Glenn Gould: Fuga XXII Across the Decades

[iguarni]

GGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN­NNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUUUUUUSSS­!

[TCharlieA]

I'm glad I can play without singing...that seems like it would be a crippling disability.

[googlekopfkind]

god would play it like that !

[layfon08]

Why cant there be more people like him rather than some 5 year children mechanically playing because there parents forced them to...He was a true genius and played with such accuracy and all of his songs were so cleanly done! Glen Gould is my role model

[legendbach]

The best Bach performer. No doubt.

[flippert0]

This comparison is very interesting, thanks for uploading!

The tempo is more or less the same across the decades, which is a stunning feat by Gould (but it could be argued that he does not try to reinterpret the piece much).

But the attack is much more full and softer in 80s while not losing any brilliancy and I think, this cannot attributed alone to the improved recording technique. Even a genius like Gould still matured during the years.

[trevjr]

@flippert0 gosh, i have to say that he didn't change. i am going to stick with my theory that he stored this perfomance in his brain in a way we dont understand yet. the difference i hear is recording quality. the 'personality' of the performance does not change. what is amazing is that he does this live with no splicing, no mistakes. can you even imagine the brain it takes to do this? in addition to the physical requirements. i have played this fugue, the separation of voices required is beyond

[Aargh28]

What a wonderful experiment. I don't think he changed at all over that period, although he was known for actually fiddling with the mechanism of his Steinway and that might actually be audible, although obviously the recording technology likely changed much more over the same period.

[simcha181818]

Incredible editing job. Glenn is not the same over time, though. His 1980 playing more considerably more melow.

[nmeau]

Awesome



[KABRIS1]

Great editing job!

[KABRIS1]

The same tempo maintained in every one. The man has great timing!!!

[HerrWarja]

Nice editing!

[ILikeClassicalGuitar]

LOL at the consistency. I can't even understand how he does it. It's so ridiculous. The best performer of Bach ever.

[b0ttomzone]

wow. the consistency in the tempo over a span of decades... that's kind of scary...

[trevjr]

i have a theory, having been Gould fan for over 35 years, each Bach piece has a personality. That 'person' does not change over time, so in addition to the notes being in his memory, every detail such as tempo is also stored in memory. This is different from his 2 recordings of the Goldbergs where he said he 'rethought' the piece for the 2nd recording. I love this fugue, the inversions and the end with the theme in 2 hands just a few beats apart, genius by Bach! genius by Gould!! FANTASTIC!

[pugay69]

how could someone possibly have such an incredible sense of tempo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing!

[Jtking3000]

wow he was the same throughout his lifetime!

[izajt]

the same tempo - amazing

[apuland]

Merci beaucoup pour le post, génial !

[amswesp]

Dear InterwaevingVoices. Not assuming anything at all, may I kindly ask you to share with the lot of us the amount of tempo editing and pitch editing you actually practiced in producing this amazingly interesting 22th fugue? Thanks a lot.

[InterweavingVoices]

@amswesp No pitch or tempo corrections were made -- the videos are all straight from the source material. As you can hear in places, the 1980 performance is at a slightly quicker tempo, but only slightly. The main problem had to do with the 1969 version, where at some structural points (e.g. cadences and/or the ends of formal sections) he sometimes introduced a slight decelerando—something atypical of his Bach performances in general. This made some transitions more challenging.

[klinsha8]

MARVELOUS, InterweavingVoices.

THANK YOU!

[guiding3your3abyss]

great and interesting documentary

Glenn Gould and the 'Art' of Fugue

[Hervinbalfour]

I dont if any of you are feeling the same way Im feeling but it's rather eerie to imagine that there are NO tempo changes over at least 40 years of performances. That is beyond genius! In terms of interpretation of Bach he was sheer perfection! MY God I would have loved to have been his student when it comes to Bach.

[bontempo01]

This is AMAZINGLY good InterweavingVoices! Of course, the fact that Gould plays it metronomically unchanged through more than 17 years is scaringly awesome, to say the least. Looking forward to the rest of your videos.

[Pogouldiwitz]

Brilliant. Gould would've probably enjoyed this very much.

[nwshane]

It's pretty well known that Glenn Gould had perfect pitch... but this video is proof that he had perfect rhythm as well.

Holy crap.

[ziziva]

yeah- like a clock. amazing!!

[leandrusi]

what the hell you mean by perfect pitch ? He was a pianist, not a singer or violinist

[munkybrain]

that doesn't make sense. somone who doesn't play a violin or sing can't have perfect pitch?

[leandrusi]

Of course he can, but thats not what i meant.

I was replying to someone that said "perfect pitch!" .Now, how the hell pitch is something you would appreciate in a performance of an instrument like a piano where the player doesnt have any control over the "pitch" like a violinist or a singer does Got it now?

This missunderstandings could be avoided if the "replies" where somehow indicated, so you could see who you are repying to.

[gdbalck]

@munkybrain He sang, or hummed, every piece he played ;) the tempo and pitch where internal to him, it just took the piano to make it external.

[sapidpersona]

He referred to absolute or perfect pitch as being Gould's ability to hear a note and identify it flawlessly as a G, A, Eb, etc. Thus, to have seemingly concrete rhythmic and melodic interpretation is more or less miraculous and inspiring.

[leandrusi]

yeah i know what he meant, but how can you tell someone has "perfect pitch" by hearing him play the piano........??

[sapidpersona]

He took advantage of common Gould insight being specifically, here, the ability to identify various pitches. To do so is agreeable risky considering the variation of insight that all listeners have into Gould's abilities. The video does not alone present such insight into Gould's abilities, but most students of his playing style, eccentric characteristics, and life know this to be undoubtedly true.

[leandrusi]

@sapidpersona wat?

[ChocloManx]

I prefer the 1980 performance.

[muhammadq1986]

he kept the same tempo .. i would give half my life to get this man back to life

[AsSomedayItMayHappen]

It's creativity like this that should be praised in a youtube video. What an interesting way to listen to this piece. The symetry between the years is somewhat scary actually; this man was truly a genius.

[p0lyph0ny]

Very nice, and interesting to listen to!

I think that Gould, with his love of recording technology and his ideal of the listener as a creative agent, would have liked this very much.

[Bronzebk]

InterweavingVoices: Your transitions are incredibly accurate!

No doubt you must be a professional editor.

Consider posting a calling card.

Great job.

[christian6657]

genius

[Chopin1986]

he didn't change any detail of his interpretation. Each performance is exactly the same... what a musician! Just great!

[ifitaintbaroque]

Very creative & a blast to watch.

[Norbeone]

What a great video! Thanks very much for spending the time editing it :)

[jeffouNSHS]

does anyone notice that all 3 recordings, though different in articulation, virtually have the same tempo - despite the years in between them.

That's amazing spontaneity in interpretation..

[ragssimon]

Excellent and interesting!

A pleasure to watch and hear.

Thanks for posting.

[faraz1729]

Absolutely wonderful!

[JosephJacks]

Very well done.