Ironically, Turina’s conversion to his native musical roots took place not in Spain but in Paris. Arriving in what was the centre of the world for so many Spanish musicians working around the turn of the century, the young composer and pianist from Seville studied principally with Vincent d’Indy (and briefly with the virtuoso Moritz Moszkowski), and also met both Debussy, Fauré and Ravel. Despite the attraction of Spanish music for the French impressionists, it was a fellow countryman, Isaac Albéniz, who had encouraged Turina to rediscover his Andalusian voice.

The change in style that this encounter encouraged is clearly heard on this new recording of all four of the piano trios, beginning with the unnumbered and rarely heard Trio in F of 1904. Rediscovered only in 1999, it is given a warm and thoughtful performance which brings out all the richness of its post-Romantic language. The stylistic contrast with the First and Second Trios is great: the Spanish influence is particularly strong in the second-movement theme-and-variations of the First Trio and predominates in the Second despite its Brahmsian opening.

Turina’s masterpiece in the piano trio medium is undoubtedly Círculo, completed on the eve of the Spanish Civil War. Abstractly conceived, it depicts the progress of the day from the first tentative signs of morning to a slow descent into the tranquillity of evening via the energetic movement of midday, with swirling brushstrokes of Spanish colour at their most dramatic. These beautifully shaped and phrased performances, with the piano providing a sensitive but never overpowering foil to a perfectly blended string sound, bring out the extraordinary variety of these enchanting miniatures. Highly recommended.