1. Introduction
⌅In the cultural landscape of early twentieth-century Spain, Manuel de Falla’s Noches en los Jardines de España (1916) emerged not merely as a musical evocation of Andalusian nocturnes but as a radical reimagining of how sound might think through metaphor. 1 Nelson R. Orringer, Lorca in Tune with Falla: Literary and Musical Interludes (Toronto: University of Toronto, 2014); Brenda J. Brown, «Gardens and Music: An Initial Survey, Probing Potentials», Landscape Research Record 3 (2016): 54-66.
Unlike Debussy’s Jardins sous la pluie or Ravel’s Miroirs, which frame imagery through impressionist washes of color, Noches 2 In the following text, Noche is used instead of the full name of Noches en los Jardines de España. constructs its gardens, fountains, and sierras as emergent metaphors: entities born not from pictorial illustration but from the collision of harmonic, timbral and rhythmic. Here, the piano’s cascading arabesques become liquid light, the orchestra’s muted strings whisper of Moorish ghosts, and syncopated rhythms fracture the illusion of pastoral tranquility. This work does not describe landscapes;3 Granada, Archivo Manuel de Falla, Manuel de Falla, Letter to J. B. Trend regarding the premiere of Noches en los Jardines de España, April 9, 1916. Falla wrote in letter: «Téngase presente que la música de estos nocturnos no pretende ser descriptiva, sino simplemente expresiva, y que algo más que rumores defiestas y de danzas ha inspirado estas evocaciones sonoras, en las que el dolor y el misterio tienen también su parte». it enacts them, demanding a hermeneutic framework that treats metaphor not as ornament but as ontology.
The reception and interpretation of Noches must be understood within the specific cultural and aesthetic expectations of its historical moment. According to Hans Robert Jauss’s theory 4 Hans Robert Jauss, Toward an Aesthetic of Reception (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982). 4 of horizon of expectations, early twentieth-century audiences approached Noches en los jardines de España within the context of both nationalist music and impressionist aesthetics. They likely anticipated a work that would synthesize Spanish folk elements, such as flamenco rhythms and modal inflections with international modernist techniques. This expectation shaped their interpretation of the work, transforming them into active co-creators of meaning rather than passive recipients. The composer’s challenge was to navigate between fulfilling these cultural expectations while simultaneously transcending them through innovative metaphorical language that would expand the expressive possibilities of instrumental music.
Central to this study’s exploration of Falla’s metaphorical language is the argument that Noches encapsulates a quintessentially modernist paradox: the more the composer abstracts his musical language through the use of advanced techniques such as Spanish modal inflections, polyrhythmic structures, and cyclical thematic development, the more vividly he conjures vivid imagery in the listener’s mind. As pianist and scholar, we consider this apparent contradiction stems may from Falla’s unique ability to internalize imagery within the music itself, creating synesthetic triggers that blur the boundaries between the auditory and the visual. Rather than relying on external referents or programmatic cues, Noches generates its «gardens» from within, inviting the listener to experience a form of multisensory perception that emerges from the music’s intrinsic properties.
The use of metaphor in music is not unique to Falla, indeed, it is a fundamental aspect of musical cognition and communication. 5 George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1980). As Lakoff and Johnson argue in their seminal work Metaphors We Live By, metaphors are not merely linguistic devices but cognitive structures that shape our understanding of the world. In music, metaphors serve to map abstract musical concepts onto more concrete domains of experience, such as motion, space, and emotion.6 Lawrence M. Zbikowski, «Metaphor and Music», in The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 502-524. By activating these cross-domain mappings, composers can evoke vivid mental images and sensations in the listener, even in the absence of explicit programmatic content. In Noches, Falla leverages this metaphorical potential to create a rich, multisensory landscape that transcends the boundaries of the purely musical.
To unravel the complex layers of metaphorical meaning in Falla’s work, this analysis adopts and extends Nicholas Cook’s theory of musical multimedia. 7 Nicholas Cook, Analysing Musical Multimedia (Oxford: Clarendon, 1998). Cook posits that meaning in music arises not from static correspondences between different media but from their dynamic interaction, which can take the form of conformance, complementation, or contest. While originally conceived to address overtly multimodal forms such as film or opera, Cook’s framework proves remarkably apt for illuminating the multimediality latent within Falla’s ostensibly pure instrumental music. By treating the various components of Falla’s musical language as metaphorical strata that engage in a constant dialogue, this study uncovers how Noches challenges and expands our understanding of multimedia, asserting the primacy of the auditory imagination in generating and transforming meaning.
