No. Playing it slowly with forced sentimentality takes the feeling away. Gould is playing at the tempo marked on the page (adagio, generally 65-75 BPM). Here, he's playing 70BPM.
I don't know how he does it, but Gould somehow manages to make his interpretations definitive. He is just soooooo convincing. I now can only hear this piece like this. What a God!!
The way Gould plays it reminds of how I feel when I hear Phillip Glass. I think that since human voice is the most expressive instrument, it has a feeling of 'release', and as you go down the list (violin, sax, to piano at the bottom) there's less release and more tension; it feels like the music is straining against the instruments limitations to 'release'.
Gould's constant tempo, lacking the singing rubato quality that everyone else, increases this tension which I like very much.
Got a keyboard for christmas when I was 10 years old, It was a keyboard that taught songs and this piece happened to be on it. I loved it and I learned it off by heart and i still remember how to play it 6 years later! Love it.
It's faster than most people play it (perhaps that's why you don't like it, because it sounds different than what you're used to?), but it's not "too fast".
The reason Gould plays this piece not so Adagio is because he disliked playing famous pieces (that's not saying he didn't like the pieces!). So, whenever he played them, he played them in his own way usually with different tempos, as we see in this one. That's what made him one of the greatest pianists in the world and this interpretation is wonderful! :)
Gould was a genius. He interpreted music in his own way, searching inwards for the same beautiful feeling felt by the composers when they first discovered their music. He experimented with the discovery just as the composers would have in their own day. Variation brings life to music.
Personally i prefer to play it super slow, however, he still manages to make every sinlge note perfect unlike some of the other supposedly "great" performers. I fall asleep listening to the other dudes playing it.
@wanturlove You're dead wrong. This is a rare occasion of Gould being more faithful to the original score than probably any other pianist. Beethoven wrote this in cut time: the tempo marking therefore refers to the half note, and not the quarter note. Most people are twice as slow as they should be in this movement, but Gould nails the tempo of the funeral march that Beethoven intended.
I like it a lot. It's different. I'm sick of hearing the same renditions over and over again. You might as well just use a computer. Although, Gould wasn't the biggest fan of this sort of music, so he may just be playing it this way to get it over with.
another shining example that the ego of gould knows no bounds. poor buffoon, he could never come to grips that he could not himself compose anything worthwhile.
@devilxhlywood You do realise he was primarily a performer, not a composer right? I can't really see much of his so-called ego coming out in this piece... you sound like you know him.... I'd love to see your latest performances playing one of your own compositions, for comparison's sake, y'know? to see just how much better you are? though your name doesn't strike me as one I should recognise...
@whiteknight5869 honestly i didn't want to respond to anyone here since this rendition is an absolute catastrophe, and i have to mute the volume immediately upon arrival lest i listen to one second of this and become nauseated. to me listening to this would be like watching someone throw buckets of paint inside the sistine chapel. i know some delusional fools will defend anything gould records so yah, enjoy this fecal matter all you wish, i've said my peace
@devilxhlywood hmmm indeed, because you're such a connoisseur in the arts and your opinion is so universally recognised and I could tell as much from your wonderful channel, which boasts numerous intellectual interviews and such to back up your argument. Honestly i didn't want to respond to anyone here because of the inability of SOME to spell so yah, I also have said my PIECE.
@whiteknight5869 you're reaching, it's ok though. all the 9th grade sarcasm, profile scouring, "spell"ing corrections were just a waste of your time. it's a grammatical error if you want to get technical, i don't really resort to that though. why defend this ? honestly. you stated that gould disliked playing popular pieces, and he was known as a finicky man. what do stubborn, particular men do when they're forced to do something they don't want to? the answer is: this.
@devilxhlywood indeed grammar is such a childish thing.... and yes i did say that but I didn't include that it was specifically from the Romantic period and that he favoured the complexity of Baroque music and that is a fault on my part for which I apologise. Gould actually believed that performances were deeply personal and the performer should interpret the piece in his or her own unique way, like extreme tempos, unusual dynamics, odd phrasing and such. Also, I doubt he was forced to play this
If you want to be pretentious about music your welcome too. But only close minded people want to complain about other interpretations of this piece, so if you want the slower version....go to it? and quit your Whining :)
I agree 100% with MsFloopdedoop, Gould plays it following perfection that means clear, exact as the partitura, but toooooo fast and lacking of soul and heart.
