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From: jormundgard
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  • Gould has this annoying habbit of playing the piano so loudly that I can hardly hear his beautiful voice, otherwise I like this very much for the musical quality and clearness.

  • The 12 disciples were here...they disliked the video; it was too sinful.

  • Bach was God, and Gould was the prophet, delivering Bach's message of music. I still can't believe it's possible to play the piano like that :-)

  • glenn gould is god

  • I love the way he plays it, though I hate how he has the habit of humming through the music. :P

  • Glenn Gould; scat singer. I don't think anyone got Bach's keyboard phrasing any better.

  • You are missed and loved, my musical brother. 

  • Bach, amazing. His music still sounds so fresh 300+ years later. That's genius.

  • Watching videos of Gould play enhances the audio somehow...

  • @polymath7 maybe it's just not many people like both Bach and Hindemith. Now that you pointed it out, the similarity is obvious to me too.

  • Fugue is a genius form musical creation.

    absolutely incredible.

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  • not to hate on his skill, but he looks like quasimodo.

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  • @quinnguitar nuh uh bro. 

  • @BINGFRYSRDUN i just think that your comment on his appearance is irrelevant. don't you get the sound, man? and if you do, why do you feel it necessary to make derogatory comments about Glenn Gould's appearance? i just really dig Gould's music and ability, and i find your comments not in good spirit. but if it makes you feel better to say Glenn looks like quaisimodo, that is your privilege.

  • @Th0masWarner The comparison to Monk is very apposite. This sounds almost as "modern" as the Hindemith piece it obviously inspired (Or is it obvious? from the comments on both boards I appear to be the only one who has remarked upon the similarities).

  • @polymath7 I listened to this after your comment on the Hindemith fugue and yes, it's startlingly similar in melody and rhythm; it just diverges according to each composer's harmonic preferences.

    I know the Hindemith sonata number 3 well, having tried to play it for 50 years, and I was really surprised at this Bach piece. I have to believe that Hindemith was familiar with this one and it may have been a subliminal inspiration.

  • @polymath7 I listened to this after your comment on the Hindemith fugue and yes, it's startlingly similar in melody and rhythm; it just diverges according to each composer's harmonic preferences.

    I know the Hindemith sonata number 3 well, having tried to play it for 50 years, and I was really surprised at this Bach piece. I have to believe that Hindemith was familiar with this one and it may have been a subliminal inspiration.

  • this performance was so beautiful that, immediately after hearing it, i ran to my window and jumped to my death, desperate to escape the certain disappointment that even one more minute of living would bring.

  • @1212kpm Sorry, but are you sarcastic or Symbolist?

  • Plus on l'écoute, et plus on en redemande, cette version est incontournable.

  • His playing is perfection, I react with tears of joy.

  • @Th0masWarner haha I must say I couldn't agree more with that last statement!

  • "The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." -Johann Sebastian Bach

  • Bach's music is so complex...sometimes I wish I could understand it more.

  • @SqueezeMyLemonBabe Bach used number symbolism in his work search it in google

    he did it in his major greatest works and in his fugues too

    in some of his work hides his death date

  • @thegoddescomposer Bach did not use ANY number symbolism anymore than the Bible and any other sacred texts (or the phone book for that matter) carry any hidden "mathematical" meaning. With enough patience (obviously if you dont have a proper job to keep you occupied) any text, literal or musical, can be coded in such a manner so as to produce a decoding that can mean whatever we want it to mean. The fact you can find it in Google is as relevant as finding sites on astrology.

  • @sorim1967 Well, there is the whole BACH motif thing.

  • @HerlockSholmes123 and many other musical riddles presented in the Musical Offering, Even Glenn Gould thought the Goldberg Variations had numerical connections to each variation, which is why he recorded them again. Not to say that it's true, but it's plausible.

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  • 2:34 - good theme - like in the Art of Fugue. All 4 voices in the same moment plays Theme: 2 highest voices - not modified, 2 lowest - inversed.

    Great!

  • The one thing I love about glenn gould is how you can hear every single voice independently of each other. No other musician does this as successfully as Glenn Gould

  • @antione101 No, but I think Argerich comes pretty close.

  • This one Gets stuck in your head.

  • As a Zoroastrian, I think Ahura-Mazuda would approve of it, too.

  • As a Buddhist I would say Buddha would approve Gould's rendering of this fugue of Bach!