2. Theoretical framework
⌅2.1 Musical Semantics and Topic Theory
⌅Before delving into Cook’s multimedia theory, it is necessary to establish a theoretical foundation for the construction of musical meaning. Topic Theory provides an important framework for understanding the cultural symbols in Falla’s music. As articulated by Ratner 8 Leonard G. Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980). and Allanbrook,9 Wye Jamison Allanbrook, Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983). musical topics are conventionalized musical figures endowed with specific cultural connotations, creating a shared semantic field between composer and listener. In Noches, Falla employs a variety of Spanish musical topics from the cante jondo of flamenco to the modal language of Arab-Andalusian tradition, which function not merely as stylistic markers but as a symbolic system bearing cultural memory.
Furthermore, Falla’s extensive correspondence makes clear his own understanding of music’s metaphorical function. In a letter to J. B. Trend dated April 1916, Falla wrote: «Téngase presente que la música de estos nocturnos no pretende ser descriptiva, sino simplemente expresiva». 10 Granada, Archivo Manuel de Falla, Manuel de Falla, Letter to J. B. Trend regarding the premiere of Noches en los Jardines de España, April 9, 1916. This statement reveals Falla’s profound awareness of the nature of musical metaphor: it is not an external ornament, but the intrinsic logic of musical expression.
2.2 Nicholas Cook’s Theory in Noches
⌅To provide a robust foundation for the analysis of Falla’s metaphorical language, this study adapts and expands Nicholas Cook’s tripartite model of musical multimedia. At the core of Cook’s theory lies the concept of multimedia as a dialogic, interactive process, rather than a static amalgamation of disparate elements. Cook argues that meaning in multimedia works arises not from the simple juxtaposition or convergence of different media but from the dynamic, often unpredictable ways in which these media relate to, influence, and transform one another over time. He identifies three primary modes of multimedia interaction: conformance, complementation, and contest, each of which describes a particular way in which the constituent elements of a multimedia work can relate to and shape one another.
In the context of Noches en los Jardines de España, conformance can be understood as the way in which certain elements of Falla’s musical language align with and reinforce one another to create a coherent, unified expressive trajectory. This mode of interaction operates on three distinct levels: unitary, dyadic, and triadic. Unitary conformance refers to the way in which Falla’s use of specific musical techniques and devices, such as the modes or the rhythmic patterns of flamenco, serve to evoke and affirm a particular cultural and geographical context. Dyadic conformance, on the other hand, describes moments of direct, mimetic correspondence between musical gestures and visual imagery, such as the rippling arpeggios in the piano that conjure the shimmering fountains of the Generalife gardens. Finally, triadic conformance encompasses the more abstract, symbolic dimensions of Falla’s musical language, such as his use of cyclical form and motivic transformation to evoke the eternal recurrence of natural cycles and the fluid, mutable nature of memory and perception.
Complementation, in Cook’s model, refers to the way in which different media or expressive elements can interact to create meanings that are not wholly contained within any single medium but emerge from their juxtaposition and mutual inflection. In Noches, complementation often serves to enrich and expand the emotional and narrative resonances of the music, as in the second movement, Danza lejana, where the ethereal, otherworldly timbres of the orchestra complement the modal ambiguity and rhythmic complexity of the piano part to evoke a sense of mystic longing and spiritual transcendence. Through complementation, Falla creates a multidimensional expressive space in which the various components of his musical language interact to generate new and unexpected meanings, inviting the listener to actively participate in the imaginative construction of the work.
Contest, the third and perhaps most radical mode of multimedia interaction in Cook’s theory, describes the way in which different media or expressive elements can engage in a kind of productive conflict or tension, challenging and destabilizing one another in ways that generate new forms of aesthetic experience and understanding. In Noches, contest manifests itself most strikingly in the final movement, En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba, where Falla sets up a series of dramatic contrasts and oppositions between the piano and the orchestra, the rhythmic and the lyrical, the chromatic and the diatonic, the primal and the refined. These clashes and disjunctions serve to break down any sense of a simple, unitary narrative or expressive trajectory, instead creating a complex, multifaceted musical landscape that mirrors the fractured, contradictory nature of human experience itself.
Falla’s use of these three modes of multimedia interaction in Noches serves to create a rich, multidimensional expressive language in which metaphor plays a central role. By conceiving of the various elements of his musical language as metaphorical strata, each with its own symbolic and associative potential, Falla creates a complex web of cross-modal resonances and correspondences that challenges and expands our understanding of what music can represent and express.
