Music and cultural diplomacy, or a few words about building the brand of 'Spanishness' and the music of Manuel de Falla (on the example of his ballet "El Amor brujo")

Manuel de Falla's (1876-1946) oeuvre was already discussed in terms of national Spanish music and specific Spanish values during the composer's lifetime. Following de Falla's death, some of his compositions, most notably the ballet "El Amor brujo" (1915), which refers to the culture of Gitanos and the phenomenon of flamenco, began to function as emblematically Spanish works, i.e. representative of contemporary Spanish music. As a result of the cultural diplomacy implemented by the Francoist government, flamenco was endorsed internationally as a hallmark of Spanishness. Works referring to flamenco, such as de Falla's "El Amor brujo", were thus also intensively promoted: numerous film productions referring to flamenco alluding to de Falla's ballet in the plot and in the musical layer, significantly contributed to the international success of this work.