  • i think he was great but would rather hear argerich, his humming would annoy me and i would want to stick some tape over his mouth

  • Is this who the movie shine is based off of

  • @NarimatsuMusic no that was david helfgott from australia...gould if from Toronto Canada

  • @NarimatsuMusic no that was david helfgott, gleen is from Toronto Canada

  • this guy is a monster !! he's the best interpreter of Bach so far

  • Glenn Gould is the most important piano player, who has influenced my piano playing in different music genres for many years. Thanks for this video.

  • @HyenaStudios Personally, I try to view each musician as individuals with different views they try to convey, good or bad. As far as Gould is concern, he is in my humble opinion, the most influencial pianist in the last 100 years, and most certainly in my lifetime. He has also influenced my playing and my passion for Bach's music. I also love to hear Hewitt, Richter and others. Gould is different in a way that is so unorthodox, and yet so orthodox at the same time. It is hard to explain.

  • @jayliew1:

    I fully agree! Especially the (un)orthodox part of Glenn Gould's play. Not only his Bach but also his Mozart interpretations on piano. Surely, I also like other interpretations from other pianists. But, an interpretation of Bach I do not like is the one from Andras Schiff, sorry.

  • @jayliew1 "...so unorthodox, and yet so orthodox at the same time. It is hard to explain."

    To my mind you explained it about as well as one could. I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you mean. ;-)

  • god damn this is tremendously difficult piece

  • he is with Bach

  • picardy third ftw

  • I've never minded his singing -- it makes me appreciate what he did a lot more, actually.

  • Le plus grand interprète de Bach de tous les temps, impossible de faire mieux...

    The greater Bach' s interprete of all time, impossible to do better...

  • @Th0masWarner For some reason, that last sentence made me laugh a little. And I never thought about that, but it does sound a bit Monk-ish, good point : )

  • @Th0masWarner haha so true. They are probably true conformists.

  • Outstanding, inspiring, amazing, talented man he sure is!

  • This is so amazing it's hard to even compute it. Seriously, how he exposes each voice and plays with such poise and precision... Jesus. Work of brilliance.

  • Questa è una delle fughe più complesse del Clavicembalo Ben Temperato... Analizzare per credere! ;-)

  • @Th0masWarner Indeed, like Beethoven's Grosse fugue, this sounds strikingly modern. Search Gould + Hindamith to hear Gould play a fugue by that composer that is obviously (or so it appears to me) inspired by this work. It's quite fascinating to hear the two back to back. Oh, and your comparison to Monk is an astute one.

  • @polymath7 I had the very same observation when, about a week ago, I stumbled upon the Hindemith fugue you mention. I had never heard it before, nevertheless it sounded familiar... Five minutes later I realized that the theme is strikingly similar to No22,WTC2! BTW, I consider the last fugue of WTC1 even "more modern".

  • @Th0masWarner Indeed, like Beethoven's Grosse fugue, this sounds strikingly modern. Search Gould + Hindamith to hear Gould play a fugue by that composer that is obviously(or so it appears to me) inspired by this work. It's quite fascinating to hear the two back to back. Oh, and your comparison to Monk is an astute one.

  • questa è una fuga terribile a più voci

  • This man's music, I enjoyed his recreation of the Goldberg variations. Its hum is simply expressing what every musician does, one less quiet than others.

  • how people here on youtube can go and seriously criticize GG as 'no good' or 'not getting it' or 'misinterpreting' anything is beyond me. seriously??? YOU know better than Glenn Gould???? wow. you may prefer a different interpretation, but saying that glenn gould did anything 'wrong', like you know something that he didn't, just makes you look like a complete fool...

  • @theboris1000 I know what you mean. These fools are in the presence of an indisputable genius, and all they can do is find some pitiful little point to nitpick over (guess it makes them feel better after getting trampled by his ungodly talent). We're still waiting for these nimrods to post videos of their playing. Let's face it-NO ONE can play BACH like Gould could with regard to bringing out the lines and their rhythmic vitality.

  • i thought i can hear him humming or counting the rythm.. or am i just hearing things?

  • @imwhy No, he is humming along.

  • @imwhy Gould almost always hummed when he played, even in recordings. he claimed it was involuntary, and that he had been doing it since childhood, because his mother always told him to sing along to everything he played.

  • Incredible... each voice with its own colour, regardless of which hand is playing what, and juggling several voices in one hand. It's almost as if the music were expressing itself independently, by means of Glenn Gould.

