Allegro mañana from Palillos y Panderetas

There is no doubt where we are with Rodrigo’s Palillos y Panderetas. As the title “Castanets and Tombourines” indicates, we could scarcely be anywhere else but Spain. Whether it has more of Valencia, where the composer was born, or Madrid, whose mayor commissioned the piece in 1982, is not very important. The sound of the castanets in Allegro mañana (the third of the three movements) together with the guitar-like strumming on lower strings, the street-musicians’ trumpets and the verve of the dance tune introduced by strident violins would make it seem at home in any Spanish city.