Joaquín Turina - Sonata for guitar. Op. 61

0:00 I. (Allegro) 3:42 II. Andante III. 7:29 Allegro vivo

Turina's Sonata for guitar is one of a handful of pieces written for Andrés Segovia in the 1920's and 30's. The work was premiered in 1932 in Rome by Segovia, and programmed by the maestro on a subsequent tour.

The sonata is in three movements, (fast-slow-fast) and is modelled on the classical sonata form. Basically, all of the major composers of the Classical and Romantic Eras wrote sonatas, and by the early Romantic, composers started to play with the form in hopes of doing something new and exciting. In my estimation, Turina played with the form by intermingling the harmonic languages of both Spain and France (where Turina studied composition for nearly a decade). The styles (impressionist, and quasi-flamenco) remain distinct from one another between the sections, not really melding, however this makes the form ever so clear. Despite being deemed worthy of publication, Segovia rejected the Sonata in his own way, as he never recorded the work and didn't really speak highly of the themes. It’s clear from interviews that he preferred the sonatas of Manuel Maria Ponce, which I think is perfectly understandable.

If you are very familiar with the Segovia publication, you may notice some small differences in this video as I took a couple of elements from the original score. There are a few notes changed, and some added scales.

I personally like the Sonata and apparently so do audiences. It fits very well on the instrument, gives us insight as to how someone at the time would compose Impressionistic music for the guitar, and the last movement in particular is excellent for practicing scales and rasgueados. I encourage my more advanced students to try it to keep their technique(s) sharp.

Guitar by Martin Blackwell
Audio and video by Drew

Drew proudly uses Augustine Regal Blue Strings
https://augustinestrings.com/

Enjoy!

Видео Joaquín Turina - Sonata for guitar. Op. 61 канала Drew Henderson