Federico Mompou and Musica Callada

la música callada,
la soledad sonora,
the silent music,
the sonorous solitude,

While playing these little musical gems, I kept wondering: what did he create, or what did he imbue into the music that, despite its simple texture, possesses such strong emotional power to touch the depths of our souls and hearts?

“The truest meaning of these phrases, Mompou suggested subsequently, was lost in translation and their deepest inference could be appreciated by native Spanish speakers only.” During a concert in July, where I performed this programme, there was a poet in the audience who specialised in Spanish. He suggested that a more fitting translation could be “the Hushed Music.”

I find that composers’ late works often exhibit a refined use of their compositional techniques, allowing them to express a truer version of themselves, enriched by the depth of their life experiences.. Mompou is no exception. Musica Callada, one of his major works from his later years, is an excellent example of self-reflection—who he is, what he experienced, and his thoughts afterward. Mompou himself was a very fine pianist, and he recorded the complete piano works when he was eighty-one years old. In Musica Callada, one of his childhood memories, "the bells," often recurs—his family were originally bell makers, and quoting the sound of bells reflects a sound memory from his childhood. (see marked score Fig.1,2,3) 

In these miniatures, another reflection of Mompou as a composer and musician is the influence of French music. At the age of nine, he heard Gabriel Fauré’s performance and was inspired to become a musician. Like many other young Spanish artists, Mompou was drawn to the flourishing artistic environment in France, where he absorbed and was nourished by it to develop his own musical language. Another composer with whom I find many similarities is Satie. Satie composed numerous miniatures and played an indispensable role in the surrealism movement. However, Mompou’s music is fused with his own unique style. Whether using Spanish folk music or creating the most beautiful and simple melody, as in "Girls in the Garden" ("Jeunes filles au Jardin") from Scenes d'enfants, inspired by observing young children playing in a garden, it is all realised because Mompou is Mompou. “The apparent simplicity in Mompou's music is also a reflection of his personal habits and character; careful, patient, prudent and introverted.” According to Clara Janés, these verses "expressed and also defined Mompou the man, the intimate Mompou, the last Mompou, the Mompou that already existed in the seed since his birth, and that only through the continuous passing of the years became evident."