# El Amor Brujo
**El amor brujo** (Love, the Magician) is a theater work by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, with a libretto credited to Gregorio Martínez Sierra, that draws on the songs and dances of the Gitanos of Andalusia and tells how the young Gypsy woman Candelas is freed from the ghost of a dead lover so that she can love Carmelo.[1](https://academic.oup.com/book/59550) • [2](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/en/company/repertory/el-amor-brujo-antonio-1981) First staged in Madrid in 1915 as a *gitanería* (a Gypsy-themed scenic piece) with piano and a small chamber ensemble, it was reworked by Falla over a decade into the one-act ballet for full orchestra that is now the standard version, premiered in Paris in 1925.[3](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo) • [4](https://www.manueldefalla.com/es/obras/obras-escenicas/el-amor-brujo-ballet) Its Ritual Fire Dance (*Danza ritual del fuego*) has become one of the most widely performed pieces of Spanish classical music.[2](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/en/company/repertory/el-amor-brujo-antonio-1981)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Composer / librettist | Manuel de Falla; libretto credited to Gregorio Martínez Sierra, actually written by María Lejárraga[3](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo) • [5](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/es/compania/repertorio/el-amor-brujo-1981) |
| First performance | Teatro Lara, Madrid, 15 April 1915, created for and starring Pastora Imperio[3](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo) |
| Definitive ballet premiere | Théâtre du Trianon-Lyrique, Paris, 22 May 1925; Antonia Mercé "La Argentina" as Candelas, Vicente Escudero as Carmelo, Georges Wague as the Spectre, Falla conducting[4](https://www.manueldefalla.com/es/obras/obras-escenicas/el-amor-brujo-ballet) |
| Length and scoring (1925 version) | About 23 minutes; mezzo-soprano, 2 flutes (piccolo), oboe (cor anglais), 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, percussion, piano, strings[4](https://www.manueldefalla.com/es/obras/obras-escenicas/el-amor-brujo-ballet) |
| Famous numbers | Danza ritual del fuego (Ritual Fire Dance), Danza del terror, Canción del amor dolido[2](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/en/company/repertory/el-amor-brujo-antonio-1981) • [6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) |
| Film versions | 1967 (Francisco Rovira Beleta), nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; 1986 (Carlos Saura), with Antonio Gades[7](https://www.cmuse.org/el-amor-brujo-manuel-de-fallas-ballet-celebrates-flamenco/) |
## Spoilers
### Story
In the 1925 version, Candelas, a young Gypsy woman, had passionately loved a dissolute and jealous Gypsy man who was stabbed to death in a brawl. Tormented by his spirit, she turns to a sorceress to be freed from it. Carmelo loves Candelas, but she cannot return his love while possessed by the ghost's influence. The sorceress, working with Lucía, a friend of both lovers who had also been a friend of the Spectre, summons the Magic Circle, in which Candelas dances the Ritual Fire Dance to drive away evil spirits. When this fails, Carmelo suggests that Lucía seduce the Spectre; she succeeds, the lovers kiss, and the Spectre disappears forever, defeated by love.[2](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/en/company/repertory/el-amor-brujo-antonio-1981)
## Composition and first version
Falla wrote the piece for Pastora Imperio, a celebrated Romani flamenco singer and dancer from Seville, who performed the leading role in the 1915 production; her family troupe also took part.[3](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo) • [8](https://www.hkphil.org/f/concert/25269/2425-w21-Spanish-web.pdf) The project grew out of Falla's collaboration with the playwright couple Gregorio Martínez Sierra and María Lejárraga, encouraged by the success of turning the farce *El corregidor y la molinera* into the ballet *El sombrero de tres picos*.[3](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo) • [9](https://addaalicante.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/LIBRITO_18y19_jun-3.pdf) Although the libretto was signed by Martínez Sierra, the Ballet Nacional de España credits the text to María Lejárraga.[5](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/es/compania/repertorio/el-amor-brujo-1981)
The premiere took place at the Teatro Lara in Madrid. The [Biblioteca Nacional de España](https://www.edgepedia.org/biblioteca-nacional-de-espana) dates it 15 April 1915, with sets by Néstor Martín Fernández de la Torre, musical direction by José Ballesteros and stage direction by Martínez Sierra; the Carlos Saura study site gives the date as 2 April 1915.[3](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo) • [6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) The original instrumentation was economical: piano, flute, oboe, trumpet, horn, viola, cello and double bass.[10](https://ofcm.cultura.cdmx.gob.mx/node/197)
