Art of fugue(Contrapunctus XIV)

[Theodora1989]

@lapispinoza

He is not waving at the audience. I doubt that he even had the audience on his mind at all when he was playing.

[Mattyew]

dude's trippin'

[more4fats]

This guy is in the Avatar state. 

[tonycosworth]

Whatever the last notes wroten by JSB (it's an other problem), who can explain me:

1) Why to cut this video at 2'12 while the identic recording of jasonhau finishes at 2'38 ? 2) Why all the last part of the pictures (finishing at 2'38 on the true video) is sticked on music finishing here at 2'12 ???

So, the last picture shows at 2'12" the arm movement of 2'38, the piano continuing to play without Glen !!!

thanks

[PancakesoftheLove]

Also, for some reason YouTube broke this video. It's supposed to be 2:37 but it cuts short and the video is playing faster than the audio track.

[PancakesoftheLove]

The thing about this piece (and a lot of Art of Fugue - but especially this) that strikes me is how completely different it is from Bach's other works. I like Gould's analysis of it best (which is on YouTube somewhere) in which he says there's bits that reach back further into the early Baroque, and parts that easily reach beyond 100 years ahead of its time into chromaticism and bits and pieces that could *easily* have been written by an early Schoenberg.

[fiandrhi]

This is the last part of the unfinished quadruple fugue at the end of KdF. Gould actually interrupts the fugue earlier than it actually interrupts in the manuscript. I wonder why. Does anyone know?

Please don't respond by saying the fugue is unfinished. Reread by comment if you need to. I know it's unfinished. There's just a bit more to it.

[lupocephalic]

@fiandrhi

Whim I'd say. Gould was unstable at best.

If you listen to the difference in the Goldberg Variations between Barenboim and Gould I think you'll see why Gould ... just ... did it.

I think he simply thought that the way HE liked it was the way it was meant to be played.

[fiandrhi]

@lupocephalic, I'm very familiar with Gould, as well as his recordings of the Goldbergs (less so Barenboim's, which I heard about 15 years ago and didn't like). I wouldn't call Gould unstable, though. The reason I asked is that this is a clip and he may have explained in context why he ended there.

[KABRIS1]

@lupocephalic Unstable in what way?

[PancakesoftheLove]

@fiandrhi There's a certain edition of printing of this piece where it stops abruptly like this, apparently. I can't be arsed to find the source, but that's what I've heard. And what makes sense.

[labuswa]

The music is sublime, but the comments occasionally bizarre. Comparing Glenn Gould's playing with an 8 year old girl's is musical moronicity of the 13th magnitude.

[jingeshan24]

that is so wierd...

its like watching the death of a composer through the notes...

more amazing is the fact the J.B.Bach was absolutely deaf when he written the art of fugue...

[dyl479]

@jingeshan24

bach was never deaf

[jingeshan24]

omfg... your'e right... i confused him with bethoween.....

[insaneguitarfreak]

lol yup, Bach was´n getting deaf , but he was pretty blind by the end of his life.

Greatest musical talent ever.

[tropicalpimp]

what the HELL is wrong with this guy?

[gr0mithtimon]

WHO are you

[jeffjeezy1tweezy]

nothing

[thelawya]

@tropicalpimp

lol

what's wrong with you

[cellofortist]

He's eccentric ok?

[Choen444]

Dude when you can play like this without turning into a psycho then you can comment on Glenn Gould

[tropicalpimp]

there are PLENTY of really talented musicians today who play as well if not better but have enough dicipline to sit the fuck still. shit, I watched an 8 year old asian girl play Bach a few months ago.She sat upright,poised,and without the theatrics or distracting humming n shit. and was absolutely wonderful. Again,its not to take away from Goulds talents,he's the man when it comes to playing.But to WATCH him is extremely distracting,uncomfortable,and downright annoying.

[Choen444]

two things first don't go with asians they can play fast but THAT'S IT!!

Second when you are in an arts acadeny like me you can comment on how I comment

[dyl479]

@tropicalpimp

im sure that little asian girl listened to a recording of glenn gould to memorize how to play bach

[FretArchitect]

@dyl479 fuck that asian girl

[StainofPiss69]

Are you seriously comparing Glenn Gould with an 8 year old Asian girl you little fucking prick? Fuck off and die. This is more than music. This is more than an 8 year old hammering away and pressing the right notes at the right times. The fact that you can't realize makes your argument carry no weight. You're a fucking cunt who can't see beauty around you because you're offended by his mannerisms. Kil yourself. :D

[BarbaraPloyer333]

Sometimes for an artist, the only difference between insanity and geniality (as in genius) is success....

[Tulljfette]

@BarbaraPloyer333 Not as in genatelia?

[FretArchitect]

One of the greatest intellects of the 20th century. Truly, this is the music of the divine. Thank you Gould.

[Bach8080]

have there been any attempts to finish this piece?

[elopez4024]

look up in youtube contrapunctus reconstruction part 1 and 2... it was done using a permutation matrix using Bachs own logic to solve the puzzle. Its as close as we are gonna get until supercomputers can figure it out, altough the permutation matrix analysis is very interesting

[noraui]

Blame his mom.

[thegoddescomposer]

why blame his mom ?

[noraui]

I don't exactly remember what I was replying to 3 months ago...

But as for his humming - his mom was a piano teacher and she hummed/sung the melody a lot when teaching Glenn and her other students.

