Emma helps Falla

In 1924, as a consequence of the concerts organised in Seville for the first performance of Manuel de Falla's El Retablo de Maese Pedro, the Orquesta Bética de Cámara was founded by Falla, the cellist Segismundo Romero and Eduardo Torres, Choirmaster of Seville Cathedral. Its conductor was Ernesto Halffter. Falla turned immediately to Emma for ideas as to what music of Debussy's would be suitable for small forces, and replying from her sickbed on 26 March, the day after the ‘date cruelle’, the anniversary of Debussy's death, she suggested the Danse sacrée et danse profane, Images, Nocturnes and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune – ‘All without trombone!’ She would help to get hold of the music. In his reply Falla expressed sorrow and sympathy for her illness and the sad anniversary. He selected L’après-midi d’un faune and ‘Nuages’, the first of the three Nocturnes, and asked her to arrange for them to be sent to him as soon as possible. The pieces were first published by Fromont, so there was no prob-lem of royalties due to Durand. Following Emma's negotiations with Jobert, she expressed delight when he decided to lend Falla the material free of charge, a rare gesture from a publisher.

Emma also encouraged Falla to come to Paris as soon as possible to give Louis Laloy the libretto of El Retablo to translate. Despite her being a link between the two men, this was a mission doomed to failure, for a misunderstanding had already taken place concerning the project. Falla's publisher, Chester, had told Laloy in January that they were commissioning someone else to translate El Retablo as they had never received his letter of acceptance. They had appointed Jean-Aubry, who had already begun work on the project. Laloy was surprised that he had not been informed of these developments. To Falla Emma expressed great regret at this outcome.

That spring, the guitarist Andrés Segovia was in Paris giving several performances of Falla's Homenaje, his Hommage à Debussy originally published in the supplement to La Revue musicale of December 1920. Emma wrote to Falla eulogising this work and its interpreter, but complained that he seemed to be forgetting her, beseeching him to come to Paris.