## Revisions and the 1925 ballet
Falla revised the score repeatedly over the following decade, expanding the orchestra and removing the spoken passages, always with the Martínez Sierras' agreement.[6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) A sextet of two numbers from the *gitanería* was premiered in Madrid in September 1915 at the Casino Español, a concert version was heard at the Hotel Ritz in Madrid on 28 March 1916, and Falla later arranged Suite nº 1 (1919–1921) and Suite nº 2 (1922).[3](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo)
The version now established in the repertoire is the one-act ballet for symphony orchestra, premiered in Paris on 22 May 1925 at the Théâtre du Trianon-Lyrique by the company of Antonia Mercé, "La Argentina", who danced Candelas, with Vicente Escudero as Carmelo and the mime Georges Wague as the Spectre, and Falla himself conducting.[4](https://www.manueldefalla.com/es/obras/obras-escenicas/el-amor-brujo-ballet) • [6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) This version changed the plot significantly: Candelas is trapped by the specter of a former lover who prevents her from enjoying Carmelo's love, and another Gypsy woman, Lucía, agrees to help by flirting with the ghost to draw him away.[6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) The score runs about 23 minutes and calls for a mezzo-soprano soloist alongside the orchestra.[4](https://www.manueldefalla.com/es/obras/obras-escenicas/el-amor-brujo-ballet)
## Later stagings
The dancer and choreographer Antonio Ruiz Soler ("Antonio") premiered his version with his Ballet Español on 5 April 1955 at the Saville Theatre in London; the Ballet Nacional de España premiered its own production on 14 May 1981 at the Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville, with sets and costumes by José Caballero.[5](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/es/compania/repertorio/el-amor-brujo-1981) • [2](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/en/company/repertory/el-amor-brujo-antonio-1981) The work remains a staple of Spanish dance companies; in 2025 the Ballet Español de la Comunidad de Madrid premiered *Viaje al Amor Brujo*, using Falla's music alongside that of Dani de Morón, as part of celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Falla's birth and the centenary of the work's premiere.[11](https://elpais.com/babelia/2025-12-05/la-importancia-de-un-contexto-o-por-que-el-ballet-de-la-comunidad-de-madrid-no-funciona.html)
## Film versions
Two feature films have been made of the work. Francisco Rovira Beleta's *El amor brujo* (1967), starring Antonio Gades and La Polaca, with music arranged by Ernesto Halffter and guitarist Narciso Yepes, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[7](https://www.cmuse.org/el-amor-brujo-manuel-de-fallas-ballet-celebrates-flamenco/) • [12](https://ace-film.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/A-Season-of-Classic-Films_Programme-catalogue-2025.pdf)
**The Saura film.** Carlos Saura's *El amor brujo* (1986) closed the flamenco trilogy he made with the dancer and choreographer Antonio Gades, after *Bodas de sangre* (1981) and *[Carmen](https://www.edgepedia.org/carmen-1983-film)* (1983), produced by Emiliano Piedra.[13](https://cultura.cervantes.es/praga/es/el-amor-brujo/160853) • [6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) Gades and Saura wrote the screenplay; the cast included Gades as Carmelo, Cristina Hoyos as Candela, Laura del Sol as Lucía, Juan Antonio Jiménez as José and Emma Penella as the sorceress Tía Rosario.[14](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/portales/alece/registro_pelicula/?id=1836) Falla's score was played by the Orquesta Nacional de España under Jesús López Cobos, with the sung parts performed by Rocío Jurado, and the film added traditional flamenco numbers, including a song by the duo [Azúcar Moreno](https://www.edgepedia.org/azucar-moreno), that do not belong to the original ballet.[6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) • [15](https://rodin.uca.es/bitstream/handle/10498/38861/ebooks_Dacil%20Gonzalez%20Mesa.pdf?sequence=4) Saura built a large set of a Gypsy shantytown quarter in the [Luis Buñuel](https://www.edgepedia.org/luis-bunuel) studios and opened the film by showing the stage rigging above the set, to signal that the story was a fiction.[6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo) The film premiered in Madrid on 23 March 1986, was shown out of competition as the closing film of the 1986 Cannes Festival, and did not meet the reception of the earlier trilogy entries, though it was awarded in Montreal together with the two previous films.