I asked 6 pianists what they think of Glenn Gould (ft. Ax, Fleisher, Bernstein, et al)
40 years after his death, Glenn Gould continues to inspire and irritate.
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0:00 #1 Leon Fleisher
1:20 #2 Robert Durso
1:44 #3 Anne-Marie McDermott
2:28 #4 Seymour Bernstein
3:42 What Gould did to Mozart
5:36 Gould the provocateur
7:28 #5 Frederic Chiu
9:22 #6 Emanuel Ax
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Watch original interview with Glenn Gould and Humphrey Burton: • Glenn Gould and Humphr...
Produced and edited by Ben Laude.
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I sent Seymour Bernstein this video and asked if he could write me an email defending his Gould opinions, since many of you wished he'd said more here. Instead he insisted we jump on a Zoom call, giving me the chance to record his instant reactions to a couple Gould recordings as well as have him respond to some of the criticisms you threw his way! Part 1 is here: kzhead.info/sun/Y8d7Zcmvn5ycZH0/bejne.html And part 2 is coming in a few days. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, thanks for the lively debate.
Wonderful work; thank you.
Unfortunately the video has been blocked. One the big frustrations of youtube.
I was fortunate enough to have seen it before it got blocked. any way it's gonna be re-released? It was remarkable stuff!!
Damn, blocked :(
I just issued an appeal and restored it. It was the same erroneous claim on the BBC interview clip that led to this video being temporarily blocked. It seems clear to me that these are classic examples of fair use for the purposes of commentary, but automated Content ID sensors don't know the difference.
My mother took care of Gould in the final days of his life as a bed side nurse. She tells me about how he had such wonderfully soft and smooth hands.
My Dad is buried in the same cemetery as Gould; about a 10 minute walk from his plot. Every time I pay my Dad a visit I make sure to stop by Glenn’s place to say hi. My Dad turned me on to Glenn Gould as a child and it’s fitting they’d end up as neighbours.
Heartwarming story...
I had a chance to visit a movie set in his old apartment on St. Clair ( 2010 or so). The entryway we used led us into the kitchen, which featured twin stoves/ovens that looked like they'd been there since the 30's, sitting side by side. Memorable:)
As long as you pay your dad a visit first before him 😁
@@giovanna722 I made a pilgrimage to Wawa last year. Stayed in Room 101. Unfortunately none of the staff I encountered at the Wawa Motor Inn knew about their famous former regular visitor. The really sad part was that with the exception of one person no one took much interest. There was a plaque in a room celebrating Signourey Weavers’ one time visit while making a film up there. Nothing for Glenn ! There is an odd life size poster of Gould at the waterfall but that was it. It is an amazing spot and I certainly can appreciate why Gould visited it many times !
Jesus man you're very lucky (ironically, sadly, it's your dad's grave), I live in middle east, wish to see his grave, his statue, his museum.
I love that you included someone who didn't like him! Usually videos are too scared to include opposing opinion, it all has to be hagiography.
I actually know quite a lot of people, both professional musicians and music lovers, who didn't or don't like Gould's playing (me included, I'm from Leipzig and have a very different opinion of how Bach should sound than Gould had). He was in a class of his own. Genius? I don't know.... certainly gifted, but to me cold, distanced and boring. And a lot of his huge fame was driven by very good advertisement.
@@Seleuce Gould boring ? You must have the wrong Gould.
I'm Canadian, born in 1952, heard him lots many years ago, and should have thought he was great. But I didn't and still don't. All the splicing and humming, and the flow of the music itself isn't there. More of a mechanic than anything else.
@@glenngouldification He certainly isn’t boring, but I know for certain that JS Bach and Mozart are both in hell. How do I know? Their eternal torment is knowing what Glenn Gould did to their music.
@@LukeShalz Yeah, but they are geniuses whose music is played and revered years after their deaths. Your torment will be screaming stupid music reviews in hell while no one listens, long forgotten. Long live Gould !
Love the mix of interpretations. There is always room for a appreciation and critique. That is the foundation of art.
yeah, freedom of speech is important, we should have that right. no, wait
Yes! How someone could know how Bach really sounds/sounded🤦🏻♀️. Gould is something from above…
@@Mike1614b get out. This is piano conversation, not a place for conservative brain rot.
@@user-ub2jp7tg6k At least conservatives, unlike liberals, have a brain.
@@user-ub2jp7tg6k so you oppose freedom of speech? you get out!
"What about what he did to Mozart?" I can't stop replaying that bit.
Masterful!
Show me on this doll where he touched Mozart...
@@riverstun "Show me on this doll where he touched Mozart..." 🤣🤣🤣
I've played Ms McDermott's comment ''we're not creators of music We are the re creators''
Mozart it's Lilly Krauss also Clara Haskil ; all Adagios of Sonatas- Concertos- quartets by Clara Haskil are above the keyboard with a magicelancoly not G Gould the nose in the Key-board
I lost it when Seymour asked “What about what he did TO Mozart?” 😂
😂 like he rewrote Mozart's works and destroyed the originals! But it's true that Mozart is way overrated like Einstein was, there are people for whom it becomes fashionably trendy to exaggerate their brilliance, and when that trend makes it into culture, it becomes almost universally accepted without question, without reexamining whether there's any validity in it. It becomes almost heresy to even pose the question! This is the sheeple-ness of humans.
Bernstein loves Mozart. To dislike Gould because he does not worship Mozart is emotionally childish. LOL. Open your mind and heart.
I don't like Mozart myself ? Not my style !
@@darkone9572 Mozart is hugely overrated, his early genius did not transform itself into genius of composition in adulthood sadly, and Gould noticed that, but if you point out that Mozart was crap, you get all these angry sheeple coming at you!😂
@Xavier X But you fall into a worse category. Do you ever question whether you are even remotely qualified to opine that Mozart and Einstein are overrated? The category you put yourself in is the poseur who loves say things like "Oh, that Pavarotti, he couldn't hit a high C if his life depended on it." Most people are polite and simply roll their eyes at you. I doubt you notice.
Loved that kicker at the end. What a great video! Please keep them coming
I am a piano student and this is one of my favorite videos of all time on YT. Sensational interviews intertwined with the footage of Gould. Just amazing
I am a piano teacher and I absolutely cant STAND Glenn Gould. I use him as an example of what NOT to do in many cases.
@@allenapplewhite You are a piano teacher who cannot stand Gould ? OMG, thanks for this. I have alerted Sony and Columbia to recall all Gould recordings. The Gould Foundation has been alerted and agreed to cease all operations. You have done musicians everywhere a great service. Now get back to teaching piano to as few students as possible so as to do the least damage. Long live Gould !
