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Turina may never regain the fame he enjoyed
in the years surrounding the Spanish Civil War, when he was often mentioned
in the same breath as Falla. His craftsmanship is impressive, but anonymous
‘Spanishry’ too often bolsters melodic and harmonic invention, and many
of his works don’t quite cut the ice of an elusive personality. His most
satisfying compositions are the song cycles and chamber works, and this
3rd volume from enterprising Swiss label Claves certainly makes for absorbing
listening.
The String Quartet Op.4, "De La
Guitarra" and Serenata Op. 87 are separated by a quarter
of a century, during which Turina’s language and style hardly changed.
Both begin with bold, impressionistic gestures—a tremolo and pizzicato
descent in Op.87, the plucking of open ‘guitar’ strings in Op.4—which
bring the music’s Andalusian inspiration immediately to the fore. If the
cyclic form of the Quartet, with its zortzico and zapateado-based
movements, seems over-extended for its material and unrelievedly dense
in texture; the nocturnal Serenata’s thirteen brief, linked sections
form a coherent and imaginative whole, and the quartet writing is far
more varied. Both are played with fervour by the immaculate Quartet Sine
Nomine.
Las Musas de Andalucía, Op.93
is an intriguing hybrid, nine short pieces averaging about three and a
half minutes, scored for a variety of forces and each dedicated to one
of The Blessed Nine. Many of them seem only marginally related to their
particular muse, and the subtitles (At the gates of Rábida,
Orange and Olive Trees, Nocturne …) are far more revealing
than the dedications. The piano features in all but two of the set, and
Ricardo Requejo’s playing is solidly impressive. As far as the solo items
are concerned, the gritty Fugal Farruca for Urania suits him better
than the delicate, light-footed Minuet for Terpsichore. In 1992
soprano María Bayo was just starting a swift rise to fame, and
her two contributions show off her fluid, silky vocal personality to perfection.
The rock-like Hymn for Caliope, muse of epic and heroic poetry,
ends the sequence on a spartan note, its block chords for piano and string
quartet sternly impressive: here and elsewhere, the Sine Nomines shine
both as individuals and in ensemble.
Las Musas may be typical of its
composer in that it obstinately refuses to add up to more than the sum
of its parts, but in this performance those parts are never less than
compelling. Top marks for execution—and for Claves’ full and rich recording,
even though it doesn’t quite encompass a true pianissimo for the
Quartet items. As for the music, all of it is well worth hearing, and
the Serenata is considerably more than that. In this work at least
Turina’s own muse worked the oracle, inspiring him to write a miniature
masterpiece.
Christopher Webber
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Serenata,
Op. 87 For String Quartet
CDTnº2 - J. TURINA
String
Quartet, Op.4, 'De la guitarra'
CDTnº3 - J. TURINA
String
Quartet, Op.4, 'De la guitarra'
CDTnº4 - J. TURINA
String
Quartet, Op.4, 'De la guitarra'
CDTnº5 - J. TURINA
String
Quartet, Op.4, 'De la guitarra'
CDTnº6 - J. TURINA
String
Quartet, Op.4, 'De la guitarra'
CDTnº7 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº8 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº9 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº10 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº11 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº12 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº13 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº14 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
CDTnº15 - J. TURINA
Las
Musas De Andalucia
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Quartet Sine Nomine (Patrick Grenet, violin; François
Gottraux, violin; Nicolas Pache, viola; Marc Jaermann, cello); Ricardo Requejo,
piano; María Bayo, soprano. 