José (Luis Turina. A composer of the present for the future)

by Tomás Marco

Article published in the dossier "Twelve names for 1991" of the supplement Gente of Diario 16. Madrid, december 30, 1990


In a country that still calls people who have passed the age of sixty "young composers," a thirty-eight-year-old man must be a "baby composer." But José Luis Turina is nothing less than a young master. Madrilenian, born in 1952, Turina, who bears both the glory and the burden of being the grandson of the celebrated Joaquí n Turina, the author of «Danzas fantá sticas» and «Sinfoní a sevillana» and one of the most well-known Spanish composers of our century, had the audacity to dedicate himself to the same craft as his grandfather: composing.
José Luis Turina was trained in Madrid by composers such as Antón García Abril and Carmelo Bernaola, but from the beginning, he displayed his own creative personality, which soon culminated in an impeccable craft. In Italy, he studied with Franco Donatoni and later combined his creative work with teaching. He was the secretary and then the director of the Conservatory of Cuenca, and since 1985, he has been a harmony professor at the Madrid Conservatory. But long before, he had started a composing career, attracting attention in 1978 with his «Crucifixus» for strings and in 1980 with the orchestral work «Punto de encuentro». The opera «Ligazón», based on Valle-Inclán, successfully toured several parts of Spain starting in 1981, and in 1983, the National Orchestra commissioned a work from him that López Cobos premiered. It was «Pentimento», performed in various places and occasions and has recently been recorded. The «Variations on Two Themes of Scarlatti» and the «Exequias para Fernando Zóbel», on the occasion of the painter's death, increased his broad recognition in 1986. The following year, he composed «Ocnos», a large composition based on Luis Cernuda that won the Reina Sofía Prize and is considered his masterpiece to date, the «Concerto for Violin and Orchestra», which premiered with overwhelming success at the Alicante International Festival and is also about to be released on CD. In 1990, José Luis Turina has been repeatedly in the news, notably for the premiere, commissioned by the Community of Madrid and premiered on May 2, of his choral and string work «Musica ex lingua», which had a significant impact. Another work that will soon be available on CD. And for 1991, he will continue to make headlines, as on January 7, the premiere of «Punto de órgano» is scheduled to be performed by the organist Presentación Ríos during the inaugural concerts of the new organs at the National Auditorium, and only twelve days later, the National Orchestra will reprise his «Concerto for Violin and Orchestra». Later, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra will premiere a new commission: «El arpa y la sombra», based on the work of Alejo Carpentier. And the Alicante Festival will reprise his «Fantasía sobre una Fantasía de Alonso de Mudarra».
José Luis Turina does not risk being simply a fashionable composer because he is already a great master. To his precise professionalism, he adds a first-rate imagination and an ability to make his music acquire an unparalleled sonic appeal that captivates the listener without making concessions to language. He deftly practices avant-garde techniques or postmodern aesthetics. But fundamentally, he is only faithful to himself and is rapidly becoming the great composer of his generation. He is one of the names of the past year and will be of the coming one. But his stay at the pinnacle of music will last a long time. He might even achieve a difficult metamorphosis: eventually no longer being known as the grandson of Joaquín Turina, who in the future might primarily be known as his grandfather.