reductions of El Amor Brujo and El Sombrero de Tres Picos,
containing items like the famous Danza Ritual del Fuego
(Ritual Fire Dance). His ever popular song cycle Siete Canciones Popolares
Españolas was arranged for piano solo by Ernesto Halffter.
Recordings