música callada
Spanish work
Definition
Silent music or Music of Silence: Mompou's title for his late masterpiece in four books, taken from a line in the mystical poetry of St John of the Cross. The phrase describes music heard in interior silence — inward, contemplative, beyond the purely sonic.
Interpretive Guidance
Approach these pieces with extreme stillness. Allow silences to exist fully — do not rush to fill them. The softest dynamics should feel like light rather than absence. Pedalling should blur slightly to suggest the sustaining resonance of bells.