@@glenngouldification Gould is dead. In fact, allow me to twist what Gould said about MOZART back around on GOULD: "The only tragic thing about Goulds death...was that he didnt die S O O N E R." Not only was Gould a narcissistic antagonistic opinionated @$$HOLE and $#!tty human being and homewrecker, but he played with terrible posture that gave him severe back tension and problems, refused to play a concert if the stupid footstool he sat on didnt show up to the concert hall like a spoiled little man-child, IGNORED the markings on the page by the composer and made such drastic changes as to be considered a NEW ARRANGEMENT instead of an "interpretation," lacked the emotional and intellectual complexity to appreciate a genius like Mozart while simultaneously thinking that HE was somehow more of a genius even while he demonstrated by his soulless butchering of Mozart's music that he had absolutely NO IDEA how to play his music (you heard him play Mozart in the video above, RIGHT? I would rather listen to nails on a chalkboard, his Mozart is SO UNMUSICAL), to his petty stupid narcissistic habits and attention grabbing like wearing thick gloves all the time to protect his fingers like a the fragile little wussy man he was, he played slow pieces fast and fast pieces slow just because he INSISTED on choosing the wrong tempo and IGNORING the markings on the SCORE, not to mention his biggest sin OF ALL: turning every piano SOLO piece he EVER PLAYED into a dissonant and cacophonic VOCAL DUET where he sang and mumbled and hummed OUT OF TUNE to himself like a friggen CRAZY PERSON. You may like $#!TTY recordings where the performer lacks the self control to SHUT HIS OWN MOUTH and ruin every piece he ever played in his life, but I personally think that a performer that ruins EVERY performance BY CHOICE is a BAD PERFORMER. You can polish a turd all you want. It is still a piece of $#!T. Gould is the most OVERRATED pianist in ALL OF HISTORY. I feel sorry for you.
Look at my classical music playlist
Great job with the interviews and putting so much fascinating information together! Thank you.
One of my favourite comments about Gould is that it is often like listening to an X-ray of the music--as though you can see inside the composition to discover its inner workings. But I can certainly understand that this can be a love-it-or-hate-it proposition.
Well said
That "X-ray of the music" is exactly how I feel about Gould's utterly breathtaking performance of Ravel's La Valse (which he recorded for his Show on the CBC)! If you've never heard this absolutely thrilling and singular interpretation, you can easily find it on KZhead, it's most definitely worth a listen (if not indeed a lifetime of listenings)!
It's like an x ray that shows broken bones and brain cancer on a genetically modified alien. I take it you enjoy listening to a madman mumble and hum and sing out of tune as he ruins EVERY single performance with his neurotic interpretations that often completely ignore the markings on the score and is an affront to tasteful, beautiful music. Personally, I want a good, CLEAN recording. Since Gould NEVER SHUT UP, he NEVER PRODUCED ONE.
@@allenapplewhite Speaking of genetically modified aliens. How’s your Mom ?
Exactly that! I didnt know how to put it but that s what I heard when I heard him playing first on a cd. It was so mind blasting that I had to recover for a couple of weeks
My favorite thing is how in all of Gould’a recordings you can hear his incessant humming but everyone just puts up with because he’s such a visionary
Maybe listen to (fellow Canadian) Oscar Peterson if you think Gould was the only pianist who grunted and groaned during his performances. Thelonius Monk was another inveterate vocalizer. And so was Keith Jarrett, who looked like he needed to be strapped to the bench to keep from squirming off the keys and onto the floor.
OMG! I bought an album of Glenn Gould playing Beethoven Piano Sonatas from Columbia House. After listening to the Opus 12 sonatas, I immediately returned it to them with comments that there is some noise in the background that makes listening to Mr. Gould impossible. They refunded my $59.50 (a huge sum of money for twelve long-playing albums in 1968).
@@Pedsonc01 that’s actually so funny haha thanks for sharing that
A bit like grunting tennis players annoy everyone, but nobody does anything about it.
If tonebase could do a similar video about Horowitz, I’d love it. Great respect for Gould!
I second this!
Me too!
That is a great idea.
It's going to happen
LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO
THANK YOU! This is a GREAT compilation, I never would have found all these clips on my own. Love it.
02:30 I don't turn to Gould for beautiful renditions. But I've not once listened to him and thought and felt nothing. Every single time I hear him play something, I'm filled with thoughts and feelings. I don't feel the desire to emulate, but I am most definitely inspired.
He inspires me to NOT SING AND MUMBLE when I play. Though, I have never developed that bad habit, as his early teacher instructed him to do, and a bad habit which he NEVER BROKE.
M på lp jo9@@allenapplewhite
@@allenapplewhite i think you re too much fixed on the singing. When you can hear past that, you can hear many fantastical things. But everybody his or her own opinion of course
This video is insanely well done and deserves a lot of recognition!
Here it is 40 years since Glenn Gould died, and we still listen, watch. Love. Are fascinated. Hear new things in the music. I'm so grateful that after he left the concert stage, he made so many recordings and TV programs--we have much to enjoy, to love, to enjoy.
I pop champagne on every anniversary
here is 70 years since Cortot, Lipatti, Hoffman, Gieseking, and so many others died and we still listen to them. They were far better than some guy who thought he would be more important than music itself.
Except there were far better pianists who didn't ruin every take by mumbling over every recording or during every live performance. Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations is basically the ONLY classical CD I have thrown into the DONATE BIN, and I feel sorry for the person who may have bought it. One of my greatest regrets in life: I wish I had thrown it away instead.
@@allenapplewhite One of my greatest regrets in life is reading your drivel in the comment section !
@@druntopronto7598 Stupid nonsensical observation, check out the numbers Einstein ! Gould is way in the lead, more famous everyday as they slip from memory. Fortunately you have already slipped into obscurity !
Glenn was an OG punk icon, rebelling against the constraints of the accepted norms simply by being true to himself. From the way he sat and played to his humming as well as his love of artists like Schoenberg, his approach was unique in all conceivable ways.
Great video and interviews and insights. The comments of Robert Durso are very important, in terms of the posture and strain and potential damage. How wonderfully revealing that Bernstein says he never heard him play anything that was beautiful. Certainly not in the sense of a Rubinstein. There are times when Gould's playing feels like that of a tactician, but other times he reveals a soul in some difficult unwieldy music. Thankfully there's room for all kinds of genius.
As a music lover, it is a complete joy listening to different interpretations, different artists playing or singing the same piece. I love it because it alerts me to the sensitive core of it all, to a nuance, another texture that is surprising, a cadence emphasized, something bolder, softer, warmer or technically astonishing. Isn't that the reason for it all? And of course you will have your favourites, your own filters and preferences. That closes the circle.
You have described what I think too. Gould had a somewhat idiosyncratic interpretation, I always wonder what would Bach have thought about Gould. I like to think he would have been thrilled at the _non plus ultra_ clear delineation of melody and counterpoint, but maybe just a little concerned about its smaller emotion? Thanks for the comment!
@@NinoNiemanThe1st It would be interesting to know !! I think Gould had emotion but it was woven into the layers of whatever else his mind was concerned with.... a more private sensibility, that's for sure! :)
@@chickadddee Very accurate observation! I love my Gould interpretations, but yes they are very private to his autistic mind, but fantastic nonetheless, we may never hear the counterpoint drawn out to this extent again: it could get a bit clinical, but it does expose an aspect of Bach in these Gould recordings I think. I love all the recordings of Bach, they each show something different about his genius!
@@NinoNiemanThe1st No proof he was autistic of course, but his precision always provides me with a kind of calm comfort. Everything clicking into place you might say. So different from Murray Perahia who I also love. One drains away stress caused by chaos, the other, full of emotion, also eases stress - caused by greed and ignorance.
“Neurotic interpretation of Bach” Bernstein had no chill 👀
Beautiful. I just love his Beethoven Symphony 6 with the Liszt transcription absolutely life-affirming beauty.
Couldn’t agree more. Life affirming.
Same here. Could - and did - listen to it all day long and every day. Fascinating interpretation.
