Manuel de Falla: Homenaje

To close this centenary year of Falla's 'Homenaje a Debussy' (1920-2020), we proudly present a new authoritative reading of the 'Homenaje'. Based on the 1926 Chester edition, we have added in contrasting typography some selected features, indications and fingering from Llobet's previously unknown 1922 autograph manuscript - in fact his own performing copy!

Llobet's role in the creation of this work is now confirmed as having been somewhat wider than he has been so far credited with. Newly discovered letters from Falla to Llobet confirming this are reproduced in the edition with English translations. Through these letters, we now know that even in 1920, leading up to the publication of the Homenaje in La Revue Musicale, Llobet was already a close and welcome collaborator of Falla and the former's influence and suggestions were already starting to be incorporated in the 1920 edition, a process which was to continue up to the ‘final’ Chester edition of 1926 which was and still is a totally justified standard reading of this masterpiece and the main source for our new reading, which is based on a new, faithful and balanced perspective, considered in parallel to Llobet's recently discovered own performing autograph manuscript.

We are pleased now to be able to debunk many largely unsubstantiated 'opinions', not dissimilar to those of the late John Duarte, which propose or infer that the 1920 Revue Musicale edition of the Homenaje is some sort of a 'sacred Urtext' and that Llobet's 'editorship' was personal, stylistic, apparently without Falla's approval and not what Falla himself intended! In fact, almost exactly the opposite is clearly the case, and substantiated in Falla's letters to Llobet, published for the first time in this edition.

The edition is generously documented with rare photographs, concert programmes, etc. Iconographically rich, it includes full reproductions of three key manuscripts of the Homenaje, including Falla's original manuscript, Miguel Llobet's previously unknown 1922 manuscript, the 1920 edition from the Revue Musicale, Falla's article Claude Debussy et L'Espagne in a new English translation and the 1923 Argentinian edition of the Homenaje from 'La Guitarra'.

Falla was enthusiastic about Llobet's performances of the Homenaje and he greatly appreciated Llobet’s transcriptions of the 'Romance del Pescador' and the 'Canción del Fuego Fatuo'; these together with the Homenaje figured as a 'Triptych' in Llobet's concert programmes. Both transcriptions are published here for the first time, prepared from Llobet's autograph manuscripts.

This volume includes a free audio CD of the three works in this volume plus 11 bonus tracks. Our CD offers wonderful performances of Llobet’s complete transcriptions of Falla’s music transcribed for the solo guitar, guitar duo and voice & guitar.