In his earlier four-disc set [NI 5724-27] Martin Jones distilled
the essence of Mompou’s muse in fine performances of works central
to the composer’s canon. Now it’s time to stretch the wings
a little with a three-disc set containing a large number of
miniatures with which few will be familiar. Miniatures, certainly,
but there is also a major rarity in the form of the ballet music
for Perlimplinada, of which more soon.
The set is subtitled ‘Discoveries’ and that’s true enough. None
was published during Mompou’s lifetime and as Paul Conway’s
notes, which are outstanding, shepherd us through the music,
we are led into many a pleasant byway. The first disc
offers some delicious dissonances in Impressions de muntanya,
but of even more merit is the disinterment of Mompou’s only
consciously constructed narrative cycle, Impressions sobre
la vida d’un miner, which even I can translate. There
are numerous dances sprinkled throughout, not least the delightful
Impressions de La Garriga, which feast richly on Debussian
harmonies, and are unusually virtuosic for Mompou. By and large
he preferred a more textually clear and ‘simple’ approach to
his scenic depictions.
Cinc Impressions may remind one of the great Impressiones
intimes to come, though here he feints briefly toward Satie
before playing a warm chant motif to bring things back to his
native soil. Fiesta triste is a worthy rediscovery.
Light-hearted and joyful, it’s interrupted briefly by bass dissonances,
to excellent effect. The dappled impressionism of Les amigues
returned del camp may have seemed to Mompou to be too overt
for publication, but surely it won’t concern us now. It’s a
delight. So too are two very unMompou things; hotel commissions
called the Serious fox-trot and Tango. The
first is a charming genre piece which shows he listened to popular
music, and the second is actually not a Tango, it’s more of
a habanera.
Preludi has something distinctly Chopinesque about
it, whilst Cançó i dansa del pessebre sounds to my
ears decidedly Kreisleresque. Talking of possible influence,
Satie stalks Record de platja. It’s interesting to
hear Mompou grappling with theme and variation form in Variations
‘Aura-Mazda’. It’s persuasive, but he was to refine, broaden
and better this in years to come. One of the most attractive
pieces in this set is El plany del captaire which,
with its forlorn chords and mood, soon to flourish into passages
of resplendent drama reflective either of optimism or ecstatic
recall (who can tell?), is a cogent example of Mompou’s bittersweet
music. It should certainly be better known. Let’s hope Jones’s
exceptionally fine performance will make it so. El pont
de Montjuïc is, for Mompou, very unusually romantic. It’s
actually a love token to his wife, as is the Romança.
There’s a fifteen-minute Ballet suite with a succession of ingenious
dances include a light smattering of blues, a Forlane
and a Pavane.
The final disc lasts 30 minutes and houses Perlimplinada,
the piano version (and Mompou’s most extended work) of a ballet
score that was later developed and orchestrated by Mompou’s
colleague Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002). It’s presented
in 14 unbroken ‘sections’ and is music of engaging but never
emollient quality. A sure-fire highlight is the bell reveille
but there’s a great sense of atmosphere and colour throughout.
Stylistically, it hints more at Ravel and Stravinsky – tarter
and more dissonant and more dramatic – than Mompou’s usual impressionist
influences, but that’s all the more reason to get to know it.
Nimbus has recorded Jones extremely well, warmly but with no
loss of focus. Another winner.
Jonathan Woolf
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Track-List
CD 1 [68:53]
1 Impressions de muntanya (1910) [3.43]
2 Dues Impressions (1915/16) [2.16]
3 Impressions sobre la vida d’un miner (1914) [6.57]
4 Impressions de La Garriga (1913/16) [12.56]
5 Cinq Impressions (1918) [11.41]
6 L’eco (1914) [1.09]
7 Les hores (1915) [2.40]
8 Festa triste (1915/16) [2.47]
9 Deux Arabesques (1915) [3.52]
10 Les amigues retornen del camp (1916) [1.49]
11 Serious fox-trot (1916) [5.24]
12 Tango (1919) [3.18]
13 Ball pla [2.53]
14 Dues Cançons [2.53]
15 Les fabriques prop de la platja [2.15]
16 Sis variacions harmoniques sobre un tema popular La canço
d’en Jaumet [3.58]
CD 2 [66:22]
1 El camí del jardí (1911) [0.39]
2 Dos petits preludis (1912) [3.25]
3 Montseny (1912) [1.31]
4 Preludi (1912/13) [1.17]
5 Canço i dansa del pessebre (1914) [2.32]
6 Record de platja (1914) [2.11]
7 Variacions Aura-Mazda (1915) [6.27]
8 Fox-trot (1916) [2.49]
9 El plany del captaire (1916) [5.32]
10 Camins de sorra [ 2.32]
11 Danse dels tres reis que han caigut del camel [3.21]
12 Estanys de paper de plata [2.38]
13 Pensaments [2.04]
14 El pont de Montjuic (1941/47) [4.48]
15 Romança (1944) [0.44]
16 Moderato expressive (1946) [0.54]
17 Glossa sobre Au claire de la lune (1946) [1.30]
18 Fantasia sobre Au claire de la lune (1946) [2.45]
19 Preludi XI (1943?) [1.42]
20 Preludi XII (1960) [3.17]
21 Ballet Suite (1949) [13.51]
CD 3 [30:42]
1-6 Perlimplinada (1956) [30.42]
Martin Jones (piano)