His first Goldberg is so compelling. Bach's music comes alive, vibrant, eternal. Just that one recording, what a gift to the world of music!
I`ve always preferred the second, but no matter, his Goldbergs are very good.
the tempo at which he plays is preposterous and downright offensive to the piece. just listen to pierre hantai or evgeni koroliov for superior interpretations.
@@le4chehenry324 Lol. Good luck in life.
Videos and channels like these make me so thankful for youtube..
Gould was unapologetically himself. Music aside, the reminder to simply “be yourself” was his greatest gift to all of us.
Gould: "To me, the ideal artist-to-audience relationship is a one-to-zero relationship. The artist should be granted anonymity."
Yep, Snoop Dogg said the same thing in the context of longevity as an artist (against the backdrop of the current 'pop' mumble-rap sausage factory) - "Who can be you but you?" I unapologetically love Bach and love Snoop 🙃
I don't know much about him, but from what I've seen I'm not convinced of that (even if it is the conventional view of him). He strikes me as someone who tried to be a certain person all his life. When he talks about his horror of the masses, I feel that may be a clue. He didn't want to be part of them. If he really was himself, maybe he would have been happier, and we would have never heard of him.
@Piano at Thirty I read your comment to Seymour Bernstein in this follow up video I made with him: kzhead.info/sun/Y8d7Zcmvn5ycZH0/bejne.html
I disagree. I believe he was not himself at all, but a big phony who did things for shock value. So he had phenomenal technique and beautiful tone. He was not a poet nor did he create beauty.
Je suis très heureux que vous mentionniez les "Inventions" par Gould, dans la version donnée à Moscou, un de mes disques préférés.
Wonderful to watch! Thanks for sharing
As a painter, I would add the thought that we can paint a picture over the space of decades, making corrections and changes. and what the viewer sees is yhevlast hour or hour and a half of work. so the "editing" of musical performances to reach an ideal of interpretation makes perfect sense.
He had to edit it because he couldn't PLAY it the way he wanted. And comparing music to art in the way you just did is kinda messed up. It would be more like you PRACTICING to paint the same picture for years and years so that way you could go up in front of a live audience and paint it from scratch right in front of them, LIVE. Music is linear, and takes TIME for the listener to absorb a piece from start to finish. A painting I can see it in its ENTIRETY in one second.
I too have been painting for over half a century And I agree And may I add a realization that… We are always painting or drawing-sketching or dabbing ONE piece.
I first heard Gould play Bach’s Goldberg Aria, and it inspired me to learn it. I bought a Roland HP Digital Piano (apologies to the far superior natural analog pianos, and to Mr Gould too), however, I love it. I gave myself 5 years to learn it….it seemed like an eternity; I wrote at the top of the score ‘learn to play it, the time will pass anyway’. It has, and I can play it. Life achievement tick. Next I must attend The Grand Canyon Star Party.
And?
@@goshu7009 And so ends the Universe, not with a bang, but with a whimper…..
@@goshu7009 🗿
No need to apologize. Glenn Gould played on a modern piano. Wendy Carlos is a master on the Moog. The true test is, simply is your version beautiful, and do you enjoy playing it?
@@johnsrabe Heyvthats kind of you. I love my Roland piano, it sounds so real…great through headphones too.
Great & most interesting video. Thx for posting it. In my humble opinion (I am not a professional player) Mr. Seymour Bernstein's opinion finds me completely in agreement. Please, more!
I'm grateful that Glenn Gould was in this world. He was a wonderful character, and I love to hear him talk about whatever he was moved to talk about. And I always sense his utter and complete immersion in whatever he played. He was also a great "eccentric," of course, but that only added to his charms. And there was the fascination of "the two Bachs" in his hands. He could play Bach like a typewriter gone made in an Invention, and then turn around and play the opening Toccata from the 6th Partita in a richly sensitive way. And then there is the moving portrait of Gould "conducting himself" as he played the Beethoven Bagatelle Op. 126 No. 3, played with the deepest expression. Then there was the "iconoclast" who said the "Appassionata" Sonata was "just Beethoven being Beethoven" and seemed to want to turn Mozart into Bach in his recordings of the former. In short, a many-sided and somewhat unpredictable person and musician. But there is so much to love in the story of his life, his unique personal qualities, his thoughtful meditations, and in his deeply felt recordings of the music that he chose to record. Thank you for sharing these mini interviews of pianists on Glenn Gould--I enjoyed them!
Bravo MarkPorter! As a composer I think the same. Reflexive, intriguing, inspirative and wide open statements.Bravo to all ! Bach by the extraordinary, unique Glenn Gould : “United superbly by God, that ressonates and spreads this sublime music over all Universe. An infinite fited, adequated, stage for them. ! Luminous and vast.! And the galaxies and stars fully absorved by both reverentily brigthens more and more. With grace, plentiness, ressonance and gratitude, in reverence, imensity and communion." >>> .ARS SEMPER.VITA PLENA.HIC VIVIT FELICITATEM Gratias tibi tam Gould! ― Yan Ayrton, classical composer. I//////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Itaque Vita Aeternum
@@yanayrton It is interesting that both Bach and Glenn Gould could both be extremely "cerebral" in one work but then deeply "romantic" in another work. Nobody expected the voluptuous sound that Gould realized in his Brahms album, for one example. With Bach, I have a hard time getting into his more cerebral fugues, great and perfect as they no doubt are. The Bach that most amazes me is the stunning beauty of the Largo of the Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. There is the Bach of The Art of the Fugue, and then there is the Bach of that Concerto. That seems hard to reconcile beyond the fact that Bach's compositions seem to be perfectly put together, regardless of the genre and instrumentation. In conclusion, quite a guy! As for Glenn Gould, well, gosh, how can anyone dislike him? I guess his "iconoclastic" side could be off-putting, and he did go to the strange trouble of recording some music that he claimed to dislike. (Maybe record companies were pressuring him for his take on the "Appassionata," etc.?) But when we see Gould at the piano, what is most striking--to me, anyway--is his utter absorption in the music. So much so that he wasn't self-conscious about humming along when the mood struck him, or "conducting" himself at various moments. That seemed to be simply a sincere expression of his involvement with the music he was playing. I'm not sure anyone could "get away with" that these days--people might say, oh, how pretentious, and what a ridiculous circus those actions are, etc. But Glenn Gould was in the uniquely fortunate position of being "given license" to do his thing as he saw fit and be paid by record companies in the bargain. He was able to live in his own world in a way that is maybe not so readily available these days. He was "the eccentric genius," and that label gave him the license to "follow his muse(s)" as he saw fit. On the whole, I would like to have been his friend and been able to sit around and hear his thoughts on anything and, of course, to hear him at the piano. Or even play his beloved "20 Questions"! By the way, I wish you all the best in your compositional work. It must be a great joy to be a composer. I can only imagine!
Thank you, Mark. I totally agree.
@@Opoczynski I'm happy that you feel the same way!
