Thread: Glenn Gould

Are there any other fans out there?

Hell yes! Got his Bach series and everything, the 1981 Goldberg recording is a beauty! Sometimes his singing can be annoying, but alot of the time I find it comforting to realise there is a human being attached to this machine!

I've begun to be quite enamored of Glenn Gould's playing lately; recently enough I got my act together and bought the 1955 Goldberg Variations, and they are a wonder. Some amazing playing in it, and his humming is far back enough in the sound that it hardly interferes with the piano.

I recently got my first Gould discs. It's the set that contains both the '55 and '81 versions of the GV. I'm not really sure if I can call myself a fan. From the few times I've heard both discs, I prefer his later version. Not that I completely dislike the earlier one, but the hurried Aria can be a little off-putting sometimes. Being a fan of Bach, I wanted to acquire a recording of the well-tempered clavier. I sampled the only part I was familiar with (back then) - the Prelude in C major, Book 1 and I didn't like it all. (I think it's called using a lot of staccato.) I went for Hewitt's recordings, instead.

I love this video of Gould recording the Italian Concerto. He just blazes through that last movement.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4A5D6u_KY

I haven't heard him play other composers' works.

Thanks for your comments. I first heard Gould playing during the film Hannibal, the only thing I enjoyed about the film. Gould's rendition of Aria Da Capo stayed in my head and is still there. I just love the timing, I think he put melody into what I'd hitherto seen as just lots of notes, but in doing so Gould introduced me to Bach's Brandenburg Concerto. He was such an eccentric, but in my uneducated view, a genious at what he did. I need to get off the computer now, but next week I'll find my other recordings and try to remember the name of the film I saw and have been trying to get hold of ever since. Anybody help me here?

Not "Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould" by any chance?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108328/

Originally Posted by Music lover

I need to get off the computer now, but next week I'll find my other recordings and try to remember the name of the film I saw and have been trying to get hold of ever since. Anybody help me here?

Check this out: http://www.amazon.co.uk/At-the-Movie...3142114&sr=1-2

Film Slaughterhouse Five, based on Kurt Vonnegut's famous novel used Gould's Bach concerto No.5, which created an amazing haunting effect for the movie.

Originally Posted by Edward Elgar

Sometimes his singing can be annoying, but alot of the time I find it comforting to realise there is a human being attached to this machine!

Hehe...indeed! As a matter of fact I'm not bothered at all by his humming - we are talking about a huge fan here! I own most of his recordings and love his unconventional, refreshing, vibrant and intimate interpretation. Apart from his Bach I also like his Beethoven sonatas and variations, and some of the Haydn, Mozart, Griag, etc. except Schoenberg whose works I'm not fond of.

Aaagh! Glenn Gould has been frozen in carbonite! Saying that, he should be pretty safe in there until he is next callsed upon to perform lol!

LOL! Speaking of *huge* fans...