Manuel de Falla’s Nana and Polo from Siete canciones populares españolas — Duo Sonidos

Manuel de Falla’s Nana and Polo from Siete canciones populares españolas — Duo Sonidos

Duo Sonidos, featuring William Knuth on violin and Adam Levin on guitar, performed Nana and Polo from Siete canciones populares españ olas by the great Spanish composer Manuel de Falla (1876–1946). Nana, a lullaby that de Falla’s mother reportedly sang to him when he was a child, is delivered in a soothing pianississimo (very, very quietly). Polo, the last song in this work, evokes the fiery flamenco melodies and rhythms of de Falla’s home region of Andalusia in Spain. This program was recorded in gallery 28 of the National Gallery of Art’s West Building, where several works by the artist El Greco hang. Originally from Greece, El Greco eventually found his way to Spain, where he made his mark as a painter and came to be considered the most gifted artist in all of Toledo.