@@yanayrton I'm hardly a connoisseur of the music of Bach! I know only a fraction of his music. But I have found much to love in the music by Bach that I've gotten to know. I guess some of the first Bach I ever heard was overhearing my dad play part of the G Major French Suite, and I came to love that Suite, in particular its opening and closing movements. I first heard part of the slow movement of the Concerto For Two Violins in D minor thanks to a movie featuring the late William Hurt called "Children of a Lesser God." There's a touching scene in the film in which Hurt tries to convey to a deaf woman through gestures the glorious beauty of that movement, and we see how painful it is for him not to be able to share that music meaningfully and deeply. Bach's Inventions were at home, though I don't recall ever hearing my dad play one of them. Thanks to my University of Iowa piano teacher (Dr. Gregory Pepetone, a marvelous pianist but unfortunately too shy to share his work here), I got to know and love Bach's "Italian Concerto" and the 4th Partita, as well as the Toccata in E minor--the latter of which I "gamely" attempted to master but fell short (as usual). I have gotten to know and love much of the Goldberg Variations over the years as well--though I leave the playing of them to real pianists. But that only leaves about five zillion other compositions by Bach that I'll probably never get around to hearing! Still, it's wonderful to know that Master Bach is always there, much beauty and abundant perfection always there to be encountered and appreciated. I will try to listen to your "Verknupfungen!" composition. Please forgive me for not being able to focus on it for awhile. But thank you for letting me know of it and your other work as well! All the best to you!
I can't think of a non-composer who has ever attracted as much discussion in classical music. Polarising, true, but the North pole has a lot more people around it than the South. Visionary. Genius. Virtuoso. Master. And of an importance transcendent of simple craft.
"Theres no point in duplicating a performance that has been done before" I like/respect his philosophy
I find that perspective to be selfish and arrogant. Gould is thinking about self and not about how so many others have explored the intent of the piece. Interpreters have a responsibility to be faithful to the intent of the composer. I think Gould gave up on that early in his life.
I know nothing if classical music. Im a working class guy who knows Bowie, Moroder, Eno, Chic, an eclectic mix of mostly rock and pop but i admire anyone who follows there own path. The man is right, recorded music renders repetition pointless. This guy was a maverick, more power to him for that! 👍
Except that when two people play the same piece it is always different, and to me certainly, always deeply interesting. I think Gould often talked snobbish nonsense. I love his playing though, and that's what matters.
Well Zubin Mehta certainly got to the point! The section on Gould the Provocator is probably the best short interpretation and summation Ive heard about him.
I love Gould so much. Listen to him every day. I bought his Columbia catalog mp3.
I really love these Tone bass videos.
Never understood how he didn't 'get' what is so magical about Mozart, but his Bach is fantastic and what an amazing mind he had.
@@mcfahk That was insightful!! Thanks for commenting on something that means so little to you!
I’ll never understand the Mozart-bashing unless he was just being contrary, or trolling. Glenn Gould was an amazing pianist but he was hardly Mozart. I went to piano school with someone very gifted who also didn’t think much of Mozart! Thankfully they’re in the minority. I love Mozart’s music so deeply that I almost take it as a personal insult! But I’m not Mozart, so I should just take it all with a grain of salt. 😂
@@beckylink I think that Gould was being a provocateur, although Mozart's greatest compositions were not for the pianoforte--which was a rather limited instrument in his day anyway. The piano concertos are superior works by virtue of his talent as an orchestrator. I quite like several of the sonatas, but they are more pretty than profound. The tragedy of Mozart is that he died just as he was entering his prime. If Beethoven and Bach had died at 36, most of their greatest works would never have been written! Comparing the output of all composers up to the age of 36, I think that there is a decent argument that Mozart's oeuvre is the most impressive.
@@beckylink when Gould bashed Mozart I thought he did it for the shock effect. Mozart was an innovator in his day. I agree with you, his music is profound and affects me deeply.
@@JohnSmith-oe5kx his concerti are innovative and masterpieces in my opinion. Not just the orchestration, but the ideas are much more developed than other classical composers of the time.
But fr why did he play the mozart sonata that way? Don't get it
Nice video. I tend to be not a Gould fan, but he was brilliant, and this is a good, quick primer on him. I didn’t know Ax is an admirer.
It's fascinating that the man has been dead for 40 years and we are still debating him as a modern piano artist.
Much like any of the grandmasters really.
Not that weird when you think about the fact that the music that he’s playing is 300 years old lol
@@derbar7051That's not true at all.
I can't think of a non-composer who has ever attracted as much discussion in classical music. Polarising, true, but the North pole has a lot more people around it than the South. Visionary. Genius. Virtuoso. Master. And of importance transcendent of simple craft.
@@MultiCappie What do you mean by "non-composer"?
I had no idea Glen Gould had been so effected with dystonia. I knew about Gary Graffman and Leon Fleisher. I have dystonia and it ended my hopes before I could launch any semblance of a career.
I’ve become somewhat of an expert on piano related injuries a Gould didn’t have dystonia, he had ulnar nerve compression. Read his bio by Peter Ostwald. I have the same thing and four surgeries later nothing but I’ll wait and see.
So illuminating. Got interested in Gould even more than before.
Wow! Best thing I've seen in months on YT.
My dad had records of Glenn Gould on which you could hear him humming along as he played... I think they edited that out when the recordings were released on CD in the late 80's.
One thing Gould does better than almost anyone is clearly delineating the voices in a polyphonic texture. In Bach’s fugues you can hear clearly each iteration of the subject even when it is obscured by a lot of activity in the other voices. But when he plays from the Well Tempered Clavier, he often sounds like he’s in a hurry to reach the final cadence. The fugue ends as abruptly as it started leaving the listener wondering what all those notes were in the middle.
Bach sounds better on the harpsichord.
@@patriciayeiser6405 - That it may, but I still don’t want to hear an andante race walked.
@@patriciayeiser6405 It's just different.
Not true, Horowitz did it better.
@@papagen00 What is "better"? Faster, louder, softer? Every pianist, all things being equal, plays in his/ her own way.
Brilliant video. Something to ponder... and ponder. Thank you.
I love this video-well done, and thank you Ben! ✨
When I was studying music as an undergrad, one of my teachers used to say, “Great players pay well in spite of their technical problems, not because of them.” I am reminded of that while watching this.
How much did they pay?
I completely understand anyone not liking Glenn Gould’s style of playing. But I’ve also listened to his second Goldberg Variations about as many times as I’ve listened to any album in the last 5 years.
Excellent,Thank you for this upload.
The best part of being a musician on whatever instrument is about how you can make a old piece to your own piece, so there is no wrong or right because we are all individual beings with our own storys. Write and play your own ornaments in it, give it a swing tempo even on some works from Bach. Just play what you want to express yourself and dont be a copy of someone that has written dozen of beautiful old pieces.
finally. More of this attitude in classical music, please.
the "Glenn Gould problem" is simple: he is like the great philosophers, he takes something and shows it to us in another light, a light that perhaps deforms the thing but which makes it appear "beautiful" anyway. Gould was interested in the creative moment of the composition and not in the interpretative or "musical" moment. Time gives and will prove him right, indeed today he is an universal symbol of freedom and ispiration in art.
thanks you have pointed that out, although, much of the task for pianists is to get the idea, the construction and the elements behind that special music piece! Glenn Gould, as good as he seems is just an egomaniac and have found lots of followers!
Yeah. "It's simple". How simple. Or maybe you think it's simple and it is not really.
