U UNI V E RSI T Y O F C IN C INN A T I Date: 5/21/2009 I, Moisés Ruiz de Gauna , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance It is entitled: Federico Mompou and The Piano: a Performer's Guide Student Signature: Moisés Ruiz de Gauna This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: Miguel A. Roig-Francolí Frank Weinstock Kenneth Griffiths Approval of the electronic document: I have reviewed the Thesis/Dissertation in its final electronic format and certify that it is an accurate copy of the document reviewed and approved by the committee. Committee Chair signature: Miguel A. Roig-Francolí Federico Mompou and The Piano: a Performer’s Guide A doctoral document submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS in the Keyboard Division of the College-Conservatory of Music 21 May 2009 by Moisés Ruiz de Gauna 358 Shiloh Street Apt#9 Cincinnati, OH 45220 [email protected] Título Superior de Piano, Padre Antonio Soler Conservatory, 2001 Postgraduate Certificate, Liszt Academy of Budapest, 2002 Fulbright Grantee, 2002-2004 M.M., Eastman School of Music, 2004 Committee Chair: Dr. Miguel A. Roig-Francolí Committee Member: Mr. Frank Weinstock Committee Member: Mr. Kenneth Griffiths ABSTRACT This document seeks to provide a comprehensive performer’s guide to the piano works of Federico Mompou, a composer generally neglected in worldwide studies and performances. Furthermore, it also seeks to solve the problem of language isolation of the main sources of study, and to bring out the importance of Mompou’s own recording of his complete piano works. Chapter 1 consists of a biographical sketch of the composer in relation to the historical and artistic events in Spain and Europe, and more importantly, to Mompou’s own writings in the Spanish and Catalan languages—translations and commentaries in English are provided. Chapter 2 is devoted to Mompou’s attempt to write a piano treatise in 1913 “Study of Feeling,” which develops the main traits of the composers’s playing, and to its connection to his 1974 recording of his complete piano works. Chapter 3 includes a survey of Mompou’s complete piano works, with special emphasis on his sources of inspiration. Chapter 4 explores in detail the sources of Mompou’s Twelve Preludes, which are representative of the composer’s style. 2 To my parents ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 3 “To know is to fall into the abyss, not to know is the abyss.” —Rafael Ruiz de Gauna 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to Miguel Ángel Roig-Francolí, for all his help and time while advising and editing this document. Special thanks to Frank Weinstock, for his mentorship and musicianship. Special thanks to Kenneth Griffiths for his encouragement on writing on this topic, and for his mentorship. Special thanks to a true artist, Sonia Rodríguez Bermejo, who first introduced me to the music of Mompou through a collaborative performance of Combat del Somni. Special thanks to my beloved parents, who have made possible for me to have a life in music. Their artistic and intellectual abilities are unsurpassed to my knowledge. 5 CONTENTS ABSTRACT 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 CONTENTS 6 LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES 7 LIST OF FIGURES 9 INTRODUCTION 11 CHAPTER 1. Biography and Aesthetics Through Mompou’s 15 Writings 2. Mompou Plays Mompou 28 3. A Survey of the Complete Music: Sources of 49 Inspiration 4. The Twelve Preludes 77 CONCLUSION 93 BIBLIOGRAPHY 94 APPENDICES 1. Camí del Art, Recomenzar, Intuitividad, 96 El Momento Actual 2. Estudi del Sentiment 103 3. Música Callada 112 4. Canciones y Danzas 114 6 LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES 1.1. Magic Chants 19 2.1. Música Callada, Book II, XV, Long Hairpin, 34 2.2. Música Callada, Book II, XV, Short Hairpin 35 2.3. Canción y Danza No. 4, mm. 3-4 46 2.4. Canción y Danza No. 4, mm. 5-6 46 2.5. Canción y Danza No. 4, Initial PointAcceleration Movement 47 2.6. Canción y Danza No. 4, Initial PointContinuation 47 2.7. Canción y Danza No. 4, Limit PointDelay and Overlap 48 2.8. Canción y Danza No.4, Rest PointDelay 48 2.9. Canción y Danza No.4, Phrase of Passion, mm. 9-12 48 3.1. Dansa 54 3.2. L’ermita 55 3.3. El Pastor 55 3.4. El Pastor 56 3.5. Scriabin, Prelude for the Left Hand, Op. 9 #1 68 3.6. Variations on a theme by Chopin, Variation V 68 3.7. Variations on a theme by Chopin, Variation VII 69 3.8. Schumann, Symphonic Etudes, Etude