Someone mentioned this elsewhere on this site as an example of how Gould's idiosyncratic interpretations sometimes fell flat - but once you get over the shock at the tempo, I really liked this.
Beethoven said that the inspiration for this movement was the music following the murder of the Commodore, from Don Giovanni. Yes it should be played more quickly than we are used to, but Gould is losing (imo) its mystery. He sounds uninvolved. And yes, he should emulate a piano of that period with the pedal down throughout. That would give it mist.
I usually do not like Gould when he plays Beethoven. However here he was really prophetic. This is a great interpretation of this quasi una fantasia that has nothing to do with the Moon. But the courage to keep the pedal down, not even Gould...
This is a wonderful interpretation. He is not overly sentimental and schmaltzy. Just listen to the music within the tempo parameters he chose: just as much feeling as a ten-minute version! Incredible dynamics, rhythmic accuracy and voicing.
this song is an argument won over with silence afterwards.
I guess people play slow to maybe savor the notes.. or maybe its because they are not quite as smart, so time goes faster, so they slow down the music.
I was in Disneyworld last week watchin' TV. Thankfully, my mother didn't turn off the TV when it was talking about Glenn Gould. And I heard somebody mention "Listen to his take on Moonlight Sonata. He plays his own version of the song". I have never heard Beethoven's version of Moonlight Sonata, but I'll love this version always. It works for my ears.
I think this piece loses its soul if it is played this fast but Glen Gould is a definate genius at the keyboard. Sadly his life ends as so many other gifted individuals, too soon.
I finely hear the differance in Glouds version from those of traditional playing of this piece. Ended up watching PBS master Peice....was stuck on this mans performences.
Mr. Gould said himself, why would he record a piece the same way. Glenn Gould put his own stamp on everything he did and this is just another example of that. I love his take on this.
50 ans la durée de vie de Gould , 33 cm la hauteur exigée par Glenn pour son tabouret , une aisance dans l'interprétation de l'oeuvre et voilà Beethoven réssucité !!!
No one here bothers to understand or even look into the genius that was Gould. He wasn't an idiot. I'm entirely sure that he understood the first movement is marked Adagio, and is therefore slow, but the way Gould plays it here can be a revelation for one who is already familiar with these works. He is suggesting a wistful dance rather than the wallowing usual melancholy despair displayed.
@MsFloopdedoop Yeah, I agree, I saw when he easily playied this piece as the others, but he said he wanted to play it his way, it means with feeling and lyricism, and not full technic at all, as all the other pianists that only see the notes as something to press and not something to feel, I'm sure he plays the music as Bach, Beethoven, or Strauss wanted to.
For adagio, this is the correct speed (between 66 and 70 BPM.) Other artists tend to play it largo. For example, Horowitz played it at about 50 BPM. If anything, modern performances tend to eschew the "adagio" marking for the sake of blending in with the crowd.
People constantly say this piece is meant to be played faster, as it was "back in the day". I'm sorry, but "adagio" only has one meaning, doesn't it? It means that a piece is to be played slowly. As much as I love Gould, I believe he and Beethoven were very different men.
Well, through time the interpretation of certain pieces changes... somewhere there's a good explanation, that this piece is Alla breve, you count the halfs. When you play it 6 minutes long and count the halfs you'll see that you're actually playing VERY lento ;)
Glenn Gould has obviously a problem with two things : the tempo and Beethoven. When he played Bach, he was a pure genius. But this is not what I'd call a great Beethoven recording.
People who says " Glenn plays this way cuz Beethoven used to play like this ( fast ) " I say Shut up, neither you people or I know how Beethoven used to play , why ? cuz he died a couple of centuries ago and guess what, there were no recording machines so non of us will never know how Beethoven played this.
( Sorry for my English if there are any mistakes )
@NewtonBlog I have read that somewhere and that's why i said that beethoven was playing faster than today. You can hear F. Lamond (1868-1948) playing this sonata in 4 minutes 13 seconds on youtube. Lamond is known to be a great interpret of Beethoven. (sorry for my english too).
Some people don't like Glenn Gould's interpretation of this piece because it is faster that they are acustomed to, which is undestandable. It is jarring when you here familiar music played differently. I like both versions though. A slow interpretation like Rubenstein's makes you feel at peace with the world and relaxes you. This one stimmulates you and gives you the feelig of agitation that comes with a great loss, which may or may not be what Beethoven intended. You'd have to ask him.
