Joaquín Turina Pérez was born in Sevilla on the 9th of December 1882. Born into a comfortable middle class family, he was surrounded by an artistic environment that was a good influence on the future musician. At the age of four he was given as a gift an accordion and surprised everyone with the speed and facility he learned to play.

In 1894 he began his formal studies of harmony theory and counterpoint. Almost immediately he began to compose small pieces. His debut was on March 14 1897 where he performed the Thalberg's Fantasy on a theme from Rossini's Moses that set him on the road to become a full fledged performer. In 1902 he moved to Madrid where he quickly became involved in the musical scene there and saw the premier of his Zarzuela La sulamita. In 1905 he, as most other Spanish composers of the time, went to Paris. He studied piano with Moszkowsky and theory under Vicent d'Indy in the Schola Cantorum. He became good friends with Albeniz and Falla, and it was Albeniz who encouraged to find inspiration in the popular music of Spain and Andalucía. His quintet that was premiered in Paris was given the Op. 1 as the beginning of a new way of looking at music and he rarely looked back on the many works published before this time.

In 1914 he returned to Madrid he life in Madrid was divided between composing, teaching and performing. Turina died in Madrid on the 14th of January 1949.