@matteo r. You're kidding, yes? To me Gould is proto-typical of a selfish pianist. More concerned with his own originality than the music's intent. There are some pianists like that in each generation, and I generally don't like their playing. It doesn't look like high-art or philosophy to me, it just looks arrogant. If he wanted to make statements on music like you are saying, he should have composed, not played.
very good insightul point..."PIANISTS" and their thinking is also another factor...they like to think in terms of "beauty" according to what our instrument allows...forgetting that as soon as it is "piano" that is no longer EVEN as bach heard it actually "interpreted"...2) they miss altogether that BACH HIMSELF varied his OWN "interpretations" in the reworkings of his compositions...and allowed this or that to be "interpreted" in DIFFERENT instruments...the SLURS and phrasings BY A VOICE CARRYING WORDS...could be different from the "lines" of an oboist..a flutist...a pianist...BACH...on record responded to someone asking HIM how he could PLAY so well: "IT is simple ..play the right notes at the right time" ...and specific instance he WROTE down slurs or dots to indicate a particular thing he obviously felt should be ......what are we to say then ...how he might have handled the REST of the lines? the ART OF FUGUE...was clearly intended with TWO HANDS in mind...that is so easy to note..but arrives at the later MASSIVE MIRROR FUGUES which required FOUR hands..of crisscrossing double counterpoints...even up to eight voices!! there are no indications of tempo...dynamics...or even phrasing...they could be sung by a quartet...soprano..tenor , alto. bass...as the OPEN CLEFS indicate if anyone happens to be fluent in open score andplayed these with 2 hands at the piano...that s where one..as i used to do regularly...senses..."why...bach leaves it to me to combine the touches and articulations as physically possible and the ears find clear...and create individual VOICE characters like four people talking at once...but intelligible>" that s what GLENN GOULD does...to his great credit... more "proof" that bach REINTERPRETED his OWN works: there are PLENTY of ORGAN pieces...part of a huge project he made of KEYBOARD works of which the golberg...the partitas are just part of...which in organ volumes bach REWORKED his "tunes" of the CHORALES...and therefore by additions of new polyphony ...and entirely new compositions....the CHORALE TUNES themselves were...."distorted" in note values..in tempo...etc...i suspect...mostpianists talk the way tey do..."interpretation" from the mastery of the piano..without much exploring how bach.s mind transfered itself...many times...from ONE genre of musical structure..to another...and from ONE medium to another... for example: THE GIGANTIC OVERTURE and its paired 3 section giant fugue...in E FLAT MAJOR...on the tune used in his "CANTATA" suite...MAGNIFICAT...from IT a tune is used in the ORGAN fugue....that s a RE INTERPRETATION as a new composition for ORGAN by itself...pianists...before tehy talk nonsense about "pianists interpreting bach" should at least play at the organ..some of bach.s CHORALES at the organ..as HE HIMSELF reworked...... GOULD was very early an ORGANIST as a boy..in his church..that says a lot about why he plays AT THE PIANO the way he did...the mind delves into the mind of bach...and as composer...who happens to love playing the piano for ITS own potentials...why do people have such problems with that...like this "PROFESSOR" BERNSTEIN...? they are like dogs who can t walk on hind legs like humans...barking and barking..."that s not how to BARK...woof woof"...how silly... just enjoy and learn and see what gould as to offer...and it s MORE than many great "PIANISTS" and professors of "bach interpretation" can show!!
Old pianists die, and some just fade away. But Glenn Gould won't even fade away, simply because he's such a powerful life force of music and opinion. His star will forever be shining bright, whether or not you hate Glenn Gould. What you hear is Gould's style and interpretation. Every pianist has his own style and interpretation. All things considered ... Glenn Gould has far more followers than detractors. If you hear Glenn Gould more than you hear Bach, then you don't know Bach. If Gould were the one and only performer of Bach's music you were familiar with, then you could make no comparisons.
What a lucky stumble-upon today, finding you and your channel! Can't wait to hear/see more from you! but in the mean time, I just want to say you're the only person I've heard SAY (expose) those conventions in the 50's and 60's that, in your kind phrasing, made people "a bit mindless." One example is insisting that Bach's rhythms should be "sewing machine." Holy cow, never mind that they didn't have sewing machines, how much more insulting can one get than to assume he didn't have enough rhythmic sense to know how joyous music is when a backbeat is implied, allowing for fluidity and in-the-moment focus. There's even one very famous conductor-of-cantatas who has publicly explained that Bach's arias "are supposed to be boring." And don't get me started on Robert Shaw's DEVASTATING-TO-LIVING-MUSIC comment on his famous 1966 "Messiah" recording: something to the effect that the pieces should all just be quick, light, and jig-like - that Handel surely wasn't old-fashioned enough to actually CARE about some "distant mystery." Note, I'm not defending any particular dogma, just spirituality in general. It's like the only thing people care about any more in Baroque music is, How Fast Can You Play It With No Mistakes. WILD applause, if you're the fastest they've ever heard!
Very interesting documentary with various critical commentary. I love this kind of thing.
Gone but never to be forgotten. He left us far too soon.
They all do. That's life dude. Find your own inner genius. It's there waiting to come out.
@@classicfilms8071 👍
Nice video!! I'm always very curious what other pianists think about Glenn Gould. The interviewer, Humphrey Burton, of the BBC interviews done with Gould is still alive. It would be absolutely amazing if you could do an interview with him and ask him how he looks back on this time.
Where there is a will there is a solution.
@@classicfilms8071 Let's hope!
Glen Gould was an enigma for sure. I like his music. The final Goldberg Variations are my favorite recording that he made of that work. The earlier recording was made at the beginning of his career and didn't have as much depth as the last recording.
3:34 Damnnn who gave my boy Gould the drop fade??
Absolutely fantastic videos lately, thank you
You're welcome!
I’ll never forget the story John de Lancie told me about a concert Glenn played when John was at Philadelphia as principal oboist. He said a good friend of his was in the audience that night, who was an astute musician. At the end of the piece, the conductor, who I think John said was Eugene Ormandy, completely forgot the last several pages of the score. Well ,if you knew Glenn, he was already a nervous performer. Despite Glenn‘s nerves and the conductor forgetting the score, later that night after dinner John’s astute friend said to him what a great performance it was. The lesson he was trying to portray to me was no matter how bad things get never let them see you sweat because sometimes even the most astute musician can’t tell how bad things went.
The man danced to the beat of his own drum. That's what made him different from almost everybody else during his life.
Dude he wasn't a percussionist nor a dancer.
@@classicfilms8071 🤦♂️
@@classicfilms8071 Lmao
@@classicfilms8071 Umm...the piano IS a percussion instrument...
I was born in 1947 by 1956 I was taking trumpet lessons at school and singing in an choir(Episcopal). I first heard Gould the same summer that I heard Miles Davis. Gould did not sound like our choir master nor organist. I was floored. I knew both performers were "different", and special and..........my favorites. While I was at MIT, a girlfriend was a former music student at BU. She and I both loved Anthony di Bonaventura, but she thought my obsession with Gould was, well not inclusive enough, ha! A Grad Student walked into my office one day and saw Gould on my wall and he and were immediate friends. Thank you for this video!
You now are my friend too, GG Alliance. There’s something special that clicks on everyone who likes Glenn’s music
I majored in vocal performance and knew the brass players to always have the best voices. I bet you sing like a bird :)
Thank you so much for this video, I like many of Gould's interpretations of JSB, but for me my favorite performances from him are from 20th century music, most often from the second Viennese school, like the phenomenal Berg Piano Sonata (his is one of the slower recordings) or delightful Schoenberg lieder
His transcription of Ravel's La Valse is just insane, he really recreated the chaos at the end of the orchestrated version
His recordings of the 3 Hindemith Piano Sonatas are my favourite things he did.
