Glenn Gould - Bach French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816

[atea8keys]

GG is so cool in his interpretations of Bach. Grew up at university listening to his recordings all the time. Thanks for sharing this. Brings back good memories and a great listening experience.

[danielleosimpson]

My two favorites, GG and JSB

Daniel Léo Simpson

Composer

San Francisco 

[kozzzh]

sarabande is the best!

[prplhz0r]

i love this gigue

seriously.

[Balgig]

@ 7:55, thought my dad was singing along to the Loure :L

[billyguns2]

I don't understand this performance at all; where is the legato line? The ornaments are the strangest I've ever heard in this piece. I couldn't dance to some of these tempi. Only the final Gigue makes any kind of sense to me, although it sounds as if it were the clatter of a sewing machine. I have often admired this great pianist, but not here; this is not musical playing.

[SNloveminwoo]

@billyguns2 baroque pieces usually don't hav much legato line, cuz in baroque period they use harpsi chord, cant do much details.

[kaitoxxjeanne]

His playing gives me spirit :')

Thx for uploading

[FJM49]

Yes, I'm a hughe fan of Glenn Gould, but nevertheless there is just one performance of this Suite which is really better! Listen to Ivo Janssen! I myself couldn't believe it when I heard the first time but his performance is really more excellent: it's brighter, it has just that kind of musical understanding what can be expressed in music. Especially the first part of it is superb. Nevertheless: you are a more than excellent player Glenn!

[scupydoo]

@FJM49 can you send me the link of Ivo Janssen playing this suite?

[FJM49]

@scupydoo I'm so sorry, but I can't find it within YouTube. Ivo Jansen recorded all the works of JSB and I do have them on cd. I will upload them whenever I do have the chance. I'm also a concertpianist and often play this Suite: I think the most beautiful one he wrote.

Be sure I will do my best!

Kind regards

Ferdinand

[caddencadden]

Anyone else agree that the best part of this French Suite is from 09:45 to 10:10 ?

[pieisexcellent]

Absolutely amazing.... so good its heavenly!

[ossiacadenza1]

Gould leaves us all in the dust... now i'm too afraid to play bach!

[unnameableuser]

@ossiacadenza1 Gould leaves us all in wonder. And in wonder there is no fear, but illumination, understanding and response.

[thebagoas]

Very Strange but always compelling. Listen to Emil Gilels - it sounds like a totally different piece by a different composer

[JeremyBentham96]

This is not only Bach, Gould adds something something new to every piece he plays, that's the difference between a genius pianist and a good pianist

[circa1907czec]

I think that he played the Sarabande with staccat at slower tempo to set up next Govotte to explode.

What a genius. French Suite No5 and 6 are just pure happy joy.

[BassicStorm]

lovely sarabande

[firebreathone3]

I love the recording but the Sarabande is a tad odd. A tad too mechanic for my taste. listen to Ton Koopman or , if you are looking for a piano version; Schiff.

[KABRIS1]

@firebreathone3 It;s Gould's perfect timing that sounds mechanical to you. Gould's interpretation sounds very spirited.to me.

[firebreathone3]

@KABRIS1

After listening to it again, I think you are right. I was used to Schiff and Koopman's version but I can now see the appeal of this particular interpretation. In fact, I consider it quite profound.

[iguarni]

8:21 A GENIUS IS PLAYING!!!!!

[mauson1963]

I bought the LPs with the French Suites decades ago. It never bores me listening to G.G.

[MuscleDaddyCMH]

I hoped, after hearing the Allemande and Courante, that this was going to be a performance where he wasn't totally nutty, and then he started woodpeckering the sarabande. It's so STUPID sounding

[jm27gp]

@MuscleDaddyCMH Totally agree that the Sarabande is absolutely bizarre. But, damn, I've never heard a better Gigue. So I guess we're just relegated to Schiff for the Sarabande.

[willk326]

@MuscleDaddyCMH Yeah I definitely prefer a more legato sound to the Sarabande.

[szszrocks]

I would like to "love" this! It's wonderful! How can 3 people dislike this?

[4gregorysf]

I'm glad I found this. I have been practicing this piece for years and only now checked the metronome marking in my Peters edition which gives 92 per quarter note. I was astounded that they suggested such a fast tempo so I checked Youtube (THANK YOU YOUTUBE) for performances. I was afraid Glenn's would be very fast, but it's only a little faster than I take it. This really is one of the great works for keyboard. We pianists are SO LUCKY!

[MuscleDaddyCMH]

@4gregorysf Throw that damn Peters edition out with its ridicuolous metronome markings! :)

[noscrusir]

Such pristine clarity. Amazing

[noscrusir]

Such pristine clarity clarity. Amazing

[uyneb2000]

Here is a list of when each movement starts. Enjoy!

