Turina: Piano Music, Volume 12

This penultimate volume of Joaquín Turina’s complete piano works features his “programmatic” pieces: music inspired by local scenes or texts by the late-Romantic poet and author Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–70). The “tragicomedy” Recuerdos de mi rincón (Memories of my little corner) is a lighthearted divertissement with twelve miniscenes that portray local characters from Turina’s Madrid neighbourhood, while La Venta de los Gatos (The Cat’s Inn) brims with truly inspired and beautiful moments. El Cristo de la Calavera (Christ of the Skull) further reveals Turina’s deft touch for dramatic and picturesque style while faithfully adapting Bécquer’s story to include every detail. Originally composed for a stage drama, Navidad is filled with Christmas carols and traditional melodies.