Manuel de Falla's one-act ballet El Amor Brujo (Love the Magician) was first performed in 1915. The libretto by G. Martinez Sierra is based on an old folk tale, a colorful story in which the beautiful gitana gypsy girl Candelas is haunted by the evil spirit of a former unfaithful lover. Eventually the spirit is conquered by the love between Candelas and her current fiancee Carmelo, and the story ends in happiness.
Falla provided a splendidly pianistical piano 'reduction' of this ballet (as he also did with El Sombrero de Tres Picos), out of which the Ritual Fire Dance has become very popular with pianists.
| Ritual Fire Dance | 3:54 | Helling, E. |
