Keywords
guitar, historically inspired performance, gut strings, period instrument, stylistic hybridity, Tárrega school, flamenco
Abstract
Manuel de Falla’s Homenaje pour “Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy” presents a complex identity knot that reflects Debussyan Alhambrism back onto its inspiration, drawing from both classical and folk traditions. This is the first research project to approach that knot from the perspective of historically inspired performance. It identifies a fascinating counterpart to its complexity in the stylistically hybrid guitar practices that were common at the time Falla composed his miniature masterpiece. The authors therefore propose that a historically inspired performer of Homenaje can act as a stylistic free agent, traversing the continuum of styles that gave birth to Falla’s vignette in search of a coherent collage of historically informed puzzle pieces. To help define this agent’s field of play, they examine a set of interpretational issues through the lenses of both classical and Andalusian folk practices. They do this by cross-referencing early twentieth-century scores, recordings, and methods, and by experimenting on a gut-strung period instrument. In this way, the project provides concrete possibilities to the historically inspired guitarist who wants to understand what Homenaje’s complex stylistic history might mean in practice.
Recommended Citation
Efstathopoulos, Yiannis. “The Performer as Stylistic Free Agent: A Historically Inspired Approach to Interpreting Manuel de Falla’s Homenaje.” Soundboard Scholar 11 (2026). https://digitalcommons.du.edu/sbs/vol11/iss1/13.