Glenn Gould - Beethoven, Sonata No 31 Op. 110 - III (1/2)

[bishopquack]

reminds of The World At War for some reason

[bishopquack]

@bishopquack probably didn't have that in Canada or America

[NicoleRachel100]

I like how the people use proper grammar and punctuation and capitalization in the comments. Go look at the comments of a Skrillex song, they insult and abuse the english language like nobodies business.

[letsif]

I was persistently against anything interpreted by Gould that wasn't Bach. I humbly retract my biased opinion after hearing this. It was deeply moving, even if not what Beethoven had imagined. Or did he?

[illiustrope]

Sublime.

[Burdell22000]

This is not Beethoven, this is Gouldthoven. Every comparision of this pieces with those of other pianists playing Beethoven will be, consequently, fallacious

[SepiaLatimanus]

Gould knocks another one out of the park.

[AmelieWuensche]

was für ein affe.

[TomBarrister]

For those who don't like interpretation, go listen to Sviatoslav Richter. Nobody plays it closer to the score than he did. If you want to know how the music was written, he's the one to listen to.

Gould took liberties, but so do most musicians. Daniel Barenboim, Gregor Piatigorsky, Mischa Elman, Virgil Fox, Vladimir Horowitz, Jascha Heifetz, Leonard Rose, Balint Vazsonyi, Felicia Blumenthal.... all played the music the way THEY wanted to. That's what interpretation is about.

[LLPorduction]

@TomBarrister Thats what makes music human, alive... devine.

[ycooreman]

Probably the best Beethoven I've ever heard.

[MezzaNenne]

Gould is a genious. A man who can see music in his mind.

[muomani1]

superlativo

[Pierpaolio]

It's the first time that i hear this sonata. Maybe i seem dumb or ignorant, but i really enjoyed this perfomance.

[S0NNABEND]

Ich mag Gould, wenn er Bach spielt, aber hier fehlt die Stringenz.

[wixorty]

glenn gould??? NO thanks!!

[TheSingingCello]

If you've sat in front of any instrument long enough and played and played and played you began to notice how everything is similar to the point of an extreme likeness to one another, it's all within the realm of sound, rhythm, patterns and whatever other elements are involved in the actual work. to Judge any form of music and say its bad or good even is kind of against the grain of whatever it actually is, just the thoughts and idea's of the composer, more a work from the instrument....

[polymath7]

@TheSingingCello

No.

Incorrect.

Massively false, stupid, and dangerous statement.

There most definitely *is* such thing as good music and bad.

Sentiments like yours are absolutely invariably -no exceptions- a palliative to assuage the sting of mediocrity.

[TheSingingCello]

@polymath7 Again the genius of modern society fails. Look at the notes in amplitudes of millions, all shaking the foundation of the ground beneath you, patterns begetting algorithmic ecstasies, and a deeply infused spiritual realm of music. The impact of such a notion would leave one drained.... being myself, I am drained and what I say stands -CORRECT- you simply must see this outside the box before you call me mediocre.... you honestly have no idea.

[TheSingingCello]

@polymath7 Polymath it is "why". Let me give you a cracker and your first standing ovation, you have simply crossed that line only a few given times with the expectations of your youth and whatever gimped art you proclaim yourself too in this day and age, you really have noooo idea that I have drawn that line my friend, not only have I crossed it but I have sat there and let the bulldozers squash me to a forgotten pulp....you simply cannot perceive what I mean, you my friend ARE mediocrity....

[TheSingingCello]

@polymath7 You would simply have to question the reasoning of my statement in order to gain a better understanding of why I said what was being said, however blind to its truth you may have been and still are I guarantee you there is a truth far greater than what you originally perceived hanging there like a dumbfounded child. It's important to note this as your mistake, but I'm sure your ego will not permit it to be seen as such, so please carry on your masquerade of this.... "mediocrity"?

[polymath7]

@TheSingingCello

You just spent nearly fifteen hundred characters to say absolutely nothing.

If only I could understand you, I'd see your profundity, yes?

While the appreciation of a profound expression does indeed require a capacity to comprehend it, it is (oddly enough) an equally indispensable precondition that it be expressed.

[TheSingingCello]

Speak from the heart of your own while discerning your judgement from the heart of others. The mind is reckless and full of a false sense of "truth" while the heart knows purely that which is true. I've already expressed my truth.... you couldn't understanding it. you've already expressed your truth, I didn't care to understand it. Don't judge the experience of others without questioning the validity of what they are saying, you can't even see how wrong you are your so lost in being "right".

[polymath7]

@TheSingingCello If you'd day something I might listen.

Ah, but what is the sound of the unsaid?

Please Dr. Koan, go applaud yourself with one hand.

