Gould video

Post by **Dale** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:14 pm

I have loved this recording for nearly half of my life and somehow, somehow, it completely escaped my attention that it had been filmed.

Enjoy:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 9899995423

chas · Post by **chas** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:32 pm

Wow, that's beautiful.

And for people who get hung up on how to hold the flute or whistle -- check out how this guy's stationed at the piano. His chin's just about at keyboard level. No idea how he played the damn thing that way. (Note: the wife, the Queen of Reference Books, just looked him up -- one of his teachers claimed that the low position is good for Baroque music because it optimizes speed at the expense of expressiveness. I dunno as I'd agree with that, but then I don't play the piano.)

Glenn Gould was the Jimi Hendrix of playing Bach on the piano.

I still think playing harpsichord music on the piano is somewhat of an abomination, but he sure did it well. I think the Goldberg Variations transferred pretty well. Scarlatti, though -- I always wondered what the big deal was about Scarlatti till I heard his stuff played on the harpsichord. The man was a genius.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:36 pm

chas wrote:(Note: the wife, the Queen of Reference Books, just looked him up -- one of his teachers claimed that the low position is good for Baroque music because it optimizes speed at the expense of expressiveness. I dunno as I'd agree with that, but then I don't play the piano.)

Well, Mr. Gould was certainly expressive enough, I'd say. Oh, and you're right about Scarlatti; I had the exact same experience.

Post by **Dale** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:50 pm

I love the Goldberg Variations. I own a dozen recordings, including one performed entirely on the marimba. It's a strange obsession. But, Gould's 1981 performance of it evokes every conceivable human emotion. It just breaks my heart.

Coffee · Post by **Coffee** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:34 am

Wonderfully well played.

And maybe my inner geek is showing, but when I saw the link the first thing I thought of was Stargate.

oleorezinator · Post by **oleorezinator** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:55 am

my favourite glenn gould story is of the time that he played a concert of mozart with big floppy mittens on his hands, and of course pulled it off.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:22 am

I used to own a collection of his rendering of J.S. Bach's The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 2.
A mighty recording. Unfortunately, During one of my many changes of adddress during that time, the collection was lost... I am still sick about it today, some twenty odd yeas later.

It always makes me chuckle (in a nice way) to hear him singing along with his playing.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:34 am

Joseph E. Smith wrote:I used to own a collection of his rendering of J.S. Bach's The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 2.
A mighty recording. Unfortunately, During one of my many changes of adddress during that time, the collection was lost... I am still sick about it today, some twenty odd yeas later.

It always makes me chuckle (in a nice way) to hear him singing along with his playing.

I don't like to hear anyone humming while they are playing an instrument. I find myself pushing the off button real fast, and Glen Gould is no exception in this regard.

It is interesting to compare early and late recordings of Gould playing Bach's "The Well-Tempered Clavier" and the "Goldberg Variations". I much prefer his earlier recordings. The later recordings are so slow in parts as to sound somewhat affected, like he was trying to nap, in my opinion. But, as I have mentioned before, geology, not music, was my major in college, so my opinion is quasi-professional. However, I did take an elective couse in beginning piano during my senior year in college. My faculty advisor in the geology department was aghast.

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:16 am

You can see one reason why Gould stopped giving live performances after a while and only did studio recordings...people would focus on him rather than the music during his concerts. With anyone else you would write off the singing and hand expressions as an affect, but with Gould it seems to be a case of a mad genius who was lost in the music.

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:19 pm

Doug_Tipple wrote:I don't like to hear anyone humming while they are playing an instrument. I find myself pushing the off button real fast, and Glen Gould is no exception in this regard.

A few months ago I saw a pretty horrendous performance given by Christopher Parkening (I doubt he hangs out here, but if he does... sorry dude, that was just not good) in which along with the harsh guitar tone, shaky timing, memory slips (with the music in front of him), etc, he was vocalizing loudly the whole time. I have studio recordings of him in which it is only noticeable if you strain your ears, yet at this show you could barely hear the guitar over his groaning. His playing on record his tone are great, too. I don't know what was up with the performance.

It never bothers me with Gould, though.

Post by **Dale** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:40 pm

bradhurley wrote:You can see one reason why Gould stopped giving live performances after a while and only did studio recordings...people would focus on him rather than the music during his concerts. With anyone else you would write off the singing and hand expressions as an affect, but with Gould it seems to be a case of a mad genius who was lost in the music.

I think this is exactly right. Now, the other guy that comes to mind, of course, is Keith Jarrett. I'm a fan of Keith Jarrett's, but it's a love-hate thing. At his best, I think it's just sublime music. I'm grateful, though, that I don't have to watch him or listen to him talk. He's often just an ass in interviews and can be a jerk in dealing with audiences. In most of his jazz performances, he does some grunting and other vocal noises. Sometimes, it doesn't bother me. Some of his trio recordings, in my opinion, were ruined by his sort of nasal sing-along chanting thing he does.

I did sit through an interview with him in which he was asked about this and he said that when one plays (at his level) you reach a kind of level of tension and energy (or something) and "you have to make a noise or you'll die." He seemed to mean it literally. And, I thought, no you won't die! Shut up. It's self-indulgent and disrespectful of the audience.

I know I don't SOUND like a fan....

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:03 pm

The Goldbergs are amazing. BTW-- that opening (and closing) aria works perfectly on a D whistle, if you're willing to half hole a couple of notes.

chas · Post by **chas** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:48 am

Dale wrote: I think this is exactly right. Now, the other guy that comes to mind, of course, is Keith Jarrett. I'm a fan of Keith Jarrett's, but it's a love-hate thing. At his best, I think it's just sublime music. I'm grateful, though, that I don't have to watch him or listen to him talk. He's often just an ass in interviews and can be a jerk in dealing with audiences. In most of his jazz performances, he does some grunting and other vocal noises. Sometimes, it doesn't bother me. Some of his trio recordings, in my opinion, were ruined by his sort of nasal sing-along chanting thing he does.

I saw him in concert once, maybe 1978, it was maybe a quintet or sextet. I kid you not, I fell asleep. I WAS tired, among other things, but I stayed awake for McCoy Tyner in the same condition a few months earlier. I don't think I've ever seen someone so full of himself except for Robert Laughlin (who won the Nobel Prize a couple of years after I saw him give a seminar).

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:42 am

I think that Bach, Mozart and (especially) Beethoven would have relished the modern Concert Grand, and would have thoroughly approved of their music being played on it. Gould's two famous performances are both remarkable documents, but I have issues with them in ways other than that annoying vocalisation. He's inconsistent with repeats and he plays with an awful lot of aggression and brittleness at times. The forward recording tends to emphasise this. Each to his own, having said that! The one on record I listen to is András Schiff's version. I love Beethoven's Diabelli Variations too. Beethoven almost takes over where Bach leaves off, but there's a good deal of homage to Bach in the piece. I have two versions, one by the young Stephen Kovacevich and the other by William Kinderman. Kinderman's book on the Diabelli Variations is very scholarly and illuminating. Alfred Brendel regards the Diabelli Variations as the "alpha and omega" of piano music, and if he plays them in concert he always refuses to give an encore afterwards as he says they're impossible to follow.

DADGAD · Post by **DADGAD** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:47 pm

If you like Glenn Gould, you might want to consider getting his transcription of of Wagner's Die Meistersinger. You'll hear things in it that you'll completely miss in the orchestral version. It made me realize how contrapuntal Wagner's writing can be.