He really was one of a kind, big fan here !!!
More!!…please!!! I think Leonard Bernstein said it best when he described Gould in front of a live audience as a “…Thinking performer.” And why on earth not be?!! Fleisher used to say “…you have to hear what you are playing in your mind’s ear before you play it.” Glenn had the guts to play the pieces he played the way he did, to bring us perspective to pieces we know ( or should know) so well. That is indeed an artist in my opinion.
Don't like everything from Gould, but his 1957 live performance of Contrapunctus 1 is still the most sublime performance of Bach I've heard. No other performance, not even others by Gould himself, treats that majestic fugue with such hushed, patient reverence.
What's not to like in Gould's playing ? ....whatever, you must have your standards . Peculiar ones;) .
Look for the the chamber version conducted by Jordy Savall
Partially agreed. Gould's Bach Gordenberg Variations just takes me somewhere with no gravity where only peace exists, and when I am passing 12th to 14th, I can find myself stop admiring Bach but worshiping Gould instead, only if this is what Bernstein meant in the video. No wonder his dedication for Bach pieces are over great level. But it is surely consideration-worth to think if this is what all professional pianists should do. When you look at .. more.. what kind of person Gould was, with so 'different' things in himself, it's not always happy and great to listen to his playing. I sometimes get so sad in his interpretation because I somehow could feel the pianist sees and feels something the way more , the way differently than others. It must not had been easy for him to live with the character not only as a pianist but as human, I suppose. I, therefore, take Gould's playing as a complex with sorrows, differences, minorities, compulsion, and loneliness. Bach is the greatest composer ever, so believed to be a FATHER of music, but we DO need Beethoven's toughness and courtesy, Chopin's weak but flattering and glamourous melodies, Beethoven's, Debussy's illumination, and Gershwin's jazzy and complicating texture. I do not recommend pianists today to have eccentricity as Gould did. I rather ask them to find the music in yourselves TODAY and portrait it on your playing. Berceuse, Resenthal, Friedman, Cortot ... those 'older generation' s playing cannot be 'better' than what you play today only because they were in old time. so, Gould's Bach is not the 'answer'. Zimmerman's Chopin is not the 'answer'. WHAT YOU FEEL IS THE ANSWER
Thank you for writing this. I think you make a really deep point. The goal for today's musicians shouldn't be to imitate Gould. But Gould can inspire us, I think, to enter a comparable state of wonder when approaching pieces of music and discover in them our own creative potentials.
@@tonebasePiano Thank you for the reply. Lately I found a good case what pianists today should do in 'healthy' way from the Cliburn winner this year, who is going to work with Bach Gordenberg soon which excites me. Yeah as you mentioned, it's the key to get inspired from older generation legendry pianists in certain pieces, not to copy them because when you start mimicing the pianist, it's no more Bach, or the composers, but it's only going to 'be like the pianist'. I personally admire Bernstein's lessons and interviews about music at Tonbase. His approach is not the answer for sure but I do believe he offers 'what NOT to'. When we know the 'wrong answer' , so it's easier to get the my own-feeling answer in the frame , where it is still VERY big and wide so you can feel yourself to play the musics.
Never cared for the Gordenberg Variations, too many references to Jewish and Scottish folk songs ! I have trouble listening past variation 85 of the Gordenberg 256 Variatiins. It was a sad day when Sarah Gordon married Saul Berg producing a child of questionable genius, Johann Joshua James Gordenberg.
Would love to have heard Bernstein speak more. The interviewer did most of the talking.
Most of the time the interviewer hardly listen what he had to say... 1:30 5:40
Yes this is absolutely not respectfull.
Completely agree
Terrible interviewer
He kept butting in jesus
Glenn Gould was basically a modern Mozart who came in and broke the rules. On the classical guitar it was Segovia who did not want to be cajoled into the same rules from previous times. There are some people who are savants and Glenn Gould was without a doubt one of the greatest Piano Savants of the 20th century.
No! Nothing to do with Mozart, gosh! Mozart was a great, great composer. Gould not.
@ Gould was not a composer he was more of a savant who came in an basically picked up on the mistakes of the past and he capitalized on that. Notice the absence of any musical score sheets on his playing this clearly tells you he was just a savant with the ability of mastering visual representations of musical scores all in his head. He was not as good as Segovia in the terms of the outcome of what they accomplished as even in 2023 not many can even get close to Segovia's touch tone technique which was what really defined his sound. Many savants have been born but no one has broke the rules of the Classical Piano as much as Gould did.
I've always found myself in complete agreement with Gould's philosophy of musical interpretation when he speaks or writes. His playing is another matter. As Bernstein says, the notes are Bach but the music is Gould. This is how my 67-year old ears hear it, too. Yet, it's not impossible. I don't care for it, but I'm fascinated to listen - it makes me THINK about what is to be found in the notes which leads me to certain revelations every time. That's the mark of a real musician - the rote, the routine is rooted out and we find ourselves actually closer to the music despite the distance in generations or cultures. Andras Schiff (who idolized Gould) takes a similar approach to Bach interpretation yet he is able to put a rather discreet distance between himself and the page which invites the listener in deeper, I think. Plus his tone, while utterly Steinwegian, is beautiful. It makes me forget the argument over which instrument to play Bach keyboard music on. For me, Gould's playing argues against a 9' Steinway.
The Hamburg Steinway D is hands down the greatest piano ever built.
if you like gould's bach, you should listen to a relatively unknown recording of his, playing handel's harpsichord suites on a harpsichord!
Dear sir, When Alexander Malofeev (21, now living in Berlin) gives recitals in the west he often plays western composers and his encores are often also the Russian Composers (Medtner, Balakirev, Arensky etc). In both you can always hear the Russian passion and love that flows through his veins, no matter how quiet, modest and humble he is as the young man I had the pleasure of meeting. One always recognizes his touché. I hope he always stays that way, one with the music he plays. (Netherlands)
And this relates to Glenn Gould in what way?
I remember listening to him hum all during his piano performance!
Bernstein's comment is interesting. I listen to his performance of Brahms Intermezzi and the last word I would use it "neurotic" more like depth and feeling and presence. And his recording of the Brahms Ballads is absolutely mind-blowing.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a performer imposing his will on what someone else wrote, whether the composer is dead or alive. What nonsense. Why do people think that composers are the only ones who know how their stuff should be played? Horowitz was much better at playing Rachmaninoff's stuff than Rachmaninoff was and Rachmaninoff admitted it. That is just ONE example. If I am playing an instrument - a piano or violin or accordion - I am the one in control, not the composer. I don't need anyone telling me how to play. I will play how I want and if you don't agree, you know that every hall has at least two exists.
This was fascinating. I am not an expert in classical music but enjoy it and I am familiar with Gould and his eccentricities. It's very revealing to see what opinions of other pianists regarding his work.
I totally can't STAND him. I've been a pianist for 27 years and a teacher for about 12 years. I use Gould as an example of what NOT to do with my students.
@@allenapplewhite While there are subjects I know a great deal about, I do not know enough about music theory to have any kind of informed opinion regarding Gould. I started listening to some of his performances/recordings after watching the film 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould many years ago. I am sure his detractors have their reasons, but my ear is not sophisticated enough to discern why he is a controversial figure in the music world.
@@adolphsanchez1429 Go back and listen to the part where Gould plays Mozart near the end of the video. He plays it his way, and how "hollywood" would play it (whatever that means). In his version, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard, a complete butchering of Mozart, all disjointed and unconnected, adding in these terrible awkward pauses and completely ignoring how Mozart wrote the piece. Then he plays it like how "Hollywood" plays it (whatever that means) and it sounds lush and beautiful and legato and endearing. The interviewer asks "what's wrong with that?" And Gould says "well nothing really." He was totally capable of playing the piece correctly, but he wants to be CONTROVERSIAL and completely IGNORE the markings on the page. It is not an interpretation, he has changed it so much that it is a NEW ARRANGEMENT and not at ALL what Mozart wrote. It was a T R A V E S T Y as Seymour Bernstein said. Gould absolutely BUTCHERED a lot of the music he played with the crazy changes he added to a piece. You werent listening to Mozart, you were listening to Gould BUTCHER Mozart and prove that as smart as he wanted us to believe he was, Mozart was actually WAY OVER HIS HEAD. And allow me to quote Glenn Gould, but I will substitute Mozart's name for Goulds name: "The only tragic thing about Gould's death, was that he didnt die SOONER." That man was the Alex Jones of the classical music world in his day. He was a shock jock that wanted to get a rise out of people and defended the most ludicrous opinions and said the most asinine things...constantly.
@@adolphsanchez1429 Plus, you do not have to know anything about music theory or style to know that a pianist is NOT SUPPOSED TO HUM AND SING OUT OF TUNE OVER TOP OF LITERALLY EVERYTHING HE PLAYS. His early piano teacher taught him to do that while practicing and it is a habit he NEVER BROKE. He would do it whether there were 10 mics in the room or ten thousand people. Even a non-musician should be able to appreciate listening to the MUSIC without being constantly distracted by the vocal outbursts and dissonant vocalisations he made throughout every piece he ever played. He had the self control to spend 30,000 hours or so practicing, but not the self control to SHUT UP while he played? Listen to ANY other pianist perform and it is magical. No raving lunatic in the background. JUST MUSIC.
@@allenapplewhite I will defer to your expertise. I like so many types of music: Jazz, classical, 70's progressive rock, 80's synth rock, industrial, grunge, etc. that I jump around far too much to be an expert regarding any one style or genre. Everything interests me, but no one thing interests me to the point of excluding all others and focusing solely on it.
I am so glad I had an organ teacher who let me develop my own Bach (which included listening to others, including Glenn Gould, who I perceived as a soul-brother), and never got infected with the ho-hum I heard emerging from the practice rooms as I walked by them (searching for an empty one) in college.
I discovered Gould with Bruno Monsaingeon show on French TV and was mesmerized by his playing. He became my favorite artist ever. I bought nearly all of his CDs and I believe him to be the greatest musician of our time. And it’s not just his musical genius, it’s also his philosophy of life that make him so remarkable and a model to me.
Bruno Monsaingeon also interviewed the legendary Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter. As with Gould (who happened to be an admirer of Richter), he was idiosyncratic; in Richter's case, he preferred to give live performances in the dark and with just enough lighting to see his sheet music and keyboard. He also only performed music that he personally enjoyed, not adding pieces simply to fill a catalog. I first learned of Richter through his performance of Bach's Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E-flat minor via the soundtrack used in Yuri Norstein's _Tale of Tales_ animation. Richter is very much worth a listen; his fiery and powerful performances of Rachmaninov and Prokofiev piano concertos belie his slow and sensitive reading of the Bach piece.
@@hlcepeda I agree and also love Sviatoslav Richter. My first classical record was his recording of Bach Tempered keyboard book I which is fabulous and only matched from my point of view by Gould’s own recording. Talking about Richter, I also love very much Carl Richter recordings on harpsichord. He was a real master of the instrument and great artist too.
Ia aggree with you. It's the best. In second I think is Jean Pierre RAMPAL with the flute
@@StephaneSmarties 👍
Funny, I bought a Gould's Goldberg Variations CD when I first started learning piano, and to this day that is the ONLY classical CD I have thrown into the DONATE BIN. I hated it. Why you people all fawn over a man who couldn't even control his out of tune mumbling and singing while he performed--ruining basically EVERY take--or his stupid opinions where he tried so hard to be some philosopher of controversial and assanine statements (Gould was essentially the Alex Jones of classical music in his day), or that dumb footstool he insisted on sitting on at EVERY performance (if it wasnt there, HE WOULDN"T PLAY. What a little B A B Y ), his terrible posture, to his wearing thick gloves all year long to protect his "fingers," to his terrible relationships and affairs and the family he destroyed, what is there to like? So he can play Bach. So can I. And I don't mumble like a lunatic while doing so in front of a live friggen audience or while I am surrounded by mics and being recorded in the studio.
But when it comes to Brahms "1 in D minor - i like leon fleisher performence, as well as Ashkenazy. Ashkenazi is poetic. I am amazed at how these pianists transfer the notes written on paper, through their brain and then to their fingers recreating the composer intentions.
Unless the composer or you yourself are playing, you never do
I bet Bach would completely disagree that Gould was "recreating the composer's intentions."
@@allenapplewhite I would bet that's because you dislike Gould's performance.
@@michaeltilley8708 What an astute observation! In fact, I dislike EVERY ONE of Glenn Gould's performances. His ridiculous "interpretations" ignore so many markings on the score by the composer that it is more like a NEW ARRANGEMENT. Not to mention that Gould performed piano solo pieces, yet his entire career INSISTED on turning EVERYTHING into a sing-along duet for his mumbling and humming and out of tune singing and outbursts during EVERY recording or performance he ever gave. Glenn Gould us a great example of what NOT to do at the piano. Leonard Bernstein made a public apology to a live audience BEFORE a concert he gave with Gould as the soloist of Brahms piano concerto in d minor. He said that Gould ignored tempo markings and basically what you were about to hear he disagreed with, and Bernstein said that if he wasnt able to make that public apology for what the listeners were about to hear that he would not conduct the orchestra with Gould as soloist. Seymour Bernstein said that he had never heard Gould play a beautiful phrase, and his Mozart was a TRAVESTY. I agree. Gould took beautiful music and somehow made it ugly and mechanical and lose its heart and soul. That and the fact he could never keep his mouth shut when he was playing and had to sing along like a dumb@$$.
@@allenapplewhite Well thank you. Here goes my third attempt to repl!. I think the algorithm must have been rejecting my insertion of a link to an article by Leonard Bernstein which shows how retrograde is your understanding of his relationship with Gould and the Brahms concerto in particular. If you will just search for "The truth about a legend" you should find it. Here is just one quote which shows how wrongly you have adduced Leonard to the side of Seymour vis-a-vis Glenn: 'Any discovery of Glenn's was welcomed by me because I worshipped the way he played: I admired his intellectual approach, his "guts" approach, his complete dedication to whatever he was doing, his constant inquiry into a new angle or a new possibility of the truth of a score. That's why he made so many experimental changes of tempi. He would play the same Mozart sonata-movement adagio one time and presto the next, when actually it's supposed to be neither. He was not trying to attract attention, but looking for the truth. I loved that in him.' Gould's artistic integrity and commitment to his truth transformed the way we hear Brahms D Minor. In fact, Bernstein's later recording of the piece with Zimerman is even longer than the Gould. And just by the way, there are no markings on 99% of Bach's scores. As the first western artist to tour Soviet Russia, Gould transformed a generation of pianists with not only his revolutionary approach to Bach but the first performances of the music of the Second Viennese School in that nation. I understand that the singing is annoying. I suppose it is one of this things that either drives you crazy or a quirk that you learn to tolerate and even accept in those you love. Gould knew it was irritating and wished he didn't do it; it was necessary to him for his immersion in the music. I accept it in him as I do in Oscar Peterson and Keith Jarrett, who has a far less mellifluous timbre, for the privilege of hearing, as it were, with their ears. Anyway, enjoy your humming-free piano music-there's a lot of it out there!
