Glenn Gould

[Josquin des Prez]

the greatest piano virtuoso of the 20th century

Fine journalism there.

[laredo]

He's simply the most important thinker in my life

[Mandryka]

I'm curious about what you guys think of him.

Just look at him, all hunched up, weaing granddad's glasses, sighing and groaning. He just plays for himself. He's amusing himself, maybe just himself, with his own twists and inventions. He crafts his own special vision right in the moment. He inhabits the music making so much – it's like he's about to die and this is the last thing he will ever do.

His technique is so confident, his imagination so creative, the sense of  rhythms and motion so natural, that he can allow  himself to improvise every performance.


Some  interesting examples:

Here he is in Mozart K394 – listn to the way he pounds out the repeated octaves in the Fantasia

http://www.youtube.com/v/F2GWmW1SM6g  http://www.youtube.com/v/upOfod9Pdao


And here in Art of Fugue. Listen to the way he finds melodies.

http://www.youtube.com/v/mSZ1t87fe8g  http://www.youtube.com/v/01q0kIxAG-0



   

[Opus106]

*Three in a day: a new record.*

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,314.0.html

I was listening to a disc of his "Bach and the Italian connection," earlier today and I was thinking  that I can see myself liking his technique (I think it's the staccato, or something ) a lot in Bach -- although some from the WTC I've heard weren't to my liking the last time-- and wondering how it sounds when he plays other composers. So thanks for bring this topic up, I want to sample some of his Beethoven.

[Verena]

Unique artistry. Some of his Bach is unrivaled (the Partitas, Goldberg Variations), I also enjoy most of his Mozart and Brahms recordings a great deal. That most of his recordings are studio is our loss; his live recordings are often mesmerizing (for example that Sweelinck composition on the Salzburg recital) and more engaging than the studio versions (where comparison is possible).

[Mandryka]

Unique artistry. Some of his Bach is unrivaled (the Partitas, Goldberg Variations), I also enjoy most of his Mozart and Brahms recordings a great deal. That most of his recordings are studio is our loss; his live recordings are often mesmerizing (for example that Sweelinck composition on the Salzburg recital) and more engaging than the studio versions (where comparison is possible).

The live recordings are often interesting but not always. In Mozart PC 24 I would say the studio is bolder  in the variations. In the Goldbergs there is an attractive liquid flowing  feeling  to the Salzburg recordings. But to me at least,  they are  not obviously better than the studio versions that I know. Just different.  The Salzburg Mozart sonata is very nice. But it's also pretty conventional playing. When an artist takes the sort of risks that GG took in the studio Mozart, you have to forgive some duds. Some of those studio sonatas are very interesting I would say. OTH the Moscow Bach seems very successful to me.

I was listening to a disc of his "Bach and the Italian connection," earlier today and I was thinking  that I can see myself liking his technique (I think it's the staccato, or something ) a lot in Bach -- although some from the WTC I've heard weren't to my liking the last time-- and wondering how it sounds when he plays other composers. So thanks for bring this topic up, I want to sample some of his Beethoven.

A good place to start in his Beethoven -- bagatelles, especially the early recording, Op 27 1 and 2, all the Op 2s, Op 10 1 and 3, all the Op 31s, Pastoral,  the Stockholm Op 110, Hammerklavier, the other little sonata on the Hammerklavier CD (?), Concertos except the one with Stokowsky.

I think he was a real mover and shaker in Beethoven performance, with highly original (AFAIK), and I would say extremely challenging ideas. Ideas which make for really stimulating listening in the earlier sonatas.Just contrast how he plays the largo to 10/3 with Schnabel, of his Op 27/1 with Backhaus,  and you'll see what I mean (not on youtube unfortunately.)

[Verena]

The live recordings are often interesting but not always. In Mozart PC 24 I would say the studio is bolder  in the variations. In the Goldbergs there is an attractive liquid flowing  feeling  to the Salzburg recordings. But to me at least,  they are  not obviously better than the studio versions that I know. Just different.  The Salzburg Mozart sonata is very nice. But it's also pretty conventional playing. When an artist takes the sort of risks that GG took in the studio Mozart, you have to forgive some duds. Some of those studio sonatas are very interesting I would say. OTH the Moscow Bach seems very successful to me.

Maybe I was overstating my case, though in the Goldbergs I do clearly prefer the Salzburg version. I have to relisten to the Mozart PCs 24. There are also some broadcast recordings (only available I think on an old Music and Arts set) which I find pretty fascinating at times.

[kishnevi]

Gould was like the girl in the nursery rhyme:  when he was good he was very good, and when he was bad he was very bad.

I have all of his studio recordings of Bach solo keyboard works (I think--but not the recordings of such items as the viola da gamba sonatas and no concert recordings) but only two of his non Bach recordings--the CD that includes pieces by Sweelinck and Byrd, and the Hindemith piano sonatas.  I have all of them except the Hindemith, and I'm inclined to blame the composer, not the performer, for that one.

He apparently still has strong appeal, almost thirty years after his death--the "Italian Album" referred to below is available in at least one other format ("the Glenn Gould Anniversay Edition", the series issued as a set of black digipaks), and it seems as if the various reissues of his performances remain readily available--not just the Goldbergs of 1955.  A few months ago I gave a coworker a copy of the 1955 Goldbergs; he's a young man totally immersed in hip hop, but he was immediately impressed by it.

BTW, he was also a very good essayist; if you ever have a chance to read even a few of his essays, seize the opportunity.

