Description
Federico Mompou was born in Barcelona. In 1909, barely 16 years old, he moved to Paris to study piano, attracted by the music he had heard Gabriel Fauré and Marguerite Long perform in Barcelona. The fact that Mompou started to compose during his years in Paris is probably explained by his shy nature – on inspection he flinched from a career as a concert pianist.
In 20th century music, Mompou has his own unique place. His work – very personal, recognizable and above all, of strikingly consistent quality – was created in the margins of musical history. He didn’t have any real predecessors and even fewer followers. In that sense he can be compared to Janácek and Poulenc, whose music repeatedly resembles his work. There are also influences of Fauré and even Skrjabin. Although Mompou was sometimes called ‘the Spanish Satie’, this comparison is limited to the compact and transparent style and the individuality of both. The notes that Mompou would write on scores of especially his early work usually lack the wit of his French colleague.
While in Paris, Mompou became well acquainted with the members of Groupe des Six. For this group, as well as for Mompou, clarity and simplicity played an important role in music. Mompou advocated ‘music from the heart and for the heart, not music from the head for the head. Domestic music. Everyday music…’. Music for Mompou was the result of pure inspiration and not of a system – a concept shared by his friend Poulenc.
