Manuel de Falla and Igor Stravinsky: From National Schools to International Markets

During the first half of the twentieth century, musicians from the so-called “National Schools” combined European classical music with rhythms and melodies from the folkloric roots of their countries, giving way to a renewal and revaluation of traditional music. This chapter studies the economic situation of two great composers ascribed to this movement: Manuel de Falla and Igor Stravinsky. They met in Paris, establishing a friendship until the end of their lives, which in both cases, due to the political situation of their times—marked by armed conflicts—ended far from their place of birth: respectively Argentina and the United States. Both followed radically different business models which resulted in no economic output: Falla avoiding personal fame, Stravinsky becoming a “luxury” brand. The chapter closes with an appendix by the late professor Juan Velarde Fuertes in which he reveals the economic reason behind Falla’s decision not to return to Spain after the Civil War.