Just exactly why Turina chose to call the first three works on this CD "sonata" is a puzzle. If any of them has even a single movement in orthodox sonata-allegro form, it escaped my notice (although use is made of the "cyclic" devices of Franck). The same goes for the "Concerto sin orquesta". If anything, the most common classic form encountered on this CD is that of "theme and variations." Although perhaps that means that the moniker "sonata" is not really academically correct as applied to any of the present works, that didn't impair my enjoyment of the music, or keep me from being seduced by its picturesque Spanish charm.
Unquestionably, Turina possessed a natural endowment for creating attractive material, subjecting it to continuous development, and, through it, holding the listener's attention--that alone is an important trait of "sonata" or "symphonic" writing--each work creates its own form, rather in the manner of Debussy.
Liberal pepperings of seventh, ninth and 11th chords together with a coloristic use of euphonious dissonance give the music a popular, very 20th-century, flavor. Turina's idiom is influenced heavily by Debussy, yet always permeated by unmistakable Spanish idiom, harmonic progressions, melodic turns of phrase, and characteristic rhythms. His pianistic figurations are inexhaustibly inventive, as is his ability to ring endless and fascinating changes upon a single motif--I think of him as sort of a 20th-century Scarlatti or Soler.
This vivid music cries out to be played with imagination and highly varied pianistic colors, which Jordi Masó supplies in generous handfuls--highly recommended.
