Balada de Mallorca

Manuel de Falla

During the winter of 1838-39, Chopin completed his Ballade No. 2 in F major op. 38 in Mallorca (Spain), dedicated to Schumann. Nearly a century later, Manuel de Falla based one of his choral works on the Andantino of this ballad. The work was premiered in Mallorca in 1933 at the Chopin Festival. Falla, who was a great admirer of Chopin's music, used as text a poem by Jacint Verdaguer, considered one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature. The program is supplemented with music by Manuel Oltra, Frederic Mompou and Paul Ben-Haim.