[TimUrgent]

oui oui

[oneginee]

i like Glenn but can't stand Beethoven. still enjoy the former in this video

[vpanariello]

... interpretare ... come far rinascere l'emozione dell'unicità del momento della creazione. solo ad alcuni il dono è concesso, e spesso lo condividono con Noi. Apprezzare l'amore dell'uomo è anche ascoltare l'uomo esaltarsi per pochi vibranti istanti in una vita a volte inutilmente affollata....

[Opoczynski]

Religious.

[obdeniye]

Close your eyes and listen.

[TheMassimy]

La sonata 31 di Beethoven mi da la forte sensazione di percepire di riflesso, non senza smarrimento,la coscienza del mondo, la sua bellezza e le sue miserie.

Capolavoro artistico assoluto.

[klinsha8]

Just one word for Gould rendition: G R E A T,.

[ibv56]

oh! l'adagio ma non troppo! magnifico si a dir poco magnifico, in questo movimento è possibile udire una delel più belle esposizioni Beethoviane l'arioso dolente (2m30s) che verrà poi ripreso nella fuga!, grande Beethoven, grandissimo genio.

[dandelion1967]

Just pass away the circus and the disguting movements and the acting and faking and dancing and conducting, and is a good rendition. But I hate to see him, I feel like I'm about to kick somebody.

[mireloula]

when was this performed?

[gbeguentch]

Glenn Gould est GENIE !!! Vous comprend rien dans la musique...

C'est très très très sublime,splendide,impeccable et personne peut pas approche to Great Glenn Gould!!! Ni Richter,ne les autres ...

Geniale!

[pugay69]

to all the haters: what's wrong with his performance? I thought it was very enlightening

[Phalces]

I don't "hate" his performance. I just don't like it.

[Phalces]

Ugh! Let's face it ... Gould was the greatest interpreter of Bach but for Beethoven only Schnabel will do!!!

[seanamico]

I like Schnabel Ice tea, it is very, very goody, goody. Try Schnabel ice tea.

[veteranos68]

A nut. A wonderful nut and a great performer.

Some of his Beethoven performances are pure genius, other are crap.

Better with bach.

Very uneven.

[EMPERORMIKI]

False.

This is his interpretation ... nothing uneven about it.

[gr0mithtimon]

Stop doing:

I dont like the performance -> the performance is crap

its anoying

[chislehurstbat]

I sometimes wonder whether people either love GG or almost hate him, not much of a middle ground. I adore GG and have for many years. My husband on the other hand, finds GG difficult to listen too, makes him tense. Then again, I recently put on GG's Brahms Intermezzi recording and my husband loved it (he did not realise it was GG) - any lesson to be learned from this? Not sure, only know I love GG's recordings!

[chislehurstbat]

oops, meant to say "difficult to listen to", one o too many.

[boomzxz]

I love Glenn Gould. He is amazing :). I think the lesson could be about first impressions, though.

[marmasiotis]

Every grat musician, as GG and many others have their own way to show "their world" to the others. These musical communicators demand offen much concentration from the listeners, otherways their music can not be conceived as a whole. Many listeners unfortunately doesn´t have the capability, or the education to listen carefully and properly...

[omsmodeldotcom]

What is the source of this video? Are the other movements available (on video)?

[polymath7]

I am continually astonished and exasperated at how obtuse people tend to be when commenting upon Gould's peformances of any non-Baroque music. Yes, these performances are highly idiosyncratic, Yes, he takes enormous liberties.

What of it?

Is this in itself aesthetically blameworthy?

The only test of a work of art is whether it works.

Manifestly, this works.

[EMPERORMIKI]

One should be content in their interpretations of interpretations. One can also perform the music, as simply as one can make their own music.

[unagondolaunremo]

i agree with you! Without liberties music doesn't exist

[polymath7]

@ungando

I'm glad twenty others do as well.

There is however a distinction to be drawn between aesthetic liberty and corruption.

On the one hand I love Stokowski's orchestral transcriptions and performances of Bach's fugues; on the other I am quite sick of being told by philistines that I am "closed minded" (always the nearest phrase available on tap, along with "elitist") because I have noticed how appalling Vanessa May's performances are.

The difference is simply that one is well done.

[vinciano]

@polymath7 clap clap clap

[octave7]

@polymath7 I agree with you. We have hundreds of other musicians that play it exactly like the sheet music, but Gould expresses something extraordinary in this rendition

[beethovenbuddy]

love this

[KennYWooD2]

Thank God, he didn't play much Beethoven!

