Stephen Hough - Mompou: Piano Music - Canciones y Danzas, Preludes etc. (1997)

Tracklist

01. Canción y Danza No. 7
02. Prelude No. 1
03. Cants Màgics: I. Energic
04. Cants Màgics: II. Obscur
05. Cants Màgics: III. Profond: Lent
06. Cants Màgics: IV. Misteriós
07. Cants Màgics: V. Calma
08. Canción y Danza No. 5
09. Prelude No. 5
10. Charmes: I. … pour endormir la souffrance
11. Charmes: II. … pour pénétrer les âmes
12. Charmes: III. … pour inspirer l'amour
13. Charmes: IV. … pour les guérisons
14. Charmes: V. … pour évoquer l'image du passé
15. Charmes: VI. … pour appeler la joie
16. Canción y Danza No. 8
17. Prelude No. 7 "Palmier d'étoiles"
18. 3 Variations: Theme. [Untitled]
19. 3 Variations: Var. 1. Les soldats
20. 3 Variations: Var. 2. Courtoisie
21. 3 Variations: Var. 3. Nocturne
22. Canción y Danza No. 3
23. Prelude No. 9
24. Dialogues I, II: I. Plaintif
25. Dialogues I, II: II. Modéré
26. Canción y Danza No. 1
27. Prelude No. 10
28. Paisajes: I. La fuente y la campana
29. Paisajes: II. El Lago
30. Paisajes: III. Carros de Galicia
31. Canción y Danza No. 9
32. Prelude No. 6

Without a spirit of childhood in the listener, the music of the Catalan Federico Mompou can seem almost infantile. The style the composer himself calls 'primitivista' involves no bar lines, key signatures or other such paraphernalia of 'organized' composition, and at first sight owes much to Satie. However the latter's cynicism here finds expression in genuine innocence and wonder.

The titles of the four complete sets recorded here give some impression of what is to be expected: Cants Mágics, Charmes … but these titles can also be unhelpful, implying order when none is meant; the Cancións y Danzas are not part of a set as such, and the six examples here span some three decades.

All of these miniatures (the longest is under six minutes) capture a world that is at once very real (Mompou describes his 'favourite place' as being the 'solitude of all large towns') and yet somehow set at a distance from the mundane through piano writing of plain and unpretentious vision.

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