  • For me, it doesn't get any better than this.

  • it must be difficult to hear with his shoulders blocking his ears

  • @Th0masWarner Normal only so far as they have hands and feet and two eyes and two ears. Apart from that, they are abnormal if they rated this down.

  • Good ol' Tierce di Picardie ;P

  • this is modern jazz...beyond modern jazz...

  • @legendofschmoe That's a bit of an exaggeration but I get what you mean.. Not that it's not amazing it is but jazz and counterpoint are 2 different meteors heading for the same planet :0)

  • this is modern jazz.

  • Whether Bach preferred this or that instrument is irrelevant to this. Listen and decide for yourself if you'd prefer to be abused by the clavichord for an hour, or caressed by the piano.

    Everyone has an opinion. Great. If a pianist tells me that God exists through Bach, I'm going to consider that as a turd in a toilet bowl that anyone, pianists and non-pianists alike, can produce.

  • Bach was very likely not perfect. He was undeniably a musical genius. At least that's what geniuses tell me, and his music seems to correspond to that. Not sure what the concept of "God" has to do with it. He may have been religious, and he got paid working in the church. So that part of it certainly worked out for him.

    Gould is also said to be a genius, and he has his unique interpretation of Bach on an instrument the historical record has as being unfavored by Bach. Okay.

  • Pirobín!!!

  • Divine.

  • Master Piece

  • It's scary that Bach could improvise that shit...

  • it's like he is pulling down on the keys instead of pressing them. awesome

  • nice sound quality in spite of youtube

  • @ConnorWinning I agree whole heartedly with you.

  • @iggypopster2 haha bach would disagree

  • @iggyposter2, I am so sorry to have affended you.

  • @AaViRo The same question I also have years............

  • Gould was solid gold.

  • @AaViRo My husband a pianist himself, thinks JS Bach has a dirrect pipe line to God himself, and the purvayor of his work is absolutely Glenn Gould, and if Bach himself had grown up with a piano, instead of a harpsichord, or clavichord, which hed had at his disposal, he would certainly have appreciated the piano, had hed been born later. glenn Gould is a perfect example of this, as Bach would have probably played it more like Glenn did. Bach Didnt like the piano, because he wasnt used to it.

  • @dansing124 I don't know why people think that whenever someone does something truly magnificent, or in Bach's case, does many things that are magnificent, people suddenly relate their efforts to having some kind of connection to God. Bach was a genius, and his brilliance didn't come from God. He was just an incredible human being. Also, the piano was not invented during Bach's childhood.

  • @CauseOfRicoRodriguez Indeed bach had not seen a piano untill right before his death in 1756. He did not like the piano, but now that we have one, and a computer to talk on, isnt it beautiful? Your observations are quite astute. Thank you from Dan Ragan

  • @dansing124 bach died in 1750 and he saw a piano and didnt like it

  • @dansing124 Bach died in 1750. Presumably "1756" popped into your head because it is the year Mozart was born?

  • @CauseOfRicoRodriguez Maybe it's because spirituality has a genetic component or in the case of Bach because he himself wrote his music to glorify God and believed in God. Maybe it's because God might actually exist - we don't know.

  • and I am stuck with Invention no. 13 :(

  • Impossible to play better. PURE GENIUS!!!!!!!

  • The twenty-first child.

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  • @AaViRo No one can approve that.)))

  • Sometimes I wonder if Gould was actually human...

  • 9 people will be won't be able to sleep the night because of the haunting spirits of bach and gould

  • en cinco palabras: Im Pre Sio Nan Te!!!

  • Gould exhibits unsurpassed timing, tecnique, and musicianship.

    He also exposes the beauty and independence of Bach's melodies better than any other pianist.

  • @AaViRo Sometimes I wonder if Gould was actually human.

  • Amazing !!!

  • Amazing :/ so jealous 

  • Splendid! I find this speed perfect! Everyone else needs to hurry up. Have a latte or something. Also, the first 4 notes in the left hand of bar 33 are PERFECT. They just sing. It's amazing. And the lyricism he puts into them (echoed by his humming) is filled with all the mellifluous sweetness anyone could ever want.

  • No one plays Bach's music like Gould does.

  • @AaViRo Maybe Bach was human, Gould was not for sure !

  • How is it that out of everyone I know, no one can appreciate this (besides my parents/grandparents)

    ..

    yet, you come to youtube and there's thousands of Bach/Gould followers

  • @EricTheRed03 nowadays most people don't value good music.

