Release Date: 08 January 2000
Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943457023
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: MOMPOU
Description
Frederic Mompou(1893-1987)Piano Music Volume 3Variations sur unth?¿me de Chopin; Trois variations; Souvenirs de l'exposition; Paisajes;Pessebres; Impressions intimes; PlanysIt was the greatcellist and composer Gaspar Cassado who, in 1938, suggested to Mompou thepossibility of collaborating on a joint work, variations for cello and pianobased on the Prelude Op. 28 No. 7 in A major by Chopin. Theproject was abandoned, but by this time Mompou had composed four variationswhich appeared with the curious title 'Three (sic) Variations'for his instrument, the piano. A commission from the Royal Ballet CoventGarden, London, was the occasion, in 1957, for finishing the work. The plannedballet came to nothing, but it led to one of the composer's most ambitiouscreations, which also exists in an orchestral similarity (largely the work ofconductor Antoni Ros-Marb?á).The Chopin Prelude,with its extreme brevity and perfect concision, proved to be an idealvehicle for Mompou, who found in the piece affinities with his own sound world.The first variation, apart from some added personal harmonics, leaves the themevirtually intact, while the second, repeated in its entirety, introduces a newfiguration, although the melodic outline of the Prelude is clearly recognizable.The third, for the left hand, changes the key to D major and with its Tempolento, represents a major departure from the initial mood. This is takenfurther in the fourth variation, in F major, which is immersed in the world ofthe Catalan composer. The fifth returns to the key of A major and itsindication Tempo di Mazurka constitutes a homage to one of Chopin's mostimportant genres (the Prelude on which the Variations are based canitself be regarded as a short mazurka). The sixth variation, in G minor, israther like a transfiguration of Chopin's melody into the language of the M??sicaCallada, Mompou's masterpiece. The seventh, again in A major, appears topay homage this time to the more brilliant side of Chopin's music, while theeighth, in F major, appears to quote the accompaniments based on repeated noteswhich characterise the Chopin Preludes in E minor and D flat major. A furtherreturn in the ninth variation to the initial key signals the evocation ofanother of the great genres in Chopin's pianistic output: the waltz. Theexpressive centre of the work is found in the tenth variation, expresslyentitled ?ëvocation. In its first part, in F sharp major, Mompou appearsto be quoting himself (various commentators have pointed out the similarity tothe Can?ºo i dansa No. 6). The central part, which in the plannedballet in fact corresponded to the evocation of the figure of Chopin, recallsthe well-known melody of the second section of the Fantasie-Impromptu Op.66 by this composer. Mompou makes it his own with a harmonization whichtransforms it radically. The key of F sharp minor is retained during theeleventh variation, totally immersed in the Mompou idiom. The final Galope, onceagain in A major, introduces a fai
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Zenz:Cathariou:Iacovidou
Zahir Ensemble
Yun-Yi Qin
