José Luis Turina Explained

José Luis Turina (born 1952, in Madrid) is a Spanish composer, grandson^[1] of Joaquín Turina.

He studied composition under Antón García Abril, Román Alís, Rodolfo Halffter and Carmelo Bernaola at the conservatories of Barcelona and Madrid, and then, with a grant from the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs for studying at the Spanish Fine Arts Academy in Rome, he attended the classes in composition given by Franco Donatoni at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

In 1981, his work Meeting Point won the First Prize in the International Composition Contest organised by the Orchestra of the Valencia Conservatory to mark their first centenary. In 1986 he won the First Prize of the Musical Composition Contest “Queen Sofía”, from the Ferrer Salat Foundation, with his piece Ocnos (orchestral music on poems by Luis Cernuda). He was awarded Spain's Premio Nacional de Música for composition in 1996.^[2]

Teacher of Harmony in the Conservatories of Cuenca and Madrid since 1981, in 1993 he was designated technical advisor of the Ministry for Education and Science, for the reformation of musical teaching in the realm of the new education law of 1990. In February 2001 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, position he held until his retirement in March 2020, and from 2004 until 2015 he was the President of the Spanish Association of Youth Orchestras. In April 2023 he entered as a member of the Music Section of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

In September 2000 the world premiere of his opera D. Q. (Don Quijote in Barcelona), on a text by Justo Navarro and in a production by La Fura dels Baus, took place in the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona, Spain). In November 2001 the Tokyo String Quartet played with great success the world premiere of his string quartet “Clémisos y Sustalos”, written as a commission for them. In October 2004, the Brodsky Quartet premiered his string quartet “The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ on the Cross” in Cadiz. In January 2006, he was the focus of the Contemporary Music Cycle of the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, which played 18 of his compositions, and released both an extensive biographical study and a CD of five of his orchestral pieces.

Selected works

Opera & stage works

Ligazon (1981–82), chamber opera in one act and 5 scenes, based on a play by Ramón del Valle-Inclán, premiered 2 July 1982, in Cuenca.^[3]
La raya en el agua (1995-95). Premiere: 26 September 1996, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid
D.Q. (Don Quijote en Barcelona) (1998–99); Opera in 3 acts, based on the Miguel de Cervantes novel Don Quixote; libretto by Justo Navarro, staged by La Fura dels Baus at the Liceu, Barcelona. (2 October 2000)^[4]
Tour de Manivelle (2006-2007), music theatre work for actress, orchestra and video, texts by the composer and five short films by Segundo de Chomón. Premiere: May 2008, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid.

Orchestral

Punto de encuentro (1979)
Pentimento (1983)
Fantasía sobre una Fantasía de Alonso Mudarra (1989)
El arpa y la sombra (1991)
Música fugitiva (1992)
Fantasía sobre doce notas (1994)
Dos danzas sinfónicas (1996)
La Commedia dell'Arte (2007)

Concertante

Ocnos (orchestral music on poems by Luis Cernuda) (1982–84), for speaker, cello and orchestra
Concierto para violín y orquesta (1987)
Variaciones y desavenencias sobre temas de Boccherini (1988), concerto for harpsichord and orchestra
Concierto para piano y orquesta (1997)
Concerto da chiesa (1998), for cello and strings
Cuatro sonetos de Shakespeare (2001-2002), for soprano and orchestra
Concierto para marimba y cuerdas (2012)

Choir & Orchestra

Exequias (In memoriam Fernando Zóbel) (1984), choir and chamber orchestra
Musica ex lingua (1989), on texts by Agustín García Calvo, Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora, José Bergamín, Ramón del Valle-Inclán and Francisco de Quevedo
Tres villancicos (2006)

Choir

Para saber si existo (1979), on poems by Gabriel Celaya
Per la morte di un capolavoro (1995), on a poem by Gabriele D'Annunzio
Canzon de cuna pra Rosalía Castro, morta (2003), on poems by Rosalía de Castro and Federico García Lorca
Ritirata notturna (2009)