    HAIL BACH HAIL GOULD

    

  • Awww MAn, FUCK ALL MODERN MUSIC! FUCK IT ALL!! ITS WORTHLESS!!

    THIS IS PURE AWESOME

    The real music is now dead

  • @AaViRo He has been dead for 260 years and no one has come anywhere close to this kind of counterpoint. Everytime, I listen to this, it never ceases to amaze me.

  • Um conjunto necessariamente perfeito! Boa apreciação!

  • @AaViRo I don't think so...

  • @AaViRo

    yeah:) my impression too,especially when I listen to his great organ preludes and fugues...

    it is just such an advanced music

  • is he singing?! thats so cute.

  • @AaViRo Ha! He certainly wasn't a computer program for composing music - or was he?

  • I wish I could play Bach like Gould. I had a lot of work behind me.

  • @97Francis Don't try to play like Gould. Play like yourself. That is why I love Bach so much. Rarely he has any tempo or any expression markings. The art of interpretation so so interesting. As a musician, you could and should look at the music and make some conscious decisions about what you want to do and not Gould or Hewitt or anyone else.

  • @jayliew1 You are absolutely right.thank you for the advise.

  • The humming is there to remind us that it is a human playing.

  • @AaViRo he was.. the real question is if chopin or rachmaninoff were humans

  • @hohohee1 You're kidding right? Bach was the alien among the composers..

  • @hohohee1 And to prove that, tell me one more pianist who can play Bach like Gould..None :P

  • @CSPlayerDamon Tell me one who can play like Angela Hewitt. Tell me another who can play like Andreas Schiff. Then I will tell you one that can play like Gould.

  • @jayliew1 I listened to a few of their performances..Indeed insterestin, but..I sometimes couldn't distinguish all the voices, something that has never happened with Gould. Even so, I accidently watched a lesson they both gave, giving notes on how to PLAY Bach...Even so, excellent pianists..And even if you say I need to listen to more for a clearer opinion, there is a reason why Gould became way more famous in his starting years. He was innovative..way more than others.

  • @CSPlayerDamon

    I have to admit that I gravitate to Gould's playing too and mostly because of the arguments that you have expressed. But I also have to admit that listening to other artists also gives me some other insights that Gould does not convey. That is just so much information, and to incorporate all these ideas to my own playing is just invaluble.

  • @CSPlayerDamon I think you are entirely correct!

  • @jayliew1 Although, you could easily say that no pianist can play like another, as everyone has their different style..I am more to Gould's side, but obviously you can say I am affected by his name..Nevertheless, that is my opinion.

  • @CSPlayerDamon

    I would think we are all are affected by him is because he is unlike the others before him. He was so unorthodox and yet his playing is so orthodox, it is really hard to explain. When every other musician had to play the Italian Concerto for their minimal Bach repertoire, he was analyzing the Art of Fugue. Because of him, we have artists like Angela Hewitt. Because of him, we have the art of interpreting Bach. Have you ever noticed, everyone plays Rachmaninov the same.

  • @jayliew1 Angela Hewitt is rubbish

  • @PlancksTime

    For someone who does not like Hewitt, Hewitt is rubbish.

    For someone who does not like Gould, Gould is rubbish.

    For someone who does not like Schiff, Schiff is rubbish.

    I suppose, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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  • @jayliew1 What are you doing? Are you applying some statistics to this video and making wild conclusions about how good a video is. Of course, 8 people on planet earth could easily have enough bad taste in music to click the dislike button. Or easily, 8 misclicks could have happened. Anegal hewitt is rubbish because she makes a mess out of this wonderful piece. It just sounds worse when she plays, about 100 times worse

  • @PlancksTime This video is excellent to me. But to the other 8 (maybe less than 8), Gould probably plays 100 times worse (making a mess) than the one they like. That is appaling, isn't it.

  • @jayliew1 You are crazy, I think

  • @PlancksTime But that is the beauty of Glen Gould. Have you ever heard the aria his Goldberg variations? Is is so darn slow, so unconventional and yet so brilliant. Bernstein had to warn his audience once because Gould was going to play the Brahms concerto half the speed. What audacity! That is why he is brilliant. He is Glen Gould. And Angela Hewitt should be Angela Hewitt. Gould would not like Angela to be Glen.

  • @PlancksTime BTW, there are 8 who think this is rubbish.