Allemande 0:00

Courante 1:47

Sarabande: 3:01

Gavotte: 5:50

Bourree: 6:29

Loure: 7:15

Gigue: 8:20

[0172240254]

i've listened to almost all of Chopin's nice pieces. other composers' works are nice too for eg. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Strauss, etc...if only  i can listen to more pieces...

[MagicDolphinGO]

@0172240254 don't forget schumann

[0172240254]

@MagicDolphinGO .ok

[kymcqueen95]

Well tone, and well tuned piano! Thanks for uploading to video!



[KABRIS1]

When people concentrate on Gould's unorthodox interpretations, they are robbing themselves of appreciating Gould's marvelous talent, which greatly transcends any preconceived conceptual attachments one applies to an interpretation.

[DaisyEnid7]

not many people in these time understand the beauty of classical music

[ConchinhaMetalica]

You know 4 guys (or girls) must love miss gaga -.-

[AnerStroz94]

@ConchinhaMetalica not only that i love lady gaga just like i love bach,but i'm sure that lady gaga herself love bach because as you might or might not know, she was a pianist that studied at Juliard..so.. yeah.

[purohitatgmailcom]

Why is the Loure so fast?

[la200o]

I prefer Bach on harpsichord.  I make an exception for Gould. Wonderful!

[Lopear27]

Is that the Blue Pool at 6.30?

[enras41]

How can anyone dislike this video?

[Classicalguy12]

As good as he is...the piano just does not match the timbre and style of any Baroque piece...but I guess I appreciate it....but it still shouldn't be done.

[giacolino]

@Classicalguy12

Why shouldn't it be done? I think the timbre of the piano (and the style of Gould) work wonderfully for Bach-- but even if I didn't I wouldn't try to make my tastes into some sort of 'thou shalt not' prescription. No one is being forced to listen to baroque on the piano, and I think we're richer for having interpretations like this.

[Classicalguy12]

@giacolino Put yourself in the composers view point. Say you write a cello concerto, and instead of a cellist a euphonium player decides to play it instead, totally different sound and timbre. How would you feel about your piece? Wouldn't you be offended? Its my belief that works should only be played on the instruments they were composed for. Yes, Gould's performance was good, but I still don't think he matches the style, which you can't match on the piano. Make sense?

[giacolino]

@Classicalguy12

I believe Bach rearranged his own pieces for different instruments (sometimes very different), so he seems to have more flexible ideas on timbre than you do. And if I were in his place I think I'd be delighted that people were still playing my music 250 years later. Sure, some pieces work better on some instruments than others-- but a dictum that music should only be played on the exact instruments it was composed for doesn't make sense to me.

[Classicalguy12]

@giacolino Yes he may have, but that is the key, he did it. If the composer arranged his own works for other instruments, then obviously that is fine, because the composer approved of it. I think we should make it sound like the composer wanted it to sound to our best abilities. And yes I would be delighted too if people were playing my music 250 years later, but it would make me mad if they used different instruments than what I wrote for. Obviously we have different opinions, and I doubt...

[Classicalguy12]

@giacolino Either one of us will change the others mind. But it was nice debating with you.

[beatlesmack9]

@Classicalguy12 Also remember Bach really didn't have the piano. Yes the fortepiano existed but it wasn't what it was even in Mozart's day. I like Goulds explanation of his use of the piano for Bach, which you should find and listen to, I don't feel there is any arguing his logic or his upmost respect for the Master and His Music.

[Classicalguy12]

@beatlesmack9 I haven't heard it, but I will listen to it and most likely not change my mind, thanks for the reference.

[KABRIS1]

@Classicalguy12 Bach was a mathematician. I don't think that he would share this view.Compositionally, the counterpoint and the harmonies that they create are much more significant than the timbre of the instrument they are performed on. Gould also played harpsichord.

[Classicalguy12]

@KABRIS1 Well we will never know what Bach would think of this, I disagree with you and think that he'd rather it be played on harpsichord. And yes I am aware that Gould played the harpsichord. Like I said, I will most likely not change the opinions of the open minded people here. I think music should be preserved the way it was written, obviously you are open to new ideas, I however am not. And yes I am a harpsichordist and organist in case you were wondering, I just don't have a camera yet.

[NimbleTurtle13]

@Classicalguy12 He generally composed for one specific instrument because that specific instrument could better satisfy the timbre requirements of the piece. People who play on the piano prefer certain qualities in Bach's music over other qualities that are better suited for harpsichord. However, it does not mean that they are "wrong" - they may be partially wrong but they are also satisfying certain characteristics that the harpsichord can't fulfill.