Accompanied voice

Epílogo del misterio (1979), on poems by José Bergamín (mezzo-soprano and piano)
Primera antolojía (1979), on poems by Juan Ramón Jiménez (soprano and piano)
Tres sonetos (1992), on poems by Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora and Francisco de Quevedo (low voice, clarinet, violin/viola and piano)
Tres poemas cantados (1993), on poems by Federico García Lorca (soprano and piano)
Canción apócrifa (1994), on a poem by Antonio Machado (soprano and piano)
Cinco canciones amatorias (1994), on poems by Catalan writers of 14th-16th centuries (soprano and piano or strings)
En forma de cuento (1994), on a poem by Rafael Alberti
Callada partida (2013), on a poem by Conchita Colón (mezzo and piano sextet)
Nada te turbe (2014), on a poem by Santa Teresa (narrator and piano)
Cinco canciones verdes (2016), on poems by Safo, Delmira Agustini, Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli, Rainer Maria Rilke and Catulo (soprano and piano)
Salomé, cáliz vacío (2016), on poems by Delmira Agustini, texts by Oscar Wilde y excerpts from Salomé de Richard Strauss (soprano/actress and piano)
Soneto Quasi una Fantasía (2017), on the sonnet "A Beethoven" by Gerardo Diego (soprano and piano)

Chamber

Movimiento (1978), for violin and piano
Crucifixus (1978), for 20 strings and piano
Homenaje a Cesar Franck (1979), for wind quintet
Iniciales (1980), for flute and piano
Título a determinar (1980), for septet
Fantasía sobre "Don Giovanni" (1980), for piano four-hands
Trio (1982), for violin, cello and piano
Variaciones sobre dos temas de Scarlatti (2005), for sextet
Cuarteto en sol (1985), for string quartet
La Commedia dell'Arte (1986), for flute, viola and guitar, and (1990), for flute, viola and harp
Variaciones sobre un tema de Prokofiev (1986), for bassoon and piano
Sonata da chiesa (1986–87), for viola and piano
Divertimento, aria y serenata (1987), for viola octet, and (1991), for cello octet
Dos duetos (1988), for cello and piano, and (1992), for viola and piano
Kammerconcertante (1988), for flute in g, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello and double-bass
Seis metaplasmos (1990), for two violins
Variaciones y tema (series 1 & 2), sobre el Tema con variaciones "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman!", de W. A. Mozart (1990), for violin and piano, and (2008), for two pianos
Túmulo de la mariposa (1991), for clarinet, cello and piano
Sonata y Toccata (1991), for piano four-hands
Rosa engalanada (1992), for flute and guitar
Cuatro cuartetos (1994), for basset-horn quartet
Tres palíndromos (1996), for piano four-hands
Scherzo para un hobbit (1997), for quintet
PasoDoppio (1999), for clarinet and cello
Paráfrasis sobre "Don Giovanni" (2000), for cello octet
Clémisos y Sustalos (2001), for string quartet
Tres tercetos (2003), for violin, cello and piano
Octeto de agua (2004), wind octet
Las siete últimas palabras de Jesucristo en la cruz (2004), for string quartet
Sonata (2004), for violin and piano
Viaggio di Parnaso (2005), for violin, cello and piano
Cinco quintetos (2005), for brass quintet
Hércules y Cronos (2008), for brass and percussion ensemble
Danzas entrelazadas (2011), for flute, clarinet, percussion and piano sextet
Die Windsbraut (2012), for wind quintet
Paganini 24 (2013), for nonet
Encore alla turca (2014), for nonet
Burlesca (2015), for clarinet and piano sextet
Seis fragmentos de "D.Q. (Don Quijote en Barcelona)" (2016), for wind quintet
El juego del Cíclope (2017), for trombone and harp
Bach in excelsis (2017), for string quartet
Consolación (2018), for french horn and piano
El viento que nunca duerme (2019), for flute, violin, viola and cello

