Joaquín Turina Pérez (9 December 188214 January 1949) was a Spanish
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
of
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
.''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
. He studied in Seville as well as in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. He lived in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20t ...
, while in Paris he familiarized himself with the impressionist composers
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
and
Claude Debussy
Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
, whose music had a profound influence on his compositional practice.Marco, Tomás (1993) ''Spanish Music in the Twentieth Century'' pp. 36–44. Harvard University Press
On 10 December 1908 he married Obdulia Garzón and together they had five children. She was the dedicatee of the '' Danzas fantásticas,'' which he completed in 1919.
Along with Falla, he returned to Madrid in 1914, working as a composer, teacher and critic. On 28 March 1916, he joined the Madrid Symphony Orchestra at the Hotel Ritz of Madrid to perform the premiere of Falla's revised orchestral version of '' El amor brujo.'' In the early months of 1929, he visited
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Hispanic-Cuban Institute of Culture.
In 1931 he was made professor of composition at the Madrid Royal Conservatory. Among his notable pupils were Vicente Asencio and Celedonio Romero. He died in Madrid in 1949.Draayer, Suzanne Rhodes (2009) ''Art Song Composers of Spain: An Encyclopedia'' pp. 320–330. Scarecrow Press
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
s ''
Margot Margot ( , ) is a feminine given name, a French language, French diminutive of Marguerite (given name), Marguerite that has long been used as an independent name. Variant spellings in use include Margo (given name), Margo and Margaux (name), Margaux ...
'' (1914) and '' Jardín de Oriente'' (1923), the ''Danzas fantásticas'' (1919, versions for piano and orchestra), ''La oración del torero'' (written first for a
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lu ...
quartet, then
string quartet
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
, then string orchestra),
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
,
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
works,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
pieces and
song
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
s. Much of his work shows the influence of traditional
Andalusia
Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
n music.Amat, C.G., ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians'', Oxford University Press, ç1982 He also wrote a short one-movement ''Rapsodia sinfónica'' (1931) for piano and orchestra. His music often conveys a feeling of rapture or exaltation. His guitar works include ''Fandanguillo'' and ''Hommage à Tárrega'', which were written for Andrés Segovia. The dedicatee and/or first performer of a number of his piano works was José Cubiles.
During the 1920s and 1930s, he frequently visited
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
and interacted with various Catalan artists, critics and intellectuals, such as Manuel Clausells, Joan Lamote de Grignon, Eugenio d'Ors, Oleguer Junyent, Frank Marshall, Rafael Moragas, Jaime Pahissa and Santiago Rusiñol. He also collaborated with various musical institutions, such as the Associació Música da Camera, the Barcelona Municipal Band or the Pau Casals Orchestra. As a result of this relationship, he composed ''Evocaciones'', a set of three pieces for piano that become a tribute to
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
and that include a sardana. On 23 October 1928, together with
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Palau de la Música Catalana.