Danzas Fantásticas

Danzas fantásticas, opus 22, is the best known work by the Spanish composer Joaquín Turina. It was written in 1919, originally for solo piano, and later orchestrated. However, the orchestral version was the first to be performed. The name of the work is sometimes translated as Fantasy Dances, but more usually as Fantastic Dances. The work was inspired by the novel La orgía by José Mas, and quotations from the novel were printed on the score at the start of each dance. The finale, Orgía, is an Andalusian farruca : the perfume of the flowers merged with the odor of manzanilla, and from the bottom of raised glasses, full of wine incomparable as incense, joy flowed. The work was dedicated to Turina's wife, Obdulia Garzon.