ABSTRACT
Manuel de Falla’s stylistic reorientation in El retablo de maese Pedro [Master Peter’s Puppet Show] (1918–23) led the composer to characterize the work as Castilian, a term that had resonance in 1920s Spain and was useful in the international promotion of a new style of Hispanic modernism (in that it eschewed some of the exotic overtones associated with Romantic Spain). The rebranding of Spanish-ness with reference to Castile shifted the public focus away from the Moors and Arab music, which had been cornerstones of Falla’s Alhambrist scores, even though these elements continued to form an integral part of the composer’s conception of El retablo. This chapter sheds light on Falla’s approach to the musical representation of the Moors in El retablo and explores the polemical issue of Arab music in relation to national identity in 1920s Spain, which may have contributed to the relative obscurity of the Moors in discussions of the work. It also reconsiders aspects of the conception of El retablo and some of the projects Falla engaged with between 1919 and 1922, bringing to the fore an Arab-Castilian frame of reference.