[lambecolin]

Hear hear

[SCHneiDen777]

Some people as long as there opinion is wacked just to be different, they're somehow happy. (KennYWooD2)

Glenn Gould is a conductor in his own right. This has a very (words fail me) "tamed" beauty? It's hard to describe. It sounds like an underlying power, like at the beginning of a storm.

[KennYWooD2]

LOL, it's spelled whacked for starters, and surely you must be referring to Gould, since he did ANYTHING to be different. I'm sorry, but his Beethoven leaves MUCH to be desired and you're right...it IS hard to describe, but irritating is the first thing that comes to my mind.

[bicsc7]

The way YOU describe Glenn Gould, you make it sound like he tried to be different. Trying takes effort, so what you're also saying is that he made an effort to be different, and that's just not true. Gould was, plain and simple, different. That being put aside, you probably didn't bother listening past 2:35, for after the slow beginning, there's not much more you could say was bad about the performance. His interpretations may not please everyone, but everything he does is for a reason.

[KennYWooD2]

I agree that he definitely WAS different by nature, but yes I do believe he also intentionally did things differently as well. Yes, I've listened to the entire thing and I just don't like it. For me, it's not Beethoven and once again, like most everything else he did, it's too much Gould.

[edwardk1011]

Once again i disagree!!!!!!!

[Kreisleriana80]

KennYWooD2:I agree sooo much with you.

[0bambi0deer0]

in fact he did play much.........

[chalkmonster21]

i dont think he understood beethoven.

but this is incredibly beautiful.

[ettml]

well, if he didn't understand beethoven, it's incredible, i feel i understand beethoven much more after listening to him...

[0bambi0deer0]

at least none of us can understand beethoven better.

[alexmanzo19]

indescriptible!!!!!!!!!

[klausknulp]

1:32 - 1:52 is the note before getting completely numb! after that 2:32...........the "Klagelied" starts. For me it is the most touching part of all music I ever have heard!

"Craizy" Gould made a marvelous job. Yes Glenn had been craizy very often, but I will never forget this genius musician.

[klausknulp]

i love the tention between the notes

[sumiregusa23]

Watching this beautiful performance you just can't imagine why Gould hated playing Beethoven...

[PalfraDK]

why do you think he hated playing Beethoven?

[sumiregusa23]

I read it in the booklet of his Beethoven CD's recording. I was suprised I must say. But this is a true genius. It must be - when you don't like something and yet you can play it so beautifully...

[maxencesar]

c'est extreme,

incroyable et folle passion honnetement liberée,

Quel standing ce gould !!!!

Quelle générosité et quel jusqu'au bout-isme !!

[AnnaderWald]

Dès la première note, on sent, on sait...

Sublime...

Même si on sent cette Sonate autrement.

Parfait ?

Non.

Profond.

Mais toute profondeur se meurt en surfaces.

Alors...

Simple bonheur de partager une surface possible, avec un musicien profond.

Et une leçon de sagesse.

[wnxg4nd4lf]

Gould is unique. None like him. Lets just say that there's Gould and then there's everyone else... Perfection!

[stergioskottas]

the perfect passion

[Anonymous71688]

it looks like hes performing a magic trick with his left hand lol. Although playing a beethoven piano sonata well is magic in its own right...

[lougiaki123]

super

[ink24571]

super what?

[lougiaki123]

super i mean very good, i liked it.

[sonnym1]

genius

[amc654]

'ma non troppo'?

[celach]

ma non troppo = but not too much

[amc654]

Thanks, Poindexter. My point was (rather obviously, I thought) that this was surely 'too much', given the tempo indication.

I'm generally quite fond even of Gould's most OTT interpretations, but what I like is that he seems to be connected to the -text- of the score, rather than its performance history (via the conventional wisdom of performance practice). In this case, he's rather obviously ignored the notation, which I find problematic but interesting, all the same.

Clearer?

[celach]

Oh yeah, sure, saying something and placing apostrophes (not even quotation marks) around it obviously means that you're being sarcastic. Obviously! How could I have missed it! Oh silly me!

Moron.

[amc654]

Just for the record (and to clarify), British English uses single quotation marks ('inverted commas', colloquially), w/ punctuation outside. It's no more or less correct -- it's just what I have to use in my daily life.

The quotation marks weren't meant for sarcasm (though I was of course _being_ sarcastic) -- they were, in fact, quoting the tempo marking from the score.

[HumanGrinder]

I can't get what are you guys arguing about

[music7564]

Glenn Gould could play most anything quite well, and why he chose to iron out and mechanize so many nice peices? Who knows.

He remains one of the great mysteries of the 20th century - a century of unparalleled perversity and toxic influences...

[BachFong11]

Beautiful

[fatinaLushina]

stravagante come interpretazione.........ma genio all'ennesima potenza.