Federico Mompou

[2] He entered the Conservatoire (with another Spaniard, José Iturbi), but studied with Isidor Philipp, head of the piano department.

[3] His extreme shyness, introspection and self-effacement meant that he could not pursue a solo career, but chose to devote himself to composition instead.

[3] His first published work, Cants magics, appeared in 1920, mainly as a result of the advocacy of his friend Agustin Quintas.

[2] In 1921, his Scènes d'enfants (1915–18), performed by Motte-Lacroix, inspired the French critic Émile Vuillermoz to proclaim Mompou "the only disciple and successor" to Claude Debussy.

[citation needed] His personal financial situation was often dire enough to lead him away from music and into various business ventures, including an attempt to revive the traditional family bell foundry.

[2] Kenneth MacMillan's ballet La Casa de los Pájaros (The House of Birds), set to orchestrations by John Lanchbery of various piano pieces by Mompou, was premiered at Sadler's Wells in London in 1955 and was also staged at the 4th Festival de Música y Danza at Granada.

Most of the music was by Mompou, but Montsalvatge helped with the orchestration and linking passages and added two numbers of his own.

[6] In Barcelona he became a member of the Royal Academy of Sant Jordi; he lived there until his death in 1987 at the age of 94 from respiratory failure.

[citation needed] His principal influences were French impressionism, Erik Satie and Gabriel Fauré, resulting in a style in which musical development is minimized and expression is concentrated into very small forms.

Other contemporary pianists who have recorded Mompou's pieces include Daniil Trifonov, Alexandre Tharaud, Herbert Henck, Clelia Iruzun, Jenny Lin, Aaron Krister Johnson,[10] and Javier Perianes.