Frederic
MOMPOU
Piano Music : Volume 3
Variations sur un thème de Chopin
Trois variations
Souvenirs de l'exposition
Paisajes (Landscapes)
Pessebres (Cribs)
Impressions intimes. Planys (Lamentations)
Jordi Masó (piano)
Recorded 1999
NAXOS 8. 554570
[73.47]
Crotchet
Amazon
UK
I had my first encounter with the name of Frederic Mompou when reviewing
Volume 2 of this series in a newspaper for classical music enthusiasts. This
Catalan composer (1893-1987) is not a frequently heard name and Jordi Masó
is doing his level best via Naxos to get his music more widely known and
is making a good job of the result too. Like its predecessor (and for all
I know also Volume 1) this disc contains some very attractive music and
Masó reveals himself as a dedicated camp follower with stylish, committed
playing (on this disc he seems now to have rid himself of excessive pedalling
which is welcome). The composer's French musical education is immediately
obvious in his harmonic language and the flavour of his mood painting. The
music featured on this disc spans a wide range of years from 1914 to 1960
though you would not discern the passage of so many years in which music
moved on.
Mompou's tonal palette is somewhat limited by much emphasis on slowish to
very slow tempo markings (there is hardly any animated music anywhere), even
his choice of theme in the case of the 1938 set of twelve variations is one
of Chopin's ruminative melodies (and one of his most famous, the Prelude
No.7 in A major Op.28), centered around its tenth called Évocation.
All the works featured are, very similar, very soothing and can be recommended
as highly listenable music (hardly any dissonances), and therefore not surprising
to learn that Mompou held the view that 'maximum expressiveness is to be
achieved through minimum means' and certainly his piano writing can be spare
and highly translucent, his melodies suffused with a hauntingly naïve
quality. Taken in small doses it should prove very pleasant on the ear.
Christopher Fifield
Performance
Recording