[14](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/portales/alece/registro_pelicula/?id=1836) • [16](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/el-amor-brujo/) • [6](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo)
## Reception and legacy
The work was generally well received, though some Spanish national critics judged that it carried too much French influence, a line of criticism that followed Falla through his career.[17](https://repositori.educacio.gencat.cat/bitstream/handle/20.500.12694/7497/2237_TFG_Joseph%20Hooworth-Smith%20Lecha.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1) It is regarded as among Falla's best-known works, deeply rooted in Andalusian Gypsy tradition and Spanish folklore, and its Adagio has been sung by many opera and popular singers.[18](https://cadenaser.com/castillayleon/2026/05/14/la-orquesta-sinfonica-cristobal-halffter-ofrece-en-ponferrada-y-lugo-dos-obras-cumbre-del-repertorio-clasico-espanol-radio-bierzo/) The singer Estrella Morente, marking the 150th anniversary of Falla's birth, said that any passage of *El amor brujo* could serve as Spain's anthem.[19](https://elpais.com/cultura/festival-internacional-de-musica-de-canarias/2026-01-15/estrella-morente-el-amor-brujo-podria-ser-el-himno-de-espana.html) The work has also reached fashion and film beyond Spain: the designer Arturo Obegero presented a spring-summer 2025 collection named after the 1915 ballet, and scholars note that works from 1940s movie musicals to films on anti-Black racism have drawn on it.[20](https://www.lemonde.fr/m-styles/article/2024/06/21/mode-arturo-obegero-a-la-conquete-de-paris_6242106_4497319.html) • [1](https://academic.oup.com/book/59550)
## References
1. [Manuel de Falla's El amor brujo, Carol A. Hess, Oxford University Press (2025)](https://academic.oup.com/book/59550)
2. [El amor brujo (Antonio, 1981), Ballet Nacional de España (English page)](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/en/company/repertory/el-amor-brujo-antonio-1981)
3. [El recuerdo de una representación histórica: El Amor Brujo, Biblioteca Nacional de España](https://www.bne.es/es/blog/blog-bne/el-recuerdo-de-una-representacion-historica-el-amor-brujo)
4. [El amor brujo (ballet), Manuel de Falla Ediciones](https://www.manueldefalla.com/es/obras/obras-escenicas/el-amor-brujo-ballet)
5. [El amor brujo (Antonio, 1981), Ballet Nacional de España](https://balletnacional.inaem.gob.es/es/compania/repertorio/el-amor-brujo-1981)
6. [El amor brujo, Carlos Saura Musical](https://sauramusical.com/scenes/el_amor_brujo)
7. [El Amor Brujo: Manuel de Falla's Ballet Celebrates Flamenco, CMUSE](https://www.cmuse.org/el-amor-brujo-manuel-de-fallas-ballet-celebrates-flamenco/)
8. [El amor brujo: Ballet Suite, Hong Kong Philharmonic programme notes](https://www.hkphil.org/f/concert/25269/2425-w21-Spanish-web.pdf)
9. [Manuel de Falla, ADDA Alicante programme](https://addaalicante.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/LIBRITO_18y19_jun-3.pdf)
10. [De Falla, Manuel – Suite de El amor brujo, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México](https://ofcm.cultura.cdmx.gob.mx/node/197)
11. [La importancia de un contexto o por qué el Ballet de la Comunidad de Madrid no funciona, El País (2025)](https://elpais.com/babelia/2025-12-05/la-importancia-de-un-contexto-o-por-que-el-ballet-de-la-comunidad-de-madrid-no-funciona.html)
12. [A Season of Classic Films programme catalogue 2025, Association des Cinémathèques Européennes](https://ace-film.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/A-Season-of-Classic-Films_Programme-catalogue-2025.pdf)
13. [El amor brujo, Instituto Cervantes de Praga](https://cultura.cervantes.es/praga/es/el-amor-brujo/160853)
14. [El amor brujo, Adaptaciones de la literatura española en el cine español, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/portales/alece/registro_pelicula/?id=1836)
15. [El amor brujo en el repertorio de Rocío Jurado, Dácil González Mesa, Universidad de Cádiz](https://rodin.uca.es/bitstream/handle/10498/38861/ebooks_Dacil%20Gonzalez%20Mesa.pdf?sequence=4)
16. [EL AMOR BRUJO, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/el-amor-brujo/)
17. [Reception of El amor brujo, TFG, Generalitat de Catalunya repository](https://repositori.educacio.gencat.cat/bitstream/handle/20.500.12694/7497/2237_TFG_Joseph%20Hooworth-Smith%20Lecha.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
18. [El Amor Brujo y La Vida Breve en Ponferrada y Lugo, Cadena SER (2026)](https://cadenaser.com/castillayleon/2026/05/14/la-orquesta-sinfonica-cristobal-halffter-ofrece-en-ponferrada-y-lugo-dos-obras-cumbre-del-repertorio-clasico-espanol-radio-bierzo/)
19. [Estrella Morente: "El amor brujo podría ser el himno de España", El País (2026)](https://elpais.com/cultura/festival-internacional-de-musica-de-canarias/2026-01-15/estrella-morente-el-amor-brujo-podria-ser-el-himno-de-espana.html)
20. [Mode : Arturo Obegero, à la conquête de Paris, Le Monde (2024)](https://www.lemonde.fr/m-styles/article/2024/06/21/mode-arturo-obegero-a-la-conquete-de-paris_6242106_4497319.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 1970s and 1980s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license