Crucially, Falla’s use of metaphor in Noches is not merely a matter of surface-level correspondence or programmatic description but rather a deep, structural principle that informs every aspect of the work’s construction and meaning. By embedding metaphorical resonances and associations into the very fabric of his musical language, Falla creates a new kind of expressive syntax in which the boundaries between the literal and the figurative, the abstract and the concrete, the musical and the extramusical, become fluid and permeable. The listener is thus invited to engage with the work not as a passive recipient of preestablished meanings but as an active co-creator of significance, bringing their own imaginative and experiential resources to bear on the unfolding of the music.
In this way, Falla’s approach to metaphor in Noches can be seen as a powerful challenge to the traditional conception of music as a self-contained, autonomous art form, one whose meanings and effects are wholly intrinsic to the musical structure itself.
The diagrams below provide extend of Cook’s model in our study and a visual representation of how these three modes of interaction operate within Falla’s work, generating emergent metaphors that transcend any simple correspondence between music and imagery (Figures 1 and 2).
By mapping Cook’s framework onto the intricate web of Falla’s musical language, this study aims to demonstrate how Noches engages in a form of multimedia discourse that is entirely contained within the realm of instrumental music, relying on the auditory imagination to construct vivid, synesthetic experiences.
3. Analysis
⌅3.1. Conformance: Structural and Symbolic Alignment
⌅Cook’s conformance model emphasizes the alignment of multimedia elements to reinforce a cohesive expressive trajectory. In Noches, Falla employs conformance across three hierarchical levels —unitary, dyadic, and triadic— to construct a multilayered metaphorical framework rooted in Spanish cultural and sensory experience.
3.1.1. Unitary Conformance: Cultural Syntax as Metaphoric Foundation
⌅At the unitary level, Falla’s adherence to Spanish musical idioms establishes a cultural and syntactic foundation for metaphor. The pervasive use of modal inflections derived from Andalusian folk traditions, particularly the characteristic harmonic and melodic patterns associated with flamenco music, functions not merely as a stylistic marker but as a structural metaphor for Spain’s hybrid identity. 11 Orringer, Lorca in Tune with Falla, XVII. The modes of greatest interest to Falla are the Phrygian, the Lydian, and the Doric. The Phrygian, according to Falla’s personal jottings, contains the notes E-F#-G-A-C#-D. The Lydian includes F-G-A-Bb-C-E. The Doric holds D-E-F-B-C-E. The Phrygian is the most frequent mode used in flamenco and deep song and often appears in classical Arabic music. For instance, in the second movement Danza lejana, the piano introduces a zapateado rhythm (Example 1, mm. 19-21), its syncopated accents (e.g., hemiola patterns in 6/8 against 3/4) mimicking the percussive footwork of flamenco dance. This rhythm is further reinforced by the orchestra’s pizzicato strings, creating a tactile, almost corporeal connection to Andalusian folk practices.
The Phrygian mode’s characteristic reduced second scale degree (e.g., C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C in the C Phrygian) generates harmonic tension that resists resolution, symbolizing the complex interplay of cultural influences in Spain’s musical heritage. 12 Peter Manuel, «Flamenco in Focus: An Analysis of a Performance of Soleares», in Analytical Studies in World Music, ed. Michael Tenzer (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 92-119. In the third movement En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba, the orchestra’s descending A Phrygian mode (Example 2, mm. 9-17) is fragmented and redistributed across the movement. The theme sound changes to a noticeable D Dorian mode (Example 2, mm. 18-21) as it enters the piano. The instability of the theme’s modal presentation may reflect the multifaceted nature of Andalusian musical traditions. Here, unitary conformance transcends mere stylistic adherence; it embeds cultural identity into the music’s identity, making metaphor an ontological condition of the work.
3.1.2. Dyadic Conformance: Mimetic Correspondence and Sensory Synesthesia
⌅Dyadic conformance operates through direct mimetic relationships between sound and image. The piano’s rippling arpeggios in En el Generalife (Example 3, M. 21) exemplify this. These arpeggios, spanning two octaves with rapid sixteenth-note figuration, are harmonized in Parallel octave scale (Example 3 D#-D#, Cx-Cx, B-B), creating a shimmering, aqueous texture. The orchestration amplifies this metaphor: clarinets mirror the piano’s cascading lines in staggered entries, their timbral brightness evoking light refracting through water droplets.
