Manuel de Falla was born in Cádiz, Spain, on November 23, 1876, and died in Alta Gracia, Argentina, on November 14, 1946. The first performance of The Three-Cornered Hat took place at the Alhambra Theater in London, England, on July 22, 1919, with Ernest Ansermet conducting. 

The Suites Nos. 1 and 2 are collectively scored for piccolo, two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, suspended cymbal, snare drum, triangle, glockenspiel, tam-tam, xylophone, castanets, piano, harp/celesta, and strings. Approximate performance time is twenty-three minutes.

The premiere of Manuel de Falla’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat was staged by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes at the London Alhambra Theater on July 22, 1919. Léonide Massine was the choreographer, and Pablo Picasso designed the sets and costumes. The story concerns a Miller, the Miller’s Wife, and the Corregidor (the Governor, whose hat provides the source of the ballet’s title), who has designs on the beautiful young woman.

The Suite No. 1 opens with a brief excerpt from the Introduction, featuring trumpets, drums, and castanets. The curtain rises on a small esplanade that forms an approach to a mill (Afternoon). The Miller and his Wife attend to their chores. As the Miller hides behind a tree, the Miller’s Wife, pretending not to notice the Corregidor’s admiring stares, begins to dance a lusty Fandango (Dance of the Miller’s Wife). The Miller’s Wife dances around the Corregidor (The Grapes). The Corregidor clumsily tries both to eat the grapes offered by the Wife, and to steal a kiss. The Miller rushes in, and the embarrassed Corregidor storms away.

Suite No. 2 begins with The Neighbors’ Dance (Seguidillas). It is St. John’s Night, and the Miller and his Wife join their neighbors, who celebrate with a leisurely dance. The Miller’s Wife thanks her friends and then asks her husband to dance. The Miller’s Dance is a Farruca (introduced by the solo horn and English horn) that builds in intensity. 

The ballet’s concluding scene (Final Dance. Jota) is a whirlwind of activity and mistaken identities. The confusion builds as the people of the village gather to celebrate St. John’s Night. The Corregidor is defeated, and the people use a blanket to toss the humiliated man in the air. The crowd’s joyous celebration concludes Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat.