Part Two of a lengthy book review/summary. Part One is here. A few more figures Paul Elie's Reinventing Bach introduced me to (again, interspersed with youtube videos)... (well, it wasn't really an introduction but) Glenn Gould (1932-1982): Elie convincingly reads Gould's work as that of the first great artist to come of age in the era of recordings. His … Continue reading Reinventing Bach (Part 2)
Tag: Bach
Reinventing Bach (Part 1)
Now for something hopefully less controversial. Part 1 of a lengthy review - Part 2 is here. I've been making my way through Paul Elie's Reinventing Bach for the better part of the summer. It's 500+ pages long, which initially felt a bit much for a work of popular musical history, but it's the sort of … Continue reading Reinventing Bach (Part 1)
Gould Recordings 16-26 – Bach, Beethoven, Beethoven/Liszt, Schoenberg
You could call these recordings Gould's "later early period" maybe, running from 1962-1967. I'll try to stick to one paragraph per recording. Once again, I was able to find everything on Spotify. If you follow me there you can get all the playlists I made. My favorite recording here is the Bach concerto #3; my … Continue reading Gould Recordings 16-26 – Bach, Beethoven, Beethoven/Liszt, Schoenberg
Gould Recordings 4-9 and an Interview
I'll talk about the interview first. It's called "At Home with Glenn Gould" and is in 9 8-minute segments on YouTube if you want to listen. It's from the late 50's, and shed a lot of light on my experiences of these recordings so far. What I think came out most was a sense of humility … Continue reading Gould Recordings 4-9 and an Interview
Two Concertos (Concerti?)
The third major-release record Gould recorded again pairs Bach and Beethoven. Gould selected Beethoven's 2nd, in B Flat Major, and Bach's D Minor Concerto. They're both three-movement concertos, following the common three-movement tempo pattern of medium-slow-fast. Gould was often quoted as saying he wanted to avoid the "competitive" aspect of concerto performance, where the soloist's … Continue reading Two Concertos (Concerti?)
Gould’s First Two Columbia Recordings – Bach and Beethoven
It’s surprising how different these two recordings are – Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s 30th-32nd sonatas. They both bear the mark on the same performer, and though I still don’t know that I’m qualified to say things like “this performer’s take on such-and-such piece is better than that performer’s” or “this performer is better at … Continue reading Gould’s First Two Columbia Recordings – Bach and Beethoven
Original Positions 