This dyadic alignment extends to performative gestures. In En el Generalife, the rippling arpeggios (Example 3) require a highly refined gestural syntax to evoke water’s fluidity. The pianist’s hands adopt a semi-curved finger posture with minimal vertical motion, allowing the fingertips to glide across the keys in a lateral, wave-like motion. This technique minimizes percussive attack, producing a legatissimo texture that mimics water’s seamless flow. The wrists engage in circular rotations, rising gently on ascending arpeggios (e.g., G-D-B-G) and descending with controlled weight transfer on descending patterns (e.g., D-D-B-G), creating a visual analogue to the undulating dynamics of fountains.
Pedal marks further enriche this metaphor. In measures 116-117 (Example 4), the sustain pedal 13 The pedal design here is based on the specific pedaling techniques for producing ideal sound effects developed by Professors Daniel Ligorio and Josep Colom during the author’s studies at the Liceu Conservatory from 2021 to 2023. The 1923 Paris: M. Max Eschig Symphony Orchestra version and the 1922 Two Piano version only indicate the use of two pedals, without detailed instructions. is depressed halfway during the piano’s ascending arpeggios, sustaining harmonic overtones while preserving clarity. The sudden release of the pedal at the phrase’s peak (beat 3 of M. 116) creates a staccato-like articulation, contrasting the legato sustain. This tactile dissonance between fluid hand motions and abrupt pedal shifts mirrors the interplay of water’s continuity and its fragmented reflections, a metaphor enacted through the performer’s body.
3.1.3. Triadic Conformance: Cyclical Form and Metaphoric Temporality
⌅Triadic conformance in Noches en los Jardines de España operates at the highest level of abstraction, where musical structure and symbolic meaning coalesce to generate metaphors of temporality, memory, and cultural hybridity. This mode transcends direct mimetic or stylistic alignment, instead embedding metaphor within the work’s formal and harmonic logic.
The structural design of the third movement does not rigidly replicate a conventional rondo 14 Accessed 18th March 2025, https://www.m5music.hk/en/dictionary/rondo-form/?srsltid=AfmBOornARuzOyeUWKvD2uHbLJmaeoYqvWEUSNK0baS2HbE3nsKn8fIW. «Rondo Form» is a common musical structure characterized by the alternation of a principal theme (designated as A) with contrasting sections. It is known for its recurring main theme that alternates with different contrasting passages. The structure of rondo form typically follows an A-B-A-C-A-D-A pattern, where A represents the recurring theme, and B, C, D represent contrasting sections. but instead conveys a metaphor of cyclical time through the partial recurrence of themes and harmonic ambiguity. Each reappearance of the theme is altered by factors such as harmonic instability and textural transformation. The increased presence of dissonant intervals (major sevenths, tritones) destabilizes the tonal center, evoking Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence,15 Karl Lowith, Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same (Berkeley: University of California, 2023). Eternal return (or eternal recurrence) is a philosophical concept which states that time repeats itself in an infinite loop, and that exactly the same events will continue to occur in exactly the same way, over and over again, for eternity. wherein repetition coexists with irreversible change.
Regarding textural transformation, the orchestration of the theme shifts from full orchestral to dense string textures, then to a solo piano passage, and finally to fragmented woodwind lines. The distribution of instrumental entries reflects the perceptual variability of the garden as it evolves over time. This cyclical yet non-repetitive structure challenges linear temporality, positioning the garden as both an eternal symbol and a fleeting sensory experience. Some unresolved harmonic tension further embodies Spain’s identity as a cultural palimpsest, where historical layers persist but never fully cohere.
3.2. Complementation: Juxtaposition and Synesthetic Dialogue
⌅Complementation in Noches generates metaphors through the juxtaposition of musical, visual, and literary elements, creating meanings that transcend individual media. Falla’s synthesis of folk materials with impressionist techniques, alongside his engagement with Rusiñol’s paintings and Sierra’s writing, exemplifies this mode.
3.2.1. Folk and Modernist Synthesis: A Dialectic of Tradition and Innovation
⌅Falla’s Noches en los Jardines de España exemplifies a deliberate synthesis of Spanish folk idioms, particularly flamenco rhythm and modality with the harmonic and timbral innovations of French Impressionism, inherited from his close engagement with Debussy and Ravel during his years in Paris. 16 Nancy L. Harper, Manuel de Falla: His Life and Music (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2005). This fusion allowed Spanish audiences to experience a reaffirmation of cultural identity through familiar folk elements, while also situating the work in dialogue with the broader modernist currents of the early twentieth-century international music scene. Such integration was emblematic of a period in which nationalist impulses encouraged composers to embed folk material within classical forms, even as Impressionist techniques were at the height of their influence in France. When Noches premiered in 1916, listeners’ horizons of expectation were shaped by these twin trends: the allure of Spanish exoticism and the appreciation for advanced harmonic and orchestral craftsmanship. In Danza lejana, for instance, the piano’s E Dorian modality (mm. 19-21, Example 1) juxtaposed with the orchestra’s chromatic harmonies reveals a dialectical relationship between tradition and innovation, emblematic of the complex cultural negotiations that defined Spanish music in the early twentieth century.17 Samuel Llano, Whose Spain? Negotiating «Spanish Music» in Paris, 1908-1929 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).
