Turriago’s retrospective solo journey

Pianist, composer, and conductor Tuomas Turriago (b. 1979) puts main emphasis on chamber music in his compositional work, but there is no doubt of that the piano, too, is a natural medium for him.

On the Pilfink recording he interprets his entire oeuvre for solo piano, a total of nine works, in reverse chronological order from Somber (2017) to Piano Sonata No. 1 (Janus, 2000). Signature features include flexible dance rhythms, jazz influences, and shimmering textures. Besides, Turriago has experimented with different ideas, such as minimalist repetitiveness in the beautiful Da Lontano… (2011) or Romantic salon style in Remembering (2001), a deliberate pastiche.

Moods after Mompou (2003), in turn, was inspired by the music of the Catalonian composer Federico Mompou, and Through Corridors of Dream (2010) is an extensive set of variations based on Schumann’s Kind im Einschlummern.

Turriago plays energetically, and his booklet texts are disarmingly straightforward. This is no introspective one-man project, however, owing to the diversity of external impulses and the fact that many pieces were originally written for pianist colleagues. The newest works – Da Lontano…, Somber, and the virtuoso etude Jitters (2016) – are the strongest ones, making one look forward to more. 

Tuomas Turriago: Complete piano solo works performed by the composer
Pilfink JJVCD-215