Search - Federico Mompou, Herbert Henck :: Mompou: Musica Callada

Hebert Henck's performance of Mompou's Música Callada

Lawrence Duckles | Oakland, CA United States | 11/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Considering his long life (he died in 1987 at 94), Federico Mompou is very little known. Born in Barcelona, he lived for 30 years in Paris, where he knew Satie, Debussy and Ravel. In 1941, he moved back to Barcelona, where he spent the rest of his life. A shy and retiring sort, not given to self-promotion, he concentrated almost exclusively on solo piano music; his Preludes and Canciónes y danzas ("Songs and Dances") remain his most approachable works.
Mompou's "Música Callada," a set 28 piano pieces arranged in four books composed between 1959 and 1967, is his last major work and perhaps his most enigmatic and austere. The title refers to a poem by the Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross, who expressed the idea of music as the voice of silence. Stylistically, these pieces are somewhat reminiscent of Satie, but without Satie's quirky humor; they're more the kind of music you might listen to while looking out the window at wet streets on a rainy afternoon.
German pianist Herbert Henck's exquisite sense of touch and pedaling are ideally suited to these miniatures, and this is certainly the definitive recording (Mompou recorded this work himself, but it was done very late in life, his tempi tend to be very slow and there's an annoying wobble on the original tape). Highest possible recommendation for the Henck version."

Great tranquil classical music

David Brake | London, UK | 03/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like Satie but you've listened to all his stuff and want more Mompou is an excellent choice - particularly if you like Satie's more quiet and tranquil pieces."