The essence lies in the secret that, if the note, after being attacked, has an ascending vibration, you can use it, and in the relationship between one note and another, when it comes to cantabile, it is as if the image of the note transfers its sonority to the other at a given moment, and the other accepts it, receiving it back at the precise moment. That is, it seems like a loving thing, like the loving sense from note to note…

(Mompou, 1972)

• One article about Mompou’s approach to interpratation
• 5 Albums with all the original music for guitar and transcriptions for guitar of piano music by James Beneteau/Marco Ramelli
• 5 videos of Mompou music played on historical Catalan guitars
• Series of lectures about Mompou philosophy

The project on Mompou started years ago, initially focusing on recording his music for solo guitar, done for the Brilliant Classics label. Since 2021, I have been collaborating with Canadian guitarist James Beneteau in transcribing his piano music for guitar. In 2024, the first output of this project was released for the Brilliant Classics label: ‘Mompou: Misteriós, Transcriptions for Guitar, Vol.1’. The entire project will consist of 4 albums containing various transcriptions.

The research is based not only on the approach to transcription but also on using this tool to more deeply understand Mompou’s interpretative and compositional method. Drawing from his interpretative method and recordings, I am writing an article on the use of time and displacement and how these interpretative tools are linked to the instrumental approach.

Composing and performing for Mompou is a bodily act that involves a tactile listening to the instrument to modulate the production of sound. Interpreting his music means refining the listening of the instrument and experiencing the performance as an act of recreating the work, where time and dynamics are subject to this listening.

In addition to recording the albums, in 2023 I recorded transcriptions of Mompou’s pieces on historically significant instruments, including a guitar by Antonio de Torres that once belonged to Llobet, a friend of Mompou. These videos were produced by the TouchTheSound project.

 “The real sonority that must be studied is the sonority between one note and another. It is precisely this link between notes which is the most important aspect to study. That is where we will find the secret of the depths of emotion. Our sonic sensibility must not search for the emotions required for interpretation phrase by phrase within a complete work. Our sonic sensibility must search for the emotions required for interpretation note by note within the body of a phrase.”

Mompou