No. 9 70 3.9. Variations on a theme by Chopin, Variation X 70 3.10. Chopin, Fantasie Impromptu, Op.66 70 3.11. Canción y Danza No. 3, Sardana 73 7 3.12. Canción No. 12 73 3.13. Danza No. 12 74 4.1. Prelude I, mm. 1-2 77 4.2. Prelude I, mm. 11-12 77 4.3. Prelude II, “Street Market Screams” 78 4.4. Prelude II, mm. 1-4 79 4.5. Prelude III, mm. 1-2 80 4.6. Prelude IV, mm. 1-4 81 4.7. Prelude V, Section A-Melodic Character 81 4.8. Prelude V, Section B-Rhythmic Character, use of drone bass 82 4.9. Prelude V, Return of Section A-Melody without modifications 82 4.10. Prelude VI, Five-Note Cell 83 4.11. Prelude VI 83 4.12. Prelude VII 84 4.13. Prelude VII 85 4.14. Prelude VIII 86 4.15. Prelude IX, Section A 86 4.16. Prelude IX, Section B 87 4.17. Prelude X, Metallic Chord 87 4.18 Prelude XI, First Version 88 4.19 Prelude XI, Ossia Version 89 4.20. Prelude XII, Section B, mm. 15-17 89 4.21. Prelude XII, Return of Section A, mm. 27-29 90 8 LIST OF FIGURES 1.1. Manuscript of Metallic Chord 16 1.2. Solitude and Path to Art 17 1.3. Mompou’s Compositional Routine 21 1.4. Música Callada 24 1.5. Intuitivity 25 1.6. Restart 27 2.1. Study of Feeling 30 2.2. Piano Sonority’s 3-step 32 2.3. Types of Phrases/Feelings 36 2.4. Division of a Work 37 2.5. Phrase of Passion’s Process 38 2.6. Movement of the Notes 39 2.7. Delay of Second of Order 40 2.8. Slur Sign Meaning 42 2.9. Order of the Delay Sign 42 2.10. Sensitive Note 43 2.11. Phrase of Passion’s Complete Process 44 3.1. Mompou and Satie 50 3.2. Mompou’s Sources of Inspiration 51 3.3. Música Callada, First Book, I-IX 64 3.4. Música Callada, Second Book, X-XVI 64 9 3.5. Música Callada, Third Book, XVII-XXI 65 3.6. Música Callada, Fourth Book, XXII-XXVIII 65 3.7. Variations on a Theme by Chopin 71 3.8. Canciones y Danzas 75 4.1. Prelude IX, Manuscript’s Dedication 86 4.2. Twelve Preludes 91 10 INTRODUCTION Federico Mompou has received little attention by scholars, performers and audiences outside Spain. If Spain’s music is generally neglected, widely ignored in music history books, and vaguely mentioned in piano-related articles nowadays, it is mainly because the country suffered from great isolation during its military dictatorship from 1939 to 1975. Moreover, the common and fallacious saying that Spain’s best music was written by French composers has regrettably motivated no interest among international performers and artists. In spite of Mompou’s studies in Paris, his early love for the music of Fauré, and his disregard for Germanic-style musical development, he is a composer that undoubtedly achieved a unique and personal approach to composition. Therefore, as an advocate of Spanish music, I wish to embark on a critical and analytical discussion of Federico Mompou’s piano works, addressed to the performer. There are several important facts that need to be addressed in any study of Mompou: the importance of his own writings (which are in the Spanish and Catalan languages) to understand his aesthetics and pianistic approach, the importance of his own recording of his complete piano works, and the importance of the piano as the main tool for his compositional process. In consequence, it is my aim to provide a comprehensive performer’s guide to Mompou’s piano music, which, in my opinion, has not yet been achieved by the available books and dissertations. Pursuing research on Mompou is rather challenging because of the dearth of scholarship on the composer. Tomás Marco’s Historia de la Música Española, vol. 6, 11 Siglo XX, provides a short four-page essay on his life, works, and visions.1 This reference is very basic but serves as a starting point for any preliminary interest in the composer. On the other hand, the New Grove Dictionary’s entry is anythingbut complete, lacking depth and content. Apart from the translation into English of Marco’s book, only a disappointing total of two books dealing with Mompou are available in English—Richard Paine’s Hispanic Traditions in Twentieth-Century Catalan Music, which contains a concise but remarkable study,2 and Wilfrid Mellers’ Le Jardin Retrouvé.3 Perhaps more disappointing is the number of books published in Spanish that focus on Mompou: less than ten, one of which is a translation of Vladimir Jankélévitch’s book La Présence Lointaine: Albéniz, Séverac, Mompou.4 On the other hand, some of the books in Spanish offer us outstanding information regarding his biography, and most importantly, his reflections on music and life.