Joaquin Turina
1882-1949
At the age of 20, Turina left his home in Seville,
to study in Paris where he studied composition with D’Indy. However it was his
first meeting with Albeniz and Falla that had a profound effect on his life.
Albeniz had taken Falla and Turina to a café on the Rue Royale: “There I
realised that music should be an art, and not a diversion for the frivolity of
women and the dissipation of men. We were three Spaniards gathered together in
that corner of Paris and it was our duty to fight bravely for the national
music of our country.”
In 1914, the war prompted his return to Spain. He
performed his piano works and songs at a concert in honour of him and Falla, at
the Ateneo de Madrid. He travelled extensively performing his work and wrote
theatrical pieces with Gregorio Martínez Sierra, all Andalusian in essence,
brilliant, vigorous and lyrical and inspired by Spanish folk music.
During the Civil War, Turina was one of the
musicians welcomed to the open house of British Consul John Milanés. Many of
Turina’s works had their first performance here and he dedicated “En el
Cortijo” to the Milanés Family as a tribute to the Anglo-Spanish friendship.
After war his prestige increased and he received
national tribute with the Grand Cross of Alfonso the Wise. In 1930 he was
professor of composition at Madrid Conservatoire and became Commissioner of the
ministry of Education for Music, helping to rebuild musical life in Spain.
Turina was a kind man who loved simplicity and beauty.
His music has subtle elegance and grace, evoking Sevillian patios glimpsed
through wrought-iron gateways, a murmuring fountain and the gentle sound of a
guitar in the distance. “Sevillanismo”, the poetry of Seville, is a state of
mind and soul: the eternal melancholy of the guitar weeping for far-off things,
echoes of cultures long since faded.
In 1929, after hearing the Catalan mezzo-soprano,
Conchita Supervía, in Madrid, he wrote an orchestral version of Saeta and
Farruca for her premier in London. Saeta
with text by librettists and poets Serafín Alvarez and Joaquín Quintero is
based on the popular prayers sung spontaneously by the people of Andalusia at
the passing of the Holy Week processions. The unaccompanied singing during the
halt of the procession is evoked in some of piano accompaniment, following Turina’s
indication, “as passing trumpets”.
Farruca, which uses verses by
Ramón de Campoamor, is the first piece of the Tríptico opus 45. It is completed
by two other songs, using poems by the Duque de Rivas. For its full
expressiveness, Farruca requires a rending Andalusian voice, with echoes of
“gitanería”, gypsy passion and flamboyance.
My Translations
Saeta en forma de salve a la Virgen de la Esperanza
God protect thee, Macarena,
Mother
of the people of Seville.
Peace and Life!
You who relieves all suffering,
You who heals with your hands
All wounds!
God protect thee, light of Heaven, Listen on YouTube
Eternal star
And eternal dawn of prosperity!
You who give shelter to all who despair;
The divine giver of hope.
God protect thee, Maria,
Mother, full of grace,
Soul of Andalusia,
Sun
of the Macarena!
It is you’re your image that I admire,
So attached to my desire,
That when I look in a mirror,
Instead of seeing myself, I see you! Ah!
Do not come, false happiness,
Calling to my heart,
For you bring hope
Wrapped
in remorse. Ah!
I go towards the light of the moon,
So
fervently following its shadow,
That
there is only one shadow
And our two bodies become one.
©Copyright Helena Kean
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