[HanEllipsis]

@Classicalguy12 Yours is a weak argument because, as anyone versed in general music history, the concept of specifying a certain instrument for performance did not become very common until after Bach's time. Indeed, the standard established during the Renaissance was that it was ideal to NOT specify what instrument should play a work. Therefore a part song can be sung in four voices, or sung in one voice with instruments on the other parts. All one must do is look at the Chromatic Fantasy

[HanEllipsis]

@Classicalguy12 and Fugue and you'll see that even though they belong together as a set, they are better suited on different instruments. The piano was still a young invention during the latter part of Bach's life, but he knew of them. There are conflicting records about his opinion of pianos, but he knew about them. All of the above is why Bach's pieces are rarely for cembalo, piano or clavichord. "Klavier" in his day referred to all three. Instrumentation is part of interpretation.

[buzzflydunbother]

very nice. pity gould wanks all over this.... stupid performers who don't read tempo.

[KABRIS1]

@buzzflydunbother He plays his own tempo wonderfully. It is truly a pity that listeners cannot discard their preconceived expectations of how a piece should be performed.

[Dragondude2218]

Thanks for helping me on my piano exam!

[lorenzarthur91]

I don't know why everybody has almost "religious" feelings about gould. I mean this Sarabande sounds more like an attempt to spell the entire morse - alphabet. And what did he do to this poor little Loure? This is a slow dance!

[md95065]

@lorenzarthur91 - yes - while Gould was capable of producing some truly beautiful and inspired performances more often than not they were like this one - maddeningly idiosyncratic and self indulgent - while every performer necessarily brings their own interpretation to a piece of music sometimes it gets in the way and listening to this I am in no doubt that I am listening to Bach according to Glen Gould - the miracle is that Bach's music is so great that it survives even this treatment ...

[KABRIS1]

@md95065 What a pity that you are incapable of appreciating how Gould's interpretations add life and form to Bach's compositions.When Gould plays Bach, Gould becomes Bach.

[md95065]

@KABRIS1 Actually I'm not incapable of appreciating Gould - as I said, he was "capable of producing some truly beautiful and inspired performances" - in my opinion, however, this just wasn't one of them.

[KABRIS1]

@md95065 A performance of any piece requires a collaboration between interpreter and composer.

It is self limiting when one imposes any type of subjective expectation on an interpretation. Gould approached Bach music like a jazz improvisor. He often played the same piece using different approaches. Altough Gould altered his musical interpretations, he always had a sound musical justification for doing so.

[thinkgreenlovepurple]

Thanks for uploading... I love Bach's French suites!!!!! I don't have a favourite because they are all great!

[71lupenzo710]

my favourite french suite thanks

[pilotlim]

whoever disliked this should go to hell.

[KABRIS1]

Gould + Bach = Perfection.

[bemdafis]

with a little practice he should get to be pretty good. :)

[yingdeviolin]

@bemdafis LAWL. that's all i have to say xD

[ramonfw]

Bullshit, it sounds like MIDI.

[JeterCM]

Gould is in a class of One when playing Bach on piano. But Chiara Massini is his equal while playing Bach on the harpsichord.

[leonbrokenhand]

I bet even Bach would love this!

[GerardvanR]

Glenn Gould's Bach interpretations on piano are the best!

[johnbaptistlulu]

definately gould... in the middle of the Loure you can hear his famous humming! Seriously now, amazing performance. Bach himself would be proud.

[ClassicalMusic2010]

Gould plays amazingly well, but I must remark that his embellishments seem unorthodox--in the allemande, most pianists use mordents or inverted mordents instead of the appoggiatura he used. Just bringing that up. :)

[iguarni]

WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL!!!!!

[wmatsuda]

A beautiful demonstration of such brilliant clarity as can only be executed by a genius like Glenn Gould. I'm sure Bach would have been proud of that guy!

[Hiroshima49]

No human has been known to possess this kind of ability to play Bach with such clarity, precision and sophistication. No machine has ever been invented to be capable of expressing human emotions, feelings and art. Glenn Gould was both man and machine.

[codycrowder]

bach played it pretty good

[TheGtrlvr]

Bach gave us God's words....and Gould gave us God's Bach.

[TheZuggernaut]

hah thats pretty clever

[la200o]

Absolutely the best!

[natyysantos]

Playing Bach he is uncomparable - and the best.

[thinkgreenlovepurple]

Thanks for uploading! Love this, it's fantastic.

[morvensky]

I love the way he improvises ornaments, especially in this piece. Fantastic!

[iserlon]

I like it so much, thanks for uploading this!

[amadeus9man]

Thank you for your comment, and I couldn't just let the complete French Suites be a hole in Youtube's survey of classical music. Especially Glenn's!

[iserlon]

yeah! they had it but it was not complete, and it was taken off! but now people can hear it again :D

[iguarni]

@amadeus9man Thanks a lot for having posted a masterpiece like this one!!!!!!!!!!

[KABRIS1]

@amadeus9man Thank you so very much for bringing this wonderful music into my life.