In the second movement of Noches, Danza lejana, Falla constructs a metaphorical dialogue of cultural identity through the deep interweaving of flamenco musical grammar and the harmonic language of Impressionism. This synthesis is not a mere stylistic collage but rather a structured interplay of pitch organization, rhythmic patterns, and harmonic language, reflecting the complex tension in early twentieth-century Spain between tradition and modernity.
Falla abstracts core elements of flamenco, such as the melodic contour of cante jondo 18 Orringer, Lorca in Tune with Falla, XVI. Deep song, which for Falla is a generic term for the oldest, purest songs of Andalusian tradition. Derived, according to his vision, from layers of influence —plainchant, Moorish rhythms, Gypsy music with its Indian substratum— cante jondo includes many genres, characterized by adorned melodies, with numerous repetitions of single notes (related by Falla to old magical rites), a range rarely transcending the sixth and enharmonic modes. and the rhythmic structure of zapateado, into highly stylized musical symbols. In mm. 19-21 (Example 1), the piano introduces a melodic line based on E Dorian, Falla’s use of microtonal inflections disrupts the traditional periodicity of flamenco, creating a sense of tension and unease that mirrors the emotional intensity of the cante jondo style.19 Manuel, Flamenco in Focus. These microtonal shadings, which subtly bend the pitch towards B♭, from auditory also serve to situate the music within the specific cultural context of Andalusian flamenco. This deconstruction strategy strips away the folkloric appearance of flamenco and transforms its core, the ritual expression of pain, into a modernist musical language. For instance, in mm. 25-26 (Example 5), the piano employs vibrato-like figures to imitate the guttural timbre of flamenco singing while chromatic passing tones blur the tonal center, elevating cante jondo from a regional marker to a universal vehicle of emotion.
The harmonic support provided by the strings to the flamenco-inspired melodies demonstrates Falla’s critical engagement with the techniques of Debussy and Ravel. In mm. 95-99, the tension between the piano’s cante jondo and the orchestra’s descending chromatic harmonic progression (Example 6) articulates a striking juxtaposition between contrasting musical aesthetics, one rooted in the expressive intensity of Andalusian folk traditions, the other in the refined sonic palette of French impressionism. Even more subtly, Falla introduces whole-tone passages in the piano (Example 7, mm. 35-36), where the floating sonorities and the parallel harmonies in the strings create an «aural haze». This distinctive timbral effect calls to mind the luminous textures of Debussy’s groundbreaking Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, while also feeling the complex and multifaceted character of Spain’s musical.
3.2.2. Literary-Musical Intertextuality: Gardens as Psychic Landscapes
⌅In Granada: Guía Emocional, María Lejárraga describes the flow of water in the fountains of the Alhambra as «stars in the summer sky». 20 María Lejárraga, Granada: Guía emocional (Paris: Garnier Hermanos, 1911), 132. Please note that although Granada: Guía emocional was published under the authorship of Gregorio Martínez, publicly available sources indicate and have established that the true author was María Lejárraga. Accessed 10th August 2025, https://granada.hammamalandalus.com/granada-guia-emocional-la-historia-de-maria-de-la-o-lejarraga/. In the Generalife movement, Falla translates this imagery into music through reflective textures: the harp melody (Example 8, mm. 55-62) imitates droplets of water, while chromatic and whole-tone passages in the strings may evoke the flickering of stars. This translation is not a literal rendering of the text into music but rather an abstract reorganization of musical materials, transforming Sierra’s literary imagery into an auditory mimesis.
More complex still is the way Sierra’s metaphor of the garden as a reflection of the soul finds its counterpart in Falla’s use of reflexive musical structures. For instance, in the third movement, En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba, the piano’s thematic material is mirrored in the strings and engages in a dialogue through mirror counterpoint (Example 9, mm. 145-156), primarily between the piano and the orchestra. This structural symmetry not only resonates with Sierra’s depiction of the garden as a mirror between reality and dream, but also, through the logical abstraction of music, transforms the literary dualities (such as interior/exterior, real/illusory) into a dialectical relationship of sound.
