El Sombrero de tres picos (from the Ballet) - M. de Falla

‘El sombrero de tres picos’ (‘The Three-Cornered Hat’) is a ballet in two acts choreographed by Léonide Massine to music by Manuel de Falla. The ballet was premiered in 1919 in London at the ‘Alhambra Theatre’. The story, of a magistrate infatuated with a miller's faithful wife who attempts to seduce her, derives from the novella of the same name by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. Later, de Falla extracted two suites from the ballet, both following less or more the first act (Suite No.1) and second act (Suite No.2). The second suite became very popular and consist of three movements: ‘The Neighbour’s Dance’ (Seguidillas), ‘The Miller’s Dance’ (Farruca) and ‘Final Dance’ (Jota). This ‘Suite No. 2’ with wonderful melodies is now transcribed for Symphonic Band by Dutch arranger Egbert van Groningen.