Chapter 2

Writings, primitivism and “Recommence”

Writings, primitivism and “Recommence”.

“The artist is the origin of the work. The work is the origin of the artist. Neither is without the
other”22.

Jo voldría que el tró

fora música de l'espai
jo voldría menjar fruïtes mullades
sota del ramatge lluminós del llamp.23

I wish the thunder

was an out of space music
I wish wet fruits to eat
under the luminous branches of lightning.24

Mompou's agitated inner world produces a lot of musical ideas, one which is so interesting is the
“Acorde metálico”25, a chord that he created and he called “Barri de Platja”26. This chord was the
result of the start from the end, the way to find what is common, the primitivism, all in one and one
in all, I in the other and the other in I. This are Mompou's beliefs, and where was pointed his
musical sensibility from the beginning.

Mompou wrote this text to describe his chord:

Mompou's text and chord.

22
Heidegger. The origin of the work of art. Pag 80.
23
Mompou's poem.
24
Myself translated.
25
Metallic chord.
26
Beach quarter.
“Barri de Platja

Aquest acord es tota la meua música. Sento una harmonia estranya escoltant els sorrolls llunyans.
Es sobre una platja davant del mar que barreja el seu ritme suau amb un misterios soroll de ferro i
de treball...
[El barri es pobre]27 ...Les fabricas escampen sobre [d'ell] un barri humil de treballadors el fum
negre... [negre] com l'aigua bruta [que] de la ciutat baixa lenta y allí aprop queda estancada entre
la sorra i grans blocs de pedra...
Cuatra miserables barracas clavadas sobre la sorra humida, [mirant fixament] semblen temeroses
del mar que les amenaça...
Es fa fosc! El treball calma...
Passa un vent calent qu'hem porta uns cants ingenuament salvatjes de nois i noies pobrement
vestits que fan rotllo i ballan tot voltant un foc...
...

De nit!... les fábricas quedan abandonades [al mig del] en el silenci... mentres el mar [barreja el
seu ritme suau ab un misterios soroll, encara mes suau del petó d'una ben estimada...] resa una
oració vetllant al repós de totes les coses [l'imaginacio plena de somni] aquella quietut de
somni”.28

“Beach quarter”

This chord represents all my music. I hear a strange harmony while listening to the remot notes.
It is being on a beach just infront of the sea where the softer rhythm of the sea it is mixed with the
noise of iron work...

The manufactures spread over an area of humble workers black smoke... same way the dirty water
comes from the top of the city and stays in the sand and big stones...

Four miserable houses seems to be frightened by the threat of the sea.

Night is coming! Work finishes...

A warm wind bring to me an inocently wild chants from purely dressed children that dance around
fire...

Night! Manufactures are abandoned and the silent appears... while the sea prays watching the rest of
the everything in the quiet dream.”29

According to this Mompou would start recreating the echo of his grandfather bells, then the little
children songs, the seller market songs and the Catalan folk music. Soon he will go into the world
of the enigma, the magical world where everything is in correspondence. A path that culminates in
what Vladimir Jankeleivitch described as “the singing of spiritual “selfhood”30 ”.
27
[…] The indication means that the words in between are before later Mompou's corrections.
28
Tranlation see above,
29
Translated by myself.
30
Philosophically selfhood is the circuit located between the being in itself and being for itself. Jean-Paul Sartre.
L'Être et le néant (Being and nothingnes). Dic. The fully developed self; an achieved personality.
Mompou's grafism “is and is not”.

Mompou's primitivism idea is the strongest idea in his musical style. Mompou's primitivism is the
purity and returning way to create, always having a starting point which is the same, the primitive
point. And this is how the idea of recommence is in Mompou way of writing.

