Federico Mompou (1893 - 1987) is undoubtedly one of my favourite composers from Barcelona, Spain. His music has been a staple in my listening diet. There is a spiritual quality to his terse and condensed writing, stripped of any superfluousness and excess. He isn't one who writes sonatas and symphonies, but one who conveys his thoughts and ideas through a carefully selected musical vocabulary - there is an unspeakable poetry in everything he writes.
Steps from the famous Casa Milà and Casa Batlló, Mompou's apartment in Barcelona is now home to the Mompou Foundation, a shrine to all who loves his music and adores his personality. Curated by two of the most knowledgeable persons in Catalan music I have ever met, every visit to the Mompou Foundation is an enriching and enlightening experience for me.
Coming up will be an interview with Berta Milà, one of the curators of the Foundation. Stay tuned!
Here is Mompou playing his own Preludes, taken from LPs recorded under the Ensayo label but are still available on CDs.
Fundacio Mompou official homepage - http://www.fundaciomompou.cat/
Fundacio Frederic Mompou is located at 108 Passeig Gracia, Barcelona. Call or write in advance before you visit. They are extremely generous in sharing information about the composer and also about Catalan composers in general. Berta Millà, one of the curators, speaks English (and apparently, also Russian!) very fluently.
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