Maybe Gould was playing so fast because he wanted to make a version of the piece that fit into our busy lifestyles: high-speed rail, high-speed internet, and ...high-speed Beethoven!
Ok, is this crazy? I was practicing with my harp and all of a sudden I started playing this tune, a bit slower though and in C minor. I'm a beginner, but I have never heard this song ever in my life until now. Crazy right? It just sort of came to me.
@Glad2bAquarious maybe you heard it somewhere but you don't remember... Or maybe it was just a nice night and you got inspired :P assuming you're a musical genius
Well, we have to agree on something: Glenn Gould is unique! This tempo brings across the structure clearly, along with a wonderful sense of continuity.
first time ever heard this one playing so fast. but i love it. this just shows how good gould is. he can play same music with different speed and same emotion level. i know he is good. but not this much. thanks gould to live in this world. i fould him playing many other songs differently from many other pianists. which is a good thing. there shouldnt be just one way of playing it, since there is no record of beethoven playing it. keep it up gould!!!
Wow....Besides Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy, this is the prettiest piece ive ever heard....We need more musicians like this.... Flo Rida and Lil Wayne need to go away :/
technically when he plays this, its perfect in the theoretical sense - no mistakes, however whether you like it played fast or not is a matter of opinion, so comments like "this is fucking terrible" or " the beauty is lost when played fast" aren't of consequence
troppo veloce senza "sostenuto"! è un adagio sostenuto!- fast-without sostenuto, it is a adagio sostenuto--Ohne sostenuto! das ist eine Adagio"sostenuto"
well it is supposed to be played lightly and calmly so i get why hes playing it so fast. many people think its supposed to be heavy but it even says on the music.
It takes real talent to play this slowly... I still can't get it over 5 mins long without losing focus and screwing up... Wilhelm Kempff's version is much better.
As for the third movement, Glenn Gould has talent.
Fast or not, I still prefer the character shown in this one, compared to, say, Kempff, who seemed utterly disinterested in his own perfect and slow-paced performance.
it is the taste of our time to play this part in 6 minutes or more. Beethoven was playing this faster than today, maybe that's why Gould plays it so fast.
@groumpf12 really if you look at the score the time signature is cut time, so rather then slow triplets to the beat, its sextuplets, the quarters become eighth notes, and so on. so Gould is playing it close to the correct tempo.
@groumpf12 no beethoven played it slowly. i know this because he did it on purpose. sonata form is fast slow, then fast again, kinda like the ig finale,but beethoven realized people begun to get tired or sleepy during the second movement. being the innovater he is, he decided to put the slow movement 1st, then faster, then faster!
@nohpets07 you re wrong you have no idea how beethoven played this. and: we dont have to play it like beethoven, because we have an other instrument. if we play on a hammerklavier, then of course we have to play it as much similar as beethoven. but on a modern steinway you cant compare it. its just an other instrument ---> other music
@nohpets07 i say that because you didt hear beethoven play. and he dindt wrote like tempo: 100 per minute or something like that. he just wrote adagio sostenuto, which doesnt mean the tempo is slow but the feeling of playing must be calm and with pedal. its a fact that there is no perfect interpretation, evenn when beethoven played it slowly
@groumpf12 no beethoven played it slowly. i know this because he did it on purpose. sonata form is fast slow, then fast again, kinda like the big finale,but beethoven realized people begun to get tired or sleepy during the second movement. being the innovater he is, he decided to put the slow movement 1st, then faster, then faster!
@groumpf12 True, but it's definitely too fast. Also Murray Perhaia's version of Moonligth sonata is faster, but it respects the moderate mood of this piece unlike Glenn Gould's one.
Do you think someone of this calibra doesn't know what he is doing ? It is such a frequently played piece by the most brilliant pianists, he is offering you something just a little different for your ear. You don't have to like it or dislike it, you have to listen to each note played with the touch of an artist. I will say though that the piano sounds somewhat bright for this piece but just my opinion.
Strangely compelling. Difficult to reconcile this with "Adagio sostenuto," so it's probably not as the composer intended, but it definitely freshens the ears. By the way, I don't agree with those who feel that debating the performances are out of place. No doubt comments sometimes can be obnoxiously expressed, but the discussions can be thought-provoking. And after all, Gould's performance certainly is provocative, and he was the type of guy who enjoyed talking about his music-making.
And of course while I listen, I am offered Hyundai Sonatas. Silly youtube... Funny, my dad drives a sonata and I drive a forte. Music takes me places.