“Apparent primitivism. The new starting point is ideal and located in our time. Our cave has a
clean walls facing the future”.31

Referring to his Música Callada, the best example of his philosophical thoughts, Mompou talks
about his return, the recommence; and this brings to mind what happened with C. the girl he met in
“Casa Prudenci”. He decided not to keep feelings in time and Mompou just pointed that every
situation has a beginning and an end, that's it. Here in his words, the primitivism was quite clear
showed by being an echo of his music:

“My música callada is just one sign among many others that have marked our time, coinciding with
the dominant trend to “returns” ”.32

Mompou was curious to meet the group of “Les six” because he felt to be in the same way of them,
the simplicity and the nudity of their art was attractive to him. He was where is the purity, the old,
the new the continuous starting point. Finally because to Motte-Lacroix and Vuillermoz advises he
did not met the group, he already had his own style, the simplicity like a simply walking down the
mountain.

“ I feel the music of the little road to the mountain. I do that music because the art has arrived to
the top”... “ The art is a primitive returning, it is not returning, “recommence” ”...
“¡Recommence with everything that we know!”33

And the “recommence” express mainly a simplicity desire, which bring Mompou back to the
sources. As Mompou never got tired to repeat “Maximum expression with less wherewithal”, this is
what he tried to explain to Spanish pianist Quintas and he just said “this is too difficult, play a bit”,
31
Federico Mompou, Speech to enter in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Jorge, 17th May 1952.
32
Ibid.
33
“Jo sento la música del caminet de muntanya. - Jo faig aquesta música perquè l 'art ha arribat al seu limit”...”l'art
és el retorn al primitiu. No és retorn, és “recomençar” “... “ Recomençar amb tot el que ja sabem. Cuaderno de
pensamientos. (Notebook of thoughts)
then Quintas fell exhausted to the music.

“From the moment the first vibration of empty space starts, till the moment that we guess the
movility of darkness will return. This beggining and this end, this life and death are the limits of the
Eternity?
If nature teaches that all recommence its fair as well to see that this beggining and this end, this
hypothetical eternity by our imagination, it is just a period of the Eternity”.34

Mompou's diagram.

Fond of writing, Mompou let all kind of writings. Some of them are already in this work but there is
one which is specially interesting because is about piano technique. He called first “Estudi del
sentiment”35 and later on “L'Expressió per a la interpretació al piano”36.

Expression for Piano interpretation.

To express is to move notes sensibly from their place in time: floating movement against the rigor of
rhythm obeying our sensibilities. In the interpretation if the main value was this “movement” and
the sonority as a result of it, this study will become easy and precise. But the sonority obeys directly
to the inspiration and the need to move in duration. The sonority itself feel the origin and this “little
movement” has dependences from the “sensible”37 note, in this case measure the sonority it is
rather difficult.

Being far of a good results, a good way to explore the art of interpretation it is the microscopical
view of “detailedness” between sonority and timing and the different movements of “sensible” note
under the domain of sensibility of a good interpretation.

There is no point to do studies of a good sonority over a “one only note”. The real sonority that
may be studied is the one which is between the notes. Here is the mains aspect of this study, the
secret and the essence of emotion. Our sound sensibility may not look for playing “phrase by
phrase” inside of the whole piece. Our sound sensibility may look for playing “note by note” inside
34
“Desde l'instant que sínicià la primera vibració en l'espai tenue i buït, fins al instant que suposem retornará la
movilitat en les tenebres. Aquest principi i aquest fi, aquesta vida i mort son els limits de l'Eternitat?
Si la naturalesa ens ensenya que tot recomença és també just veure que aquest principi i fi, aquesta eternitat
suposada per la nostra pobre imaginació, és sols un periode de l'Eternitat.”
35
Study of emotions.
36
Expression for piano interpretation.
37
“Sensible” may be taken as the note which is affected by our decisions.
of phrase. Our complete attention may be focused to the “detailedness”, a study of every note, one
by one, combining precise sonority and precise timing obeying to the inspiration.

Pure sentiment need simplicity. A simple interpretation. May not be misunderstood as a indifferent
interpretation but interpretation remains empty of artificiality in sonority, timing and body
movements. A period of sentiment may not be present suffering, a period of sentiment in music may
have suffering memory, and bring us to a sadness and simplicity not to a desperation and
exaggeration. According to this all the unnecessary movements are not allowed. Only the fingers
will be part of circuit between soul and keyboard.38

38
This is just the first part of Mompou's study. Translated by myself.