  • @jayliew1 Those 8 are rubbish for not appreciating true genius and virtuosity. I agree with the most of what you are saying in your postings, but absolute truths do exist, as well as personal preferences, and Glenn Gould is one of them.

    No one beats Gould at Bach.

  • @AaViRo He was. It's essential, if we wish to have more great art such as this, to remember that the capacity for inspiration such as this lies within us all.

  • Guys like this are human, he and Bach worked hard (in addition to their natural talent). We should look at them as role models not deities.

  • @chaddyfromtheblock. I concur sir. 

  • @AaViRo He was a very human person who worked very hard and thus became very good at composition and keyboard/violin performance.

  • L E G E N D A R Y !!!!!!!!

  • yeah he def coulda been a dog or lemming

  • fucking art fucking genius fucking love fucking meaning to life

  • @nadavnaz2 fucking stfu

  • the black keys are so cool

  • Most of us strive for some independence of voices in fugues and bring out the theme, Gould seems to have 4 or more separate streams of focus that can each give one voice its unique character....

  • gould's precision is unlike anything i've seen before.

  • I like Bach. This guy LOVES Bach, and he is very good at interpreting Bach.

  • Allow humming.

  • No one played Bach like him. I saw him perform live when I was a kid, about 1955, when he was still giving recitals....a very strange man, but a wonderful musician.

  • fuckin genius

  • While I don't like his interpretations, I can certainly appreciate Gould's technical skill. I couldn't play this for my life.

    Not yet, anyways.

  • i love the playing but I just can't handle the humming. He flat out ruins it. I wish they could just let him hum into a mask or something so that we wouldn't hear that.

  • @storminmormondd Concentrate in the music and you won't hear the humming. Bach is the source of all western music, and Glenn has Bach in his genes...and believe me it's extremely difficult to play as he does.

  • @AaViRo "Sometimes I wonder if Bach actually was a human..."

    I used to wonder too. Not anymore...

  • This fugue is so difficult. I will always be in awe, and quite jealous, of Gould's talent.

  • @1980NewWave Jelous? You say it like he's an average-Joe pianist who happens to have a little talent with Bach.

  • fugues are the best kind of composition

  • One would tend to imagine hat answer at 8 seconds in was played with another hand, but no.... the right hand is playing it !

    My 12 desert Island discs would be A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach, A work of Bach and finally A work of Bach

  • As I listen more and more to Gould, I must write that I am becoming more and more intrigued. I have read and heard quite a bit of his humming durring recitals, which in this video is clearly him singing amongst the voicings.

    While this is certainly not customary, it is certainly no easy task.

    While I probably like many strugle with just playing the piano it becomes quite a bit more difficult if you play music for both voice and piano and acompany your self.

    The Beatles difficult, Bach genius

  • I would have given all to be at a concert from glenn gould, what a loss.

  • @Calamaistr I'm sure Glenn Gould would have much preferred your purchasing of his records. He largely considered himself a recording artist rather than a live performer.

  • @jojopooo

    Well so am i, but regardless i wouldve liked to hear him play live.

  • gould is the only interpreter known to humankind who coujld outdo bach himself on the pianoforte in terms of touch, phrasing and articulation.

  • he gives unique life to each voice, without ever diminshing the life of any other voice. beyond comprehension.

  • @sailing19100 That is very good. The spirit of the poet. Meticulous choice of words.

    I'm sure you are a skillful and thoughtful writer or poet! How much of music theory and the physical and cerebral mechanics of the study do you know? Ever thought about being a music critic?EH?

  • @sailing19100 What voices are you talking about? The humming?

  • @weetabixharry No, he doesn't speaks about the humming. This type of musical pieces are called Fugues and these fugues are separated in 3 or 4 melodies that each one repeat the same structure as the other melodies.

    These melodies are called ''voices'' and it's very difficult to execute each voice perfectly. Sailing19100 was right saying that Glenn Gould gave unique life to each voice, because he perfectly give the sound to each voice when this appears in the right or in the left hand.

  • Gould was a living embodiement of the spirit of Bach's music.

  • Very good!

    Bach is a genius and Gleen Gould too!

  • Bach is the father of modern music. He influenced every composer that proceeded him. When Gould played Bach, he became Bach!

  • @KABRIS1 When Gould played Bach, he became Bach!

    --Yeah thats quite something to imagine =D ! (ps. father of western music)

  • I never liked bach, and i was skeptical on clicking this, but wow... BLOWN AWAY