Abstract

Lorca's Musical Legacy: From Strayhorn to Golijov

This paper will examine various musical adaptations of Lorca's poetry and theater in Spain, the United States, and elsewhere, in the context of the overall creative reception of his legacy. I will consider two central tendencies in this body of work: (1) adaptations of Lorca in the Flamenco idiom, and (2) works that re-situate his poetry in other musical genres. I will link these two tendencies to the tension in Lorca's legacy between "centripetal" and "centrifugal" impulses, between the creation of a unitary "Lorca myth" and the fragmentation of Lorca into multiple images.

Billy Strayhorn, George Crumb, Dmitri Shostakovich, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Enrique Morente, and Osvaldo Golijov are among the most prominent musical figures who have taken an interest in Lorca, providing a rich body of material for analysis.