@kriteon You know what's truly appalling, the degeneration of the English language in subjects of clearly limited mental acuity. To render this as appalling (which I hope you'll notice has 2 l's) is to clearly signal your complete lack of musical literacy.
I hope you appreciate your intellectually stunted life.
@kriteon There is a lot of confusion about tempos in classical music--though it is well known that Mozart Beethoven and even Chopin--played their music MOSTLY at a steady beat---with only -- SLIGHT-- variations in tempos---varying the tempo TOO much often Destroys the Rythmic Charm of the music- SO-you can put a whole LOT of "sustenuto"- -in Moonlight as much as YOU WANT--but IN MY OPINION--That's-- NOT--HOW Beethoven wrote it !!!
jesus glenn.... you will be missed as long as I am around you beautiful beautiful man.
jesch1689 1 week ago
love it
hotei111 3 weeks ago
But of course! Gould ""HAS"" to be different. Because he cant do it any other way... And no I do not like it...
ym42ym42 1 month ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
he is playing at the tempo it must be...
Guitarsssuck 1 month ago
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Guitarsssuck 1 month ago
i like this version because it does not give me time to think how good it is,it just lets me feel the music, non stop untill the end
filmfannick 1 month ago
soothing music...
vkrits 1 month ago
This tempo sucks, it takes all the felling away.
mayogall 1 month ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
@mayogall No, it just adds a new feeling
ArcaneFaith 1 month ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
@mayogall
No. Playing it slowly with forced sentimentality takes the feeling away. Gould is playing at the tempo marked on the page (adagio, generally 65-75 BPM). Here, he's playing 70BPM.
colourfulwithaU 3 weeks ago
I don't know how he does it, but Gould somehow manages to make his interpretations definitive. He is just soooooo convincing. I now can only hear this piece like this. What a God!!
FaisalAldaye 1 month ago
Mistake at 2:00. He left out the highest note in that crescendo.
azndude108 1 month ago
@azndude108 are you sure about that?
ringosatyarr 1 month ago
The way Gould plays it reminds of how I feel when I hear Phillip Glass. I think that since human voice is the most expressive instrument, it has a feeling of 'release', and as you go down the list (violin, sax, to piano at the bottom) there's less release and more tension; it feels like the music is straining against the instruments limitations to 'release'.
Gould's constant tempo, lacking the singing rubato quality that everyone else, increases this tension which I like very much.
AxelVekemans 1 month ago
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Got a keyboard for christmas when I was 10 years old, It was a keyboard that taught songs and this piece happened to be on it. I loved it and I learned it off by heart and i still remember how to play it 6 years later! Love it.
hausofaimee 1 month ago
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hausofaimee 1 month ago
Bad bad bad... I can't stress how much the rapid tempo destroys this piece.
Dan474834 2 months ago
@Dan474834 Bad bad bad... I can't stress how much this bullshit comment destroys this video.
HerlockSholmes123 2 months ago 4
@Dan474834 this tempo sucks, but nevertheless the sounds are beautiful...
velizarcho123 1 month ago
@Dan474834
Rapid tempo? This is adagio...70BPM.
colourfulwithaU 3 weeks ago
Mr.Gould interprets this very famous piece so differently...My favorite interpretation.So unique and very fitting.He brings out different colors.
daniel3231995 2 months ago in playlist Beethoven
I might be imagining this, but can you barely hear him humming?
droughead 2 months ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
Much too fast. I don't care how 'individualistic" you want a performer to be, this version is not brilliant. It sounds willfully perverse.
Horowitz's is much, much better.
al1936ful 2 months ago
@al1936ful
Traditionally, adagio has about 66-76 bpm.
Gould is playing at around 70 bpm.
It's faster than most people play it (perhaps that's why you don't like it, because it sounds different than what you're used to?), but it's not "too fast".
SparklingSpringWater 2 months ago 8
@al1936ful I concur, and I suspect this interpretation is defended solely out of a chauvinistic devotion to Glenn Gould.
OldSchopenhauer 1 week ago
The reason Gould plays this piece not so Adagio is because he disliked playing famous pieces (that's not saying he didn't like the pieces!). So, whenever he played them, he played them in his own way usually with different tempos, as we see in this one. That's what made him one of the greatest pianists in the world and this interpretation is wonderful! :)
whiteknight5869 2 months ago
Gould was a genius. He interpreted music in his own way, searching inwards for the same beautiful feeling felt by the composers when they first discovered their music. He experimented with the discovery just as the composers would have in their own day. Variation brings life to music.
stuartdthompson 2 months ago
Brilliant channeling. Well done, Glenn. Keep going further, man.
genreslur 2 months ago
wow fast!