Solo

Copla de cante jondo (1980), for guitar
¡Ya "uté" ve...! (1982), for piano
En volandas (1982), for cello
Dubles (1983), for flute
Scherzo (1986), for piano
Amb "P" de Pau (1986), for piano
Cinco preludios a un tema de Chopin (1987), for piano
Cuatro estudios en forma de pieza (1989), for guitar
Cuatro estudios en forma de pieza (1989), for guitar
Due essercizi (1989), for harpsichord
Punto de órgano (1990), for organ
Notas dormidas (1992), for harp
Monólogos del viento y de la roca (1993), for guitar
Preludio sobreesdrújulo (1994), for guitar
Toccata (Homenaje a Manuel de Falla) (1995), for piano
L'art d'être touché par le clavecin (Sonata para clave) (2000), for harpsichord
Homenaje a Isaac Albéniz (I. Jaén) (2001), for piano
Partita (2001), for double-bass
Catdenza (2003), for clarinet
Soliloquio (in memoriam Joaquim Homs) (2004), for piano
Saeta (2006), for marimba
Homenaje a Isaac Albéniz (II. León) (2009), for piano
Dos cuadros de Marc Chagall (2009), for violin
Homenaje a Isaac Albéniz (III. Salamanca) (2010), for piano
Arboretum (2010), for guitar
El guardián entre los pinos (2011), for piano
Collage, (on the Prelude #20 and the 24 Preludes by Chopin) (2014), for piano
Jeu du solitaire (2012), for violin
Viola joke (2017), capriccio for viola

Discography (selection)

Crucifixus (1978), for 20 strings and piano
Epílogo del misterio (1979), on poems by José Bergamín (mezzo-soprano and piano)
Punto de encuentro (1979), for orchestra
Primera antolojía (1979), on poems by Juan Ramón Jiménez (soprano and piano)
Copla de cante jondo (1980), for guitar
Fantasía sobre "Don Giovanni" (1980), for piano four-hands
Título a determinar (1980), for septet
Iniciales (1980), for flute and piano
En volandas (1982), for solo cello
Trio (1982), for violin, cello and piano
Pentimento (1983), for orchestra
Ocnos (orchestral music on poems by Luis Cernuda) (1982–84), for speaker, cello and orchestra
Exequias (In memoriam Fernando Zóbel) (1985), for choir and chamber orchestra
Variaciones sobre dos temas de Scarlatti (1985), for sextet
Amb "P" de Pau (1986), for piano
Scherzo (1986), for piano
Concierto para violín y orquesta (1987)
Kammerconcertante (1988), for alto flute, bass clarinet and string quartet
Fantasía sobre una Fantasía de Alonso Mudarra (1989), for orchestra
Musica ex lingua (1989), for choir and orchestra
Dos duetos (1989), for viola and piano
Due essercizi (1989), for harpsichord
Cuarteto con piano (1990)
El arpa y la sombra (1991), for orchestra
Túmulo de la mariposa (1991), for clarinet, cello and piano
Música fugitiva (1992), for orchestra
Rosa engalanada (1992), for flute and guitar
Monólogos del viento y de la roca (1993), for guitar
Fantasía sobre doce notas (1994), for orchestra
Dos danzas sinfónicas (1996), for orchestra
Concierto para piano y orquesta (1997)
Scherzo para un hobbit (1997), for quintet
D.Q. (Don Quijote en Barcelona) (1998–99), opera
L'art d'être touché par le clavecin (Sonata para clave) (2000), for harpsichord
Homenaje a Isaac Albéniz (I. Jaén) (2001), for piano
Octeto de agua (2004), for wind octet
Soliloquio (in memoriam Joaquim Homs) (2004), for piano
Cinco quintetos (2005), for brass quintet
La Commedia dell'Arte (2007), for orchestra
Homenaje a Isaac Albéniz (II. León) (2009), for piano
Collage, (on the Prelude #20 and the 24 Preludes by Chopin) (2014), for piano
Dos cuadros de Marc Chagall (2009), for violin
Exequias (In memoriam Fernando Zóbel) (1984) for choir and chamber orchestra
Viola joke (2017), capriccio for viola

External links

José Luis Turina website

Notes and References

Book: Chang, Chuin-Fan . The fusion of the traditional and the contemporary . 1998.
http://www.mcu.es/artesEscenicas/CE/Premios/MusicaPremiados.html List of national music prize winners
International Music Guide "This included the opera Ligazon by the young composer Jose Luis Turina, grandson of Joaquin Turina, to a libretto by Valle Inclan, which was received with great acclaim."
María M. Delgado Other Spanish theatres 2003