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Discovering Manuel de Falla’s passion for British music

Where better to carry out research than in the picturesque Spanish city of Granada? This is where Bangor lecturer Chris Collins has spent every spare moment over the past few years, unearthing new information about the life and work of Manuel de Falla, Spain’s greatest twentieth-century composer. In the Summer 2003 issue of The Musical Times, Dr Collins discusses one of his most surprising discoveries: Falla’s fondness for the United Kingdom. The Spanish composer made five trips to London between 1911 and 1931, where his music was greeted with public enthusiasm beyond the dreams of most composers. While in London, he struck up friendships with many leading British musicians, and developed what was to become a lifelong fascination with the work of British composers – not least Vaughan Williams, from whom he even learned a thing or two about choral composition.