The Best of Glenn Gould‘s Bach.
So much has been written about the excitement caused by Glenn Gould’s first recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in June 1955 that it is hardly necessary to repeat the story here.
But even though it was this recording that laid the foundations for Gould’s international reputation as a Bach interpreter, its roots emerged much earlier.
From the very outset, Glenn Gould’s performance of the music of Bach had been as unconventional as it was distinctive – and so it remained. His habit of slouching over the piano, the expansive gestures of his hands and arms, his stabbing staccato, his amazing polyphony and his often extreme tempi all resulted in a kind of pianism that was totally unique and so exciting.
In this album, we get a huge package of this music:
Bach, J S:
Goldberg Variations, BWV988: Excerpts, (aria and variations I-VII; 1955 recording)
Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV825
Chromatic Fantasia in D minor, BWV903a
English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV807
Toccata in E minor, BWV914
Two-part Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV772
Three-part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 1 in C major, BWV787
Two-part Invention No. 8 in F major, BWV779
Three-part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 8 in F major, BWV794
Two-part Invention No. 11 in G minor, BWV782
Three-part Invention (Sinfonia) No. 11 in G minor, BWV797
French Overture in B minor, BWV831
French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV816: Allemande
French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV816: Gavotte
French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV816: Gigue
Goldberg Variations, BWV988: Variation 30, 1981 digital recording
Goldberg Variations, BWV988: Aria, 1981 digital recording
Italian Concerto, BWV971
Aria Variata in A minor, BWV989 ‘alla Maniera Italiana’
Keyboard Concerto in D minor (after Marcello), BWV974
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Extracts: Preludes and Fugues Nos. 1 & 5
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2 (extracts), Preludes and Fugues Nos. 14 & 17
Prelude & Fugue in B flat major on the name B-A-C-H, BWV898
The Art of Fugue, BWV1080: Contrapunctus VII a 4 per augmentationem et diminutionem, Glenn Gould (organ)
The Art of Fugue, BWV1080: Contrapunctus VIII, Glenn Gould (organ)
The Art of Fugue, BWV1080: Contrapunctus IX a 4 alla duodecima, Glenn Gould (organ)
Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV1056, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann
Goldberg Variations, BWV988
(DVD – a film by Bruno Monsaingeon; 1981)
All performed by Glenn Gould (piano)
Here is Glenn Gould, talking and demonstrating the difference between the modern piano and the clavichord from Bach’s time:
And next, here is Glenn Gould in an exciting version of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.17, Op.31 “Tempest” [ 1960 ]:
Finally, let’s turn to Johann Sebastian Bach:
Here is Glenn Gould in the Goldberg Variations BWV 988: Aria da capo (1981):
Tags: Glenn Gould, Bach, Beethoven, piano