Sierra’s text also emphasizes the «aesthetics of ruin» in Granada’s gardens, we are interpreting them as a reflection of significant transitions and transformations in Spain’s history. In Falla’s music, these historical transitions may evoke through the fragmentation of thematic material and the strategic use of pitch destabilization. In the third movement (Example 10, mm. 90-110), the piano’s original theme is broken down into brief motive fragments (e.g., C-B♭-A), which are alternately presented by the winds and strings. Simultaneously, the strings introduce pitch fluctuations, where micro tonal deviations create a sense of auditory instability, symbolizing the blurring and distortion of historical memory.
Under Cook’s framework of complementarity, this strategy of deconstruction can be understood as a synergistic interaction between music and literature in the generation of meaning. Sierra’s text provides the historical narrative framework, while Falla’s music through sonic deconstruction (e.g., thematic fragmentation, pitch fluctuation) reveals the ruptures within that narrative. Their interaction moves beyond a surface-level correspondence of imagery, engaging instead with the deep structures of cultural memory: how Spain’s Islamic heritage, suppressed by the processes of Christianization, resurfaces through the metaphorical language of art. This notion finds resonance in Rusiñol’s poetic portrayal of the gardens of Córdoba and Granada in the preface to Jardins d’Espanya. As Rusiñol wrote, «aun los frisos de la Alhambra los echan de menos en sus leyendas encantadas, y los llora el llanto de los surtidores». 21 Santiago Rusiñol, Jardins d’Espanya (Barcelona: Can Thomas de Barcelona, 1914), 1-2. Here, the «enchanted legends» and «tears of the fountains» allude to the latent Moorish cultural legacy, which emerges through the metaphorical and personified language used to describe these gardens. This art work, while not directly addressing the interplay between Falla’s music and Sierra’s text, provides a literary parallel that supports the idea of suppressed Islamic heritage resurfacing through artistic metaphor in the broader context of early twentieth-century Spanish art.
3.2.3. Visual Music: Rusiñol’s Brushstrokes and Falla’s Orchestration
⌅In Noches, Falla employs meticulous orchestration and harmonic design to establish a profound intermedial complementarity with Santiago Rusiñol’s Jardins d’Espanyas. 22 Mercedes Palau-Ribes O’Callaghan, Santiago Rusiñol: Jardins d’Espanya (Barcelona: Museu del Modernisme de Barcelona Press, 2019), 75. This complementarity appears to extends beyond a mere correspondence of imagery to a deeper interaction between aesthetic principles and symbolic systems, constructing a cultural metaphor that transcends any single sensory modality.
In Jardín con Cipreses, Rusiñol employs sfumato, using softened brushstrokes and gradual tonal transitions to blur the physical boundaries between sky and vegetation, creating a hazy, atmospheric visual effect. Falla achieves a comparable auditory sfumato in the movement En el Generalife through a timbre-blending orchestration strategy. For instance, in mm. 176-183 (Example 11), the melodic line is simultaneously played by the piano, strings, bassoon, and horn, with the piano articulating the line in repeated single notes within an octave, serving a background role. The combined timbral qualities, the crispness of the piano, the resonance of the bassoon, the delicacy of the strings, and the breadth of the horn, interweave and permeate one another, producing a diffuse and sonically clouded effect. This timbral design dissolves the clarity of the melodic contour, as if the sound itself were dissolving into the mist of the garden, creating a direct correspondence with the hazy visual layering in Rusiñol’s painting.
Moreover, the use of sul tasto in the string section (Example 12, mm. 174-175) further enhances this intermedial resonance by reducing the intensity of string vibrations, producing an ethereal overtone effect. This sonic translucency parallels the shimmering reflections on the water’s surface in Rusiñol’s Brolladors del Generalife, forging a cross-modal correspondence between sound and image. At this moment, Falla deliberately avoids a clear melodic trajectory, instead utilizing the fluidity of timbre to emulate the diffusion of light and shadow in Rusiñol’s painting. As a result, auditory space and visual space converge in perception, achieving a structural homology between music and painting.
Rusiñol’s Patio de los Naranjos employs a contrast between ochre and gray-blue tones to symbolize the erosion of time and the regenerative force of nature. Falla seems to translates this chromatic dialectic into harmonic shifts. At the beginning of En el Generalife (mm. 1-24), the orchestra establishes a foundation in C# minor, whose somber tonal color corresponds to the gray-blue shadows in Rusiñol’s painting. In m. 9, the strings assume a harmonic function, outlining a C major chord. However, through common-tone modulation, the sustained F# in the horn part introduces characteristics of the C Lydian mode, which persists until m. 24, where it resolves into A minor. The harmonic shift not only represents a musical embodiment of light and shadow but also deeply symbolizes the historical fault lines within Spanish culture. The tension between the artistic heritage of the Islamic ruling period (epitomized by the Alhambra Palace) and the cultural identity after the Christian revival.
