BSO: Viva Espana

About

Turina composed Danzas Fantásticas a few years after returning to Spain, inspired by the novel La Orgía by his friend José Más. All three pieces draw on traditional Spanish song and dance idioms, rhythmically energetic and featuring lovely lyrical interludes. A Moorish flavour is also present in de Falla’s set of symphonic impressions of the great gardens of Granada and Cordoba, incorporating dance rhythms of Andalusia, Debussy’s shimmering Iberia, extols the musical magnetism that Spain seemed to exert on French composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, combining customary Spanish fire and spice with Gallic elegance. Commissioned to write a ballet, Ravel incorporated the “bolero” dance into his score which depicts a young gypsy woman as she begins a slow, languid dance. Entranced by her movements the other café dancers join in, one by one, until everyone is dancing, with the pace slowly quickening into a dramatic climax. It has the power to mesmerise the senses and quicken the pulse more effectively than any other piece of music.