[Opus106]

A good place to start in his Beethoven -- bagatelles, especially the early recording, Op 27 1 and 2, all the Op 2s, Op 10 1 and 3, all the Op 31s, Pastoral,  the Stockholm Op 110, Hammerklavier, the other little sonata on the Hammerklavier CD (?), Concertos except the one with Stokowsky.

I think he was a real mover and shaker in Beethoven performance, with highly original (AFAIK), and I would say extremely challenging ideas. Ideas which make for really stimulating listening in the earlier sonatas.Just contrast how he plays the largo to 10/3 with Schnabel, of his Op 27/1 with Backhaus,  and you'll see what I mean (not on youtube unfortunately.)

Thanks.

[George]

.

A good place to start in his Beethoven -- bagatelles, t on youtube unfortunately.)

I agree.

[Norbeone]

I absolutely love Gould. I think he's easily one of the most important musicians of the last century. So unique, exciting and, most of all, honest. He was to the music world what Richard Feynman was to physics. If only we had more like him!

[Herman]

I'm curious about what you guys think of him.

Just look at him, all hunched up, weaing granddad's glasses, sighing and groaning. He just plays for himself. He's amusing himself, maybe just himself, with his own twists and inventions. He crafts his own special vision right in the moment. He inhabits the music making so much – it's like he's about to die and this is the last thing he will ever do.

His technique is so confident, his imagination so creative, the sense of  rhythms and motion so natural, that he can allow  himself to improvise every performance.

I think that is a very naive way of looking at Gould. Just because he renounced stage performing, doesn't mean he stopped being a performer and became all "honest" or "authentic" or whatever. I think he stopped performing live, because he was looking for more audience manipulation, not less. There are few pianists of whom there is so much material: recordings, videos, interviews written and filmed, and what you're seeing is not Gould "playing just for himself" but Gould acting like he's playing for himself. His recordings are not improvisations: he was a pioneer in splicing and editing his stuff. His crazy genius act was just that: an act. It was a not entirely unusual way to establish a public persona for an artist in mid-century America.

[Mandryka]

. . . and what you're seeing is not Gould "playing just for himself" but Gould acting like he's playing for himself. His recordings are not improvisations: he was a. . pioneer in splicing and editing his stuff.

You're absolutely right -- what I should have posted was "It's as if he's amusing himself, maybe just himself, with his own twists and inventions. It's as if  he crafts his own special vision right in the moment. It's as if he inhabits the music making so much – it's like he's about to die and this is the last thing he will ever do."

But thanks -- the criticism is valid -- but maybe not really so interesting for my purposes. I'm more interested in the music making than the man.

. . . . he was looking for more audience manipulation, not less . . . His crazy genius act was just that: an act.

Even if it's true it's not  really relevant to understanding his musical achievement, surely?  And is it true? I hope it's not a priori. (I haven't read Bazzana's or Ostwald's biographies.)

[Bogey]

The Goldbergs are well....gold!

[Mandryka]

An  interesting article -- if you're interested in Gould, that is. Especially the stuff on the Gigue of the 5th keyboard partita.


http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=35193510&access_key=key-1qf1u70pzg1ma7dhu71k&page=1&viewMode=list

[Holden]

In today's education system Glenn Gould the child would have been ascertained as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and he was probably Asperger's. This in itself says a lot about how Gould went about things both as a musician and a person in our society. His affection for studio recordings as opposed to live performances are also explained if ASD is what he had.

[Norbeone]

In today's education system Glenn Gould the child would have been ascertained as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and he was probably Asperger's. This in itself says a lot about how Gould went about things both as a musician and a person in our society. His affection for studio recordings as opposed to live performances are also explained if ASD is what he had.

I shudder to think what might have happened to him had he been born today. He'd likely be given all kinds of medications for ADHD as well as for a variety of autistic 'disorders', and ultimately could have been completely put off being a musician at all. He may have been labeled 'special' but not for the right reason. Just a thought.

[kishnevi]

I tend to doubt that Gould was autistic--although perhaps he had ADHD and he certainly had some behavioral traits that need an explanation of some sort.  If he was autistic, then he would probably be classified as PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified), which is the mildest category on the spectrum.

The reason I think he was on the spectrum is that his speech and body language, from what I've seen/heard,  are neurotypical (that is, like a "normal" person) and not like a autistic person.   His voice was not a monotone, and he had the usual gamut of body language, and he could look people in the face while talking.   I'm autistic (which is why I have a special interest in this question), and my normal speaking voice (if I'm not intentionally trying to inflect it) is a pure monotone, and my body language is almost non existent.   And if I try to maintain eye contact while speaking with a person,  I end up either completely muddled or fall silent--my brain can't handle both those things at the same time.

If you have access to the interview he did with Tim Page (who is an aspie) when he released the second recording of the Goldbergs, compare Gould's way of talking to Page's.  (It's the third CD on the set titled "A State of Wonder", which bundles the 1955 and 1981 recordings together; I don't know if it's available in other formats.)  The differences will help you understand what I'm talking about.

[Opus106]

If you have access to the interview he did with Tim Page (who is an aspie) when he released the second recording of the Goldbergs, compare Gould's way of talking to Page's.  (It's the third CD on the set titled "A State of Wonder", which bundles the 1955 and 1981 recordings together; I don't know if it's available in other formats.)  The differences will help you understand what I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/v/uze5TfNByyY

[TheGSMoeller]

My favorite Gould video...

http://www.youtube.com/v/hlAg-yL-FfY