Suburbis

Suburbis is a score for piano written by Frederic Mompou in 1917 .

Emergence

The score is based on scenes, sounds, noises and atmospheres that the composer experienced on his walks through the Barcelona suburbs at the beginning of the 20th century, especially in the Montjuïc district . Mompou tries to describe the emotions of this part of the city in the score.

construction

The scenes in this piece are made up of six small fragments of a popular nature:

• Gypsies II
• The blind
• The Man of Aristós (instrument)
• The street
• The guitarist
• The old horse.

Interpretation and reception

Much more than any other work by Mompou, Vororte (Suburbis) has to be interpreted above all . With this in mind, there is an abundance of marginalia that the composer adds to the score: accents, question marks, notes on breath, and other notes that are meant to help the performer. This is where the harmony dissolves most, where you can find the greatest number of chord combinations and compositions and intervals, both metal chords and tactful chords of impressionistic inspiration, but he avoids the excessive dissonance , the rough harmony. Mompou does not start and end the fragments with harsh chords, but instead lets the scenes emerge in a progressive manner as if they had always been there and he makes them disappear as if they were dissolving, as if we were moving away from the described road where people go back and forth.

theatre

In 2011 the theater group 360 ° Theaterensemble von Berlin staged this score for the first time.

Publications (selection)

• Suburbis = Faubourgs; Manuel Rosenthal Editing, Paris: Editions Salabert, Munich: G. Ricordi Bühnen- und Musikverlag
• Cançons i danses; Hamburg East West Records, 1996, Heisser, Jean-François (piano)
• Suburbis: El carrer, el guitarrista i el vell cavall, contained in Granados, Falla, Mompou, Nin

Web links

• Recordings by Suburbis in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.