The major criticism of Gould is that he put himself above the iconic music he was playing, rather than "recreating" it as he claimed. I mean, you can literally hear his voice humming above the music at times, which is to say nothing of his obtrusive playing style. The man was undeniably a genius, but I wonder if he would have been better going in a more avant-garde or fusion direction.
Great video essay. That must have taken a great deal of research.
IMHO, when Seymour Bernstein says, "I don't hear Bach, I hear Gould", it feels like a kind of compliment to me. Of course, not hearing Bach anymore is over the top, but I'd say the right balance is Bach with a bit of Gould. I'm sure that it wouldn't have bothered Bach at all. He often wrote the same piece - or similar pieces based on the same themes - for various instruments. For example, the same fuge theme for organ, lute, violin... Those completely different instruments inevitably change the feel of the piece. Obviously, Bach was not strict about it. Frankly, I'd rather hear present day player play their own interpretation than going for the 'original sound' and interpretation, which we don't know anyway. Musicologists are good at extrapolating and over-concluding from the limited data they have. Players is not computers, but artists with interpretations of their own. The bottom line is, if you don't like Gould's interpretations, that's fine. There's a host of other players to listen to!
I think he means more like, bach would not be able to recognise the piece as his own.
I love Bach on the piano, and I am sure that Bach would love the modern piano as well. He never got the opportunity to play the instrument we all know so well today. The only thing Gould did that was good was to make it more acceptable to play Bach on the piano. He wasnt the first to do so, and it would have happened anyways without him, so thanks for nothing Glenn Gould! Bach would probably be distracted, as I and so many others are, by Goulds nonstop insistence on turning EVERY piano SOLO into a dissonant and cacophonic VOCAL DUET with himself where he mumbles and hums and sings OUT OF TUNE with his own playing during EVERY PERFORMANCE HE EVER GAVE IN HIS LIFE. Nobody elses version of Bach ruins EVERY piece like this! That is why I hear Gould and not Bach. Because I have to IGNORE the recording of the crazy lunatic in his little play-time sing-along and try to hear the actual MUSIC in the background. 50,000 hours of self control to master the piano, and ZERO self control to SHUT HIS friggen MOUTH. Gould is a great example of what NOT to do at the piano. That is the only time I bring him up in a lesson with my piano students: as an example of what NOT TO DO. The right balance of Bach and Gould is Bach MINUS the Gould. If you can shut up and play the piano at the same time, then you are already a better pianist than Gould.
Once I came across Glenn Gould, I could never stop listening to his recordings. They are unique and beautiful...
My favorite musician is and will always be Glenn Gould. His playing was so unique and I think very beautiful. Some of his Mozart I don't agree with but there were some beautiful moments in there.
I studied in London with Antony Lindsay, who himself had studied with Michelangeli; sitting low allows you to use the weight of your arm from your shoulder and thereby elicit a warm tone from the keys, instead of attacking the keys from a height, which results in a harsh and aggressive.
Gould's Goldberg Variations are the gold standard. Whenever I'm depressed, I turn I listen to them. Immediately, I feel better.
Likewise. I absolutely love his modern version!
Yes, one with some ears starts there. But Nikolaeva surpasses him.
as a student (many years ago) i much preferred 19th century music to Bach until i listened to his Goldberg Variations. That was the beginning of my love and appreciation for Bach and it was Gould who took me their.
He put the gold into the Goldberg Variations.
There's also his version of The Well Tempered Clavier , my way to go when I want to think deeply and relax at the same time.
I have the mentioned goldberg variations recording, the essay. Am now 40 and i still believe he is onto something, but still haven't figured out what it isXD.
"I'm not hearing Bach, I'm hearing Gould" That's what an interpretation is supposed to be. All these classical pianists who try to play a piece the way the composer would have played it make a tremendous error. It's your style that should be imbued into the interpretation, not someone else's. The greatest compliment I can think of for a musician is to be able to tell "that's Gould playing" even if you've never heard the piece before. And who can even say that Bach would have played his pieces better than Gould did ? Really, I never understood the obsession from classical musicians to *not interpret* the piece they're playing.
i met glen father, he lived next door to my sister , my sister had just moved to her new house and her neighbours told her about her next door neighbour my sister made no hint of recognition while i gasped “what!” i felt so proud to know mr gould living next door. you see, my sister had no interest in music. she was into sports and never once touch the piano at home. ”
I hadn't noticed before how much he looks and sounds like Gore Vidal. For me, I always love his Bach when I am listening to it but then I listen to someone's else's version and like that one more. Strange cat. Canadian to the core.
I could listen to Gould play or talk all day. What an incomparable mind and charm.
And you can, I listen to him at least twice a month.
Personally, I cringe after 10 secs of listening to him talking. I used to love his playing in my 20s, now less and less as I'm discovering more and more about Baroque music's aesthetics and its inseparable connection with speech and dance, which is especially strong in Bach's music. In light of that, his way of playing Bach is very unique but for me lacking of complexity.
@@glasss1978 Huh ?
So could Gould.
Thankfully, you can do BOTH at the SAME TIME! That narcissistic idiot NEVER SHUT UP. He mumbled and talked and hummed and sang out of tune during EVERY PERFORMANCE. Personally, I like music, not the ravings of a lunatic WHILE HE PLAYS PIANO. If you listen to ANY OTHER PIANIST, notice how there is not distracting out of tune antics detracting from their performances. It is AMAZING. If you can shut up AND play the piano, then you are already better than Gould...the BUTCHER of classical music.
Thanks for the referral, Jiminy!
Really interesting thank you!
1) Gould's dystonia, if he actually had it, was certainly not caused by his low seating of the piano bench. 2) Gould's "contrapuntal tape" works, The Idea of North, et al, should have the same exposure as his works for piano. They are remarkable pieces. Imagine if Gould could have worked with ProTools...
I could have edited that part better. In the longer interview, Bob Durso is referring to other aspects of Gould's technique as well - it just didn't fit so well here, because he was talking about them in reference to my own technique (it was after all from a master class on my playing, not Gould's). Yes, if Gould had a DAW and a SoundCloud I would never be able to get anything done because I would just be glued to it all day long. I think Frederic Chiu is right, too: if Gould would have had a field day with the Disklavier.
I like how he doesn't like mozart but still gives it energy and musicality and (for me) has the best Mozart sonatas interpretation
Oh my, such good fun! oh, but it must be much longer! :) *_thanks_* p.s. Msr Marek Jablonski very nearly became a hero to me, mid-1960s.
A highly mannered performer, but also highly compelling. That comment about his performances carrying their own internal logic will ring true with any player of note.
Gould's collection of Mozart sonata's are my favorite of them all available through recordings.