Danzas fantásticas

The Danzas Fantasticas – Fantastical Dances – of Joaquin Turina are the composer’s best known work, originally scored for Piano but Orchestrated by the composer and performed first in 1920 in their Orchestrated version. The work is full of exalted, romantic melodies, Iberian flourishes and exciting instrumental writing. The work quotes passages from the novel La Orgía (The Orgy) by José Más at the beginning of each of the three movements.

The movements are Exaltación, a jota dance in 3/8, Ensueño (Dream) a zortziko in 5/8 and Orgía, a farruca, all regional dances of Spain.Joaquin Turina is often contrasted with Albéniz and Granados, those two proponents of a Spanish nationalstyle. Turina strove to write music of a European standard in the conventional major forms and it is possible to hear the influence of Turina’s years studying in Paris, as well as his native Spain combined with the composer’s own unique Voice.