Origin, Influences, and Development of the Aragonese Jota in Manuel de Falla: An International Journey of Cosmopolitan Nature

Abstract

The Aragonese jota, a genre deeply embedded in the music of Manuel de Falla, has yet to be studied comprehensively. This article explores the origin, influences, and development of a genre that achieved wide acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic during the 19th century, and to which Falla contributed not only from a folkloric perspective but also with a universalist vision that transcended regionalist views and ideological polarizations of his time. His treatment of the jota brings together influences predating Pedrell’s teachings—such as Romanticism, French culture, Andalusian elements of Arabic origin, and 19th-century songbook revivals, especially that of Inzenga, whose jota stems from Florencio Lahoz—and a marked evolution towards modernist idioms, evident from La vida breve to El sombrero de tres picos, including works like the Quatre pièces espagnoles and Siete canciones populares españolas. Already disseminated in the Americas during the second half of the 19th century through the network surrounding Pauline Viardot-García, the jota took on a cosmopolitan character, which Falla embraced as both a Spanish legacy and a vehicle of global resonance.