Album insights
Federico Mompou created music that, as Stephen Hough once wrote, represented "the music of evaporation"—a peculiar strategy for a composer. Most composers typically build up their musical material over time, strengthening it through a rigorous process of development before allowing it to take flight. Some music boldly asserts itself while others blur their traces. Hough's description places Mompou firmly in the latter category. But how can music "evaporate," and how should we listen to music that desperately tries not to exist?
Música callada raises these questions upfront and simultaneously captivates with its persistent refusal to provide simple answers. Compiled between 1959 and 1967, this four-volume work appears to encapsulate Mompou's compositional preferences and concerns developed over five decades. The extensive Música callada, lasting about seventy minutes, might indicate that this was Mompou's creative culmination. Yet the music itself tells a different story—it doesn't resolve, leaving loose ends untied, remaining entirely open and susceptible to change—a potential restart rather than a shutdown.
Mompou's title, taken from the Cántico espiritual of the Spanish mystic and Carmelite monk John of the Cross, reflects a search for the soul's union with God. One stanza addresses the philosophical contradiction between the images of "música callada" and "soledad sonora"—"silent music" and "resounding solitude." Mompou later suggested that the true meaning of these expressions had been lost in translation and could only be understood by native Spanish speakers. Thus, Música callada became a sonic communication, speaking where words fail.
The opening piece titled "Angelico" initiates a series of 28 miniatures resembling carefully polished gemstones slowly revealed, uncovering the essence rather than evolving traditionally. Instead of a series forming a symphonic journey, Mompou's music emphasizes savoring individual moments. This approach diverges from composers building strong connections in their material, as Mompou erases structural supports, allowing his music to float towards the ether.
Mompou's music, notably Música callada, reflects a calm, intricate, and enigmatic quality—a kind of Venetian mirror reflecting past, present, and future musical landscapes. Fauré and Satie's influences are palpable, while hints of Chopin, Wagnerian ambiguity, and nods to contemporaries like Berg and Birtwistle enrich the harmonic tapestry. Mompou's work embodies a blend of French sensibilities, jazz harmonies, and echoes of other composers' styles, creating a fusion that captures a unique musical essence.