Furthermore, the frequent appearance of Islamic geometric patterns in Rusiñol’s paintings (abstracted into cyclic motifs and symmetrical structures in Falla’s music) is noteworthy. 23 Orringer, Lorca in Tune with Falla, 31-36. In Noches, the main melodic themes of each movement always rotate between different voices, with each iteration following interval relationships that mimic the repetition and mathematical precision found in Islamic decorative arts, presenting us with distinct patterns.
This cross-media symbolic reconstruction could be interpreted as not merely a simple imitation of form but rather a reinterpretation of the intrinsic order of visual culture through musical logic. Just as complementarity within structure can generate new meaning through asymmetric dialogue between media.
3.3. Contest: Disruption and Metaphoric Tension
⌅In the final movement of Noches en los Jardines de España, En los jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba, Falla employs the contest mode of multimedia interaction to challenge the established cultural narratives and metaphorical frameworks presented in the preceding movements. By juxtaposing traditional Spanish musical elements with modernist compositional techniques, Falla creates a space of metaphorical tension that reveals the inherent contradictions within Spain’s cultural identity. 24 Carol A. Hess, Manuel de Falla and Modernism in Spain, 1898-1936 (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2004); Llano, Whose Spain?.
In this movement, Falla’s primary strategy appears to be subverting listeners’ expectations regarding the treatment of familiar musical material. The movement opens with the lively and impassioned cante jondo of the orchestra, creating a sense of anguish and intensity. However, as the movement progresses, Falla introduces increasingly discordant harmonies and chromatic pitch alterations when introducing new sections or melodic voices, thereby disrupting the stability of the tonal center. For instance, in mm. 14-17 (Example 2), the piano solo takes over from the previous A Phrygian main theme melody. From this point, the piano makes abrupt, dissonant chromatic adjustments, only preparing for a new modal setting on the last beat of measure 17. The appearance of the piano solo here is not merely a transition for the main theme melody; the dramatic chromatic form intensifies tonal ambiguity, presenting a chromatic ascending sequence that is entirely opposite to the descending main theme melody of the orchestra. At the same time, the treatment of chromaticism is more fragmented, possessing a certain degree of conflict.
The musical contrast between piano and orchestra not only reflects the fragmentation and contradictions of human experience but also suggests the deep-seated cultural conflicts of the city of Córdoba. As Miguel Ángel García points out in Melancolía vertebrada, Andalusian identity itself is inherently dual: festivity and lament, Moorish heritage and Christian reconstruction, local tradition and the process of modernization. 25 Miguel Ángel García, Melancolía Vertebrada. La tristeza andaluza del modernismo a la vanguardia. (Barcelona: Anthropos, 2012). Both Falla and his contemporary Federico García Lorca explored this cultural duality in their works. For example, in the third movement, the fierce confrontation between piano and orchestra (Example 10, mm. 108-115) can be interpreted as embodying the tension between celebratory festivity and inner suffering, as well as symbolizing the multifaceted nature of Andalusian culture.
Within this context, Falla’s musical language becomes particularly distinctive: the cante jondo melodies of the piano carry deep-rooted emotional traditions, generating an intense cultural tension, while the modernist harmonies of the orchestra symbolize cultural transformation toward modernity. This contrast resonates with the shared aesthetic vision of García Lorca and Falla. Both artists sought to express the Andalusian concept of duende, a complex emotional state that fuses pain and joy, death and life.
Moreover, Falla reinforces this metaphorical tension of conflict by employing «irregular» rhythms. In (Example 13) mm. 41-46, the piano’s role is entirely cante jondo, appearing multiple times throughout the movement. Although the rhythm in the score here proceeds regularly, from the perspective of Spanish pianist Josep Colom, 26 In the interview with the pianist Josep Colom on 16th November 2022, he spoke about his feelings and auditory imagination and special technicals in Noches en los Jardines de España. it should completely follow the freedom of flamenco character, only needing to align with the orchestra at the beginning and end of the phrase. This approach not only creates a sense of rhythmic instability but also highlights the conflicting characters between the piano and orchestra in a hierarchical manner. The dense layering of the orchestral accompaniment paired with the piano’s free melody evokes a sense of chaos, as if the foundation of the musical structure is being dismantled.
