11 Apr 08
Originally posted by NemesioI think he fell and broke his tail bone as a young boy. The chair that he always sat in while he played was one his father made for him.
Observe: Almost every technical aspect of this pianist's playing (Glenn Gould) is totally wrong
from a pedagogical standpoint (as just about any teacher will tell you).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nluYZFaaiA&feature=related
Yet the result is wonderful.
Nemesio
11 Apr 08
Originally posted by NemesioWasn't this the case with Louis Armstrong's trumpet playing?
Observe: Almost every technical aspect of this pianist's playing (Glenn Gould) is totally wrong
from a pedagogical standpoint (as just about any teacher will tell you).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nluYZFaaiA&feature=related
Yet the result is wonderful.
Nemesio
11 Apr 08
Originally posted by NemesioWeird; I was going to start a spin-off thread on "I Want to Write a Book" called "So, I Want to Write a Fugue" yesterday, but I forgot.
Observe: Almost every technical aspect of this pianist's playing (Glenn Gould) is totally wrong
from a pedagogical standpoint (as just about any teacher will tell you).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nluYZFaaiA&feature=related
Yet the result is wonderful.
Nemesio
Gould's recordings of Bach either really do it for me or really don't. The link you gave is wonderful, but:
&feature=related
is butchery of one of my favourite pieces of music. "The Art of Fugue" is not supposed to sound like a human is playing it. It's supposed to sound like otherwordly evidence that the Scientologists are right!
11 Apr 08
Originally posted by ChronicLeakyClassic.
Weird; I was going to start a spin-off thread on "I Want to Write a Book" called "So, I Want to Write a Fugue" yesterday, but I forgot.
Gould's recordings of Bach either really do it for me or really don't. The link you gave is wonderful, but:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNy4EJsZqY&feature=related
is butchery of one of my favourite pieces ...[text shortened]... t. It's supposed to sound like otherwordly evidence that the Scientologists are right!
12 Apr 08
1 edit
Originally posted by kirksey957What do I think of the piece? I think it's a sublime solo cantata. Stylistically, it reminds one
Nem, what's your take on this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfA4zyHcIPo
of the opening movement of the sixth Brandenburg Concerto, with its pulsating but static bassline
over an imitative pair of strings.
What do I think of the performance? I find Baroque music on modern strings to be less satisfying
than on the older style gut strings. Furthermore, the sound of Glenn Gould's 'harpsipiano' that
he designed specifically for this piece is irritating beyond measure. That having been said, his
rendering of the figured bass is at times very, very creative. And I hate the sound of the countertenor;
it's a product of that late 50s/early 60s Bach as Wagner era (big orchestras, huge orchestras,
whiny soloists). He puts a fast vibrato on every single note. It's atrocious.
I personally find almost all of Gould's interpretations worthy of study, even when I categorically
disagree with them. He was unabashed in his self-centeredness -- he was totally uninterested
in what the composer may have wanted, but in what he could extract from the music -- and
I find this sort of honesty refreshing. And when playing the music he loved, he did so with an
unbridled ecstasy. I find myself unperturbed by his grotesqueries of gesture, his grunting, or
mannerisms. Most musicians I know who are intoxicated by the musical experience (as I am)
usually feel on the inside what he exudes on the outside. In that way, it's almost cathartic to
watch if you can suspend your disbelief at the social graces he violates at every turn.
Incidently, the recitative and second aria (which is totally different in character, being a fugue)
is at this link, for those interested in the whole piece.
&feature=related
Edit: I find this performance about a million times more satisfying.
&feature=related