Joaquin Homs is recognized as the leading pioneer of twelve-tone composition in Spain, but the products of his long life and career were always grounded in romantic expressiveness. French impressionism can be heard in his earliest guitar work, Suite d’Homenatges, and the influence of Bartok in Entre dues linies. His atonal works of the 1950s absorbed the spirit of Wesbern while still communicating Spanish poetic warmth, but his definitive style emerged after the tragically early death of his wife in 1967, with works such as the Soliloquies exploring introspection, concision and silence.