(biography by Peter Ostwald)

[thegoddescomposer]

ahw oki but i like his humming and how his hands moves up and down following the music of bach its beautifull

thanks for the info :)

[spinoza1111]

Oh that this too too solid flesh would melt thaw and resolve itself into a dew

[khantatat]

il finale lascia senza fiato. grandissima interpretazione.

[shiadani]

gould is a great inspiration to me!!!THANKS GOULD

[walterotto86]

glenn anche se sono un uomo..posso dire che amo te e la tua musica infinita che mi da vita ogni santo giorno della mia vita...grazie di essere esistitito e che tu sia di esempio per tutti coloro che vogliono fare musica...spero un giorno di incontrarti..chissà mai dire mai...wal

[EP1997]

The truth is that as great his interpretation of Bach as it is, his (in)famous humming can really be a pain in the ass.

A pity, indeed...though he still is one of the greatest intepreters of Bach of the last century/

[gingerfreakinkid]

I really have to disagree when you say his humming is a pain in the ass. Don't get me wrong, it can be a bit distracting especially as he plays Bach, but I think it gives one a deeper analysis of the man and his music.

[ilovesteelydan]

Such a wonderful piece, and a wonderful pianist. That very last note he plays,.... and his gestures, give me chills every time.

[scriabinwasmydad]

this is musical divinity!

[roaringrockets]

Incredible performance; there was no one like him in music before, and presumably there will be no one like him ever again.

[llM5Xll]

schaut euch die linke hand zu beginn des stücks an.

so sieht wahre konzentration aus: er dirigiert sich selbst und übernimmt die stimme mit der linken hand an, ohne nur die geringste klangliche veränderung zu erzeugen!

[SiObLu]

Unglaublich! Diese Leidenschaft! Hier treffen zwei Genies aufeinander: Johann Sebastian Bach und Glenn Gould!

[dja30474]

The passion and sensitivity to the Baroque style is an everlasting testament to Gould's greatness. Bach truly smiles at this!

[novialdi]

i don't think Bach finished it. I saw the published facsimilie and the music simply stops at the middle of the music sheet. If he had finished it, it would have stops at the end of the page. The break is shocking. I literally gasp at the break when i first hear it. It is quite fascinating to see that he didn't write music from short sketches (as beethoven did) but i think that he simplyfinished it (or in this fugue's case some parts first) in his head then render it down much like mozart did

[sonata1992]

I think it goes on for a couple more bars before finally withering away. I believe Gould is cutting off at the end of the climax for a (very good) effect.

[Bernabe1A]

no, this piece is unfinished. (unvollendet).. sadly

Actually this is a three piece fugue and this is the final theme so there is about 10 minutes missing.

[Askelairlines747]

make me a time machine! i ned to visit Glenn Gould ! and Johann Sebastian Bach ! if it could only be possible.

[GTD13447]

Genius

[debartzen]

El quiso dejarlo así.Parece que estaba escrita en 1740,diez años antes de su muerte.

[debartzen]

Bach se va,Gould está ya con él.A nosotros nos queda la (su),música.!

[debartzen]

¡Caramba.Como lo deja.!

[debartzen]

Las tres voces,las tres fugas.¿Ascendió con Bach la cuarta.Inacabada.Inconclusa.?M­atemática en Bach.Humanidad en Gould.

[SirArmengol]

Bach is speaking trhough this fugue

[flamenco81]

FANTASTICO

[locassomosmuxas]

mu bueno!!

[eMyZeTa]

quando ascolto i contrapunctus ho l'impressione che non esista nient'altro all'infuori di me e delle note incommensurabili, trascendentali del capolavoro bachiano. tutto il resto della musica, che prima mi appariva viscerale e così prossima al cuore dell'essere si svela nella sua insuperabile umanità..invece con bach siamo a livelli oltreumani..siamo all'apice tangibile, siamo ad una fuga quadrupla che cresce fino a guizzare eternamente nel silenzio della sua (apparente)interruzione

[gabeuop79]

He is truly in ecstasy while playing this. It's rare to see this kind of passion in anything these days. Gould was a genius, and was a genius simply for loving so completely what he did.

[thehissingstick]

you don't become a genius for loving what you do; you become a genius for being able to express what you love so completely, so that others can enjoy it.

[JustinHSabaj]

"i'm saying the same thing as you!"

"No, i'm saying the same thing you are!"

[thehissingstick]

hehe, at the risk of seeming like another youtube arguer, I only meant that it takes more than just 'love-for-your-subject' to be a genius, otherwise most of the critical community would be regarded as geniuses, and thankfully they're not!

By the way, does anyone know why he breaks off before the combination of the first three themes? It's such a beautiful climax...

[achilless]

I think, I THINK, I dont' know for sure, that that place is where Bach originally cut the fugue off. I think, again, that his student finished it.

[achilless]

and by "cut the fugue off", I meant by...dying :(

[Ntalikeris666]

it is also said that this fuge was finished, but the last page was never found.

[KABRIS1]

@thehissingstick I love this comment. I would like to add that, most geniuses don't become geniuses. They are born geniuses. They, "become" or fully realize their genius through hard work.

[cchamp27]

The more you move means the more passionate you are? What would Rubinstein or Horowitz say to that comment?

[ilbersagliere]

This is extremely famous