Manual de Falla’s somewhat ‘fiendish’ Harpsichord Concerto dates from just before the Spanish Civil War. (It is certainly fiendishly difficult to play!) Although it was written just before the Civil War broke out, it resounds with the tumult and trouble of the period.
It was originally inspired by the image of a Corpus Christi procession moving slowly through the arches of a Gothic cathedral.
When you first hear this you may be inclined to think that it sounds like a cacophony. Listen to it a few more times, however, and you can sense the beauty of it as well as the compulsiveness of its intensity. It is quite a piece to contemplate in the light of recent tensions in places such as Spain and Catalonia!