Mompou: Songs and Dances, No. 1;l Songs and Dances, No. 2; Songs and Dances, No. 3; Songs and Dances, No. 4; Songs and Dances, No. 5; Songs and Dances, No. 6; Songs and Dances, No. 7; Songs and Dances, No. 8; Suburbis; Escenas de niños

COMPOSERS: Mompou
LABELS: HMV
WORKS: Songs and Dances, No. 1;l Songs and Dances, No. 2; Songs and Dances, No. 3; Songs and Dances, No. 4; Songs and Dances, No. 5; Songs and Dances, No. 6; Songs and Dances, No. 7; Songs and Dances, No. 8; Suburbis; Escenas de niños
PERFORMER: Gonzalo Soriano, Carmen Bravo (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 5 73471 2 ADD mono (only available from HMV stores) Reissue (1958)

There's a disarming simplicity about the piano music of the Catalan composer Federico Mompou (1893-1987) which should win over even the most cerebral of listeners. Like Grieg and Mendelssohn, Mompou was a master of the short character piece. Among his best-known works are the sequence of Songs and Dances which span much of his composing career, and the selection of eight pieces featured here demonstrate his capacity to write instantly memorable material that evokes a wide range of moods, from desolation to uninhibited joy. Both performers on this Fifties recording are committed advocates of the music, though the closely recorded piano sound is rather uningratiating, and seems to be at odds with the intimacy of Mompou's style. Erik Levi