The metaphorical argument reaches its climax in (Example 10) mm. 108-124, where the piano and orchestra engage in a series of passionate, almost violent exchanges, pushing the limits of tonal and rhythmic coherence. The piano’s frenzied octave passages against the orchestra’s chords create a tension between timbre and pitch, with the stark contrast generating an unbearable sense of tension and conflict. Falla does not resolve this tension through a triumphant rhythm or the apotheosis of a theme, but instead allows the music to dissipate into fragmented, pointillistic gestures, hinting at the impossibility of resolution or synthesis.
Simultaneously, Falla employs extended instrumental techniques and unconventional «timbres», further giving us a sense of confusion in aural sense. String techniques such as sul ponticello and pizzicato produce an eerie metallic sound, blurring the distinction between pitch and noise. The brass instruments, due to their timbral characteristics, consistently play low, tremolo passages, creating a sense of distant, transcendent threat, while the woodwinds interject with sharp, dissonant staccatos. These timbral disruptions challenge the listener’s sense of a stable, unified musical perspective.
Ultimately, the agonistic mode employed by Falla in En los Jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba serves as a powerful metaphorical exploration of the complexities and contradictions inherent in the concept of identity. By juxtaposing traditional Spanish musical elements with the destabilizing forces of modernist innovation, Falla illuminates the fragility and mutability of attempts to define or preserve a singular, fixed notion of national identity. The gardens of Córdoba themselves become a metaphor for the contested terrain, a space in which the boundaries between past and present, self and other, are continually negotiated and redefined.
This interpretation aligns with Falla’s own comments at the premiere of the work, where he stated that the music, beyond merely expressing historical legends and dances, also resonantly evokes certain profound emotions, with anguish and mystery playing a crucial role. 27 Granada, Archivo Manuel de Falla, Manuel de Falla, Letter to J. B. Trend regarding the premiere of Noches en los Jardines de España, April 9, 1916. By focusing on the emotional and psychological dimensions of the piece rather than on specific cultural referents, Falla invites a more universal reading of the work’s themes and implications.
4. Conclusion
⌅This study has provided a comprehensive analysis of the metaphorical dimensions and multimedia interactions within Manuel de Falla’s Noches en los Jardines de España, utilizing Nicholas Cook’s theory of multimedia as a framework for understanding the work’s expressive richness and complexity. The investigation has demonstrated how Falla’s innovative approach to musical language and structure generates a web of cross-modal correspondences and emergent meanings, allowing the work to evoke vivid imagery, associations, and emotional resonances through purely instrumental means.
The examination of conformance, complementation, and contest within Falla’s composition has shed light on the intricate interplay between musical elements and their metaphorical implications. The analysis has shown how Falla’s engagement with Spanish musical idioms, mimetic sound-image relationships, and cyclical formal structures creates a multilayered metaphorical framework that is deeply embedded within the work’s musical fabric. Furthermore, the exploration of the synergistic interactions between Falla’s music and the visual and literary works of his contemporaries has highlighted the potential for multimedia aesthetics to generate new expressive possibilities and challenge traditional notions of artistic boundaries.
Historical reception studies indicate that Noches was praised at its premiere for its synthesis of Spanish folk elements and Impressionist techniques. 28 Isabel Puente Méndez, «Noches en los jardines de España de Manuel de Falla: una lectura sinestésica» (PhD thesis, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 2021). Influenced by both nationalist sentiment and international modernism, audiences could perceive the work simultaneously as an assertion of Spanish cultural identity and as a demonstration of innovative musical language.
By situating Falla’s metaphorical language within the broader context of early 20th-century art and music, this study has also illuminated the composer’s role in the complex negotiations between tradition and innovation that characterized the period. Falla’s ability to translate visual and literary metaphors into musical form while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of musical expression.
Moreover, this analysis has demonstrated the value of applying Cook’s theory to the study of instrumental music, revealing the inherent multimediality of musical language and challenging the notion of music as a self-contained, autonomous art form. By emphasizing the active, imaginative role of the listener in constructing and interpreting musical metaphors, this study invites a reconsideration of the ways in which meaning arises in music and the importance of cross-modal correspondences in shaping musical experience.
Declaration of competing interest
⌅Tthe authors of this article declare that they have no financial, professional or personal conflicts of interest that could have inappropriately influenced this work.
Credit authorship
⌅Yudan Wang: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, resources, validation, visualization, writing - original draft, writing - review & editing.
Eduardo Lopes: conceptualization, methodology, supervision.