SongsofInnocence 3 months ago
adagio is an interpretation of an interpretation of "time". Who now here thinks he is playing this wrongfully?!
art people !!!!
odiumimbues 3 months ago
The 2nd and 3rd movements make no sense to me if you play this like everyone in the world just died. This is a very real interpretation.
GraniteQuarrier 3 months ago
Pour moi un peu vite,mais c'est son choix sa libertè!!!!En tout cas genial!!
andy66100 3 months ago
Pour moi un peu vite,mais c'est son choix la libertè de l'artist.......
andy66100 3 months ago
Personally i prefer to play it super slow, however, he still manages to make every sinlge note perfect unlike some of the other supposedly "great" performers. I fall asleep listening to the other dudes playing it.
ResurgamZerg 3 months ago
i like this, faster but not to fast.
he didnt lose the emotion that the original tempo has.
ralfjacobs 3 months ago
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ralfjacobs 3 months ago
...Played far too rapidly. You cannot fault Gould as a virtuoso; but you can criticize his occasional interpretations of the standard repertoire...
wanturlove 4 months ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
@wanturlove You're dead wrong. This is a rare occasion of Gould being more faithful to the original score than probably any other pianist. Beethoven wrote this in cut time: the tempo marking therefore refers to the half note, and not the quarter note. Most people are twice as slow as they should be in this movement, but Gould nails the tempo of the funeral march that Beethoven intended.
puccinifan 3 months ago 2
I like it a lot. It's different. I'm sick of hearing the same renditions over and over again. You might as well just use a computer. Although, Gould wasn't the biggest fan of this sort of music, so he may just be playing it this way to get it over with.
fissionesque 4 months ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
another shining example that the ego of gould knows no bounds. poor buffoon, he could never come to grips that he could not himself compose anything worthwhile.
devilxhlywood 4 months ago
@devilxhlywood
God you talk like you're fucking Beethoven himself. Have YOU composed anything worthwhile?
rocketman12333 3 months ago
@devilxhlywood You do realise he was primarily a performer, not a composer right? I can't really see much of his so-called ego coming out in this piece... you sound like you know him.... I'd love to see your latest performances playing one of your own compositions, for comparison's sake, y'know? to see just how much better you are? though your name doesn't strike me as one I should recognise...
whiteknight5869 2 months ago
@whiteknight5869 honestly i didn't want to respond to anyone here since this rendition is an absolute catastrophe, and i have to mute the volume immediately upon arrival lest i listen to one second of this and become nauseated. to me listening to this would be like watching someone throw buckets of paint inside the sistine chapel. i know some delusional fools will defend anything gould records so yah, enjoy this fecal matter all you wish, i've said my peace
devilxhlywood 2 months ago
@devilxhlywood hmmm indeed, because you're such a connoisseur in the arts and your opinion is so universally recognised and I could tell as much from your wonderful channel, which boasts numerous intellectual interviews and such to back up your argument. Honestly i didn't want to respond to anyone here because of the inability of SOME to spell so yah, I also have said my PIECE.
whiteknight5869 2 months ago
@whiteknight5869 you're reaching, it's ok though. all the 9th grade sarcasm, profile scouring, "spell"ing corrections were just a waste of your time. it's a grammatical error if you want to get technical, i don't really resort to that though. why defend this ? honestly. you stated that gould disliked playing popular pieces, and he was known as a finicky man. what do stubborn, particular men do when they're forced to do something they don't want to? the answer is: this.
devilxhlywood 2 months ago
@devilxhlywood indeed grammar is such a childish thing.... and yes i did say that but I didn't include that it was specifically from the Romantic period and that he favoured the complexity of Baroque music and that is a fault on my part for which I apologise. Gould actually believed that performances were deeply personal and the performer should interpret the piece in his or her own unique way, like extreme tempos, unusual dynamics, odd phrasing and such. Also, I doubt he was forced to play this
whiteknight5869 2 months ago 3
If you want to be pretentious about music your welcome too. But only close minded people want to complain about other interpretations of this piece, so if you want the slower version....go to it? and quit your Whining :)
NGstalagmite 4 months ago
he plays with the correct tempo for a change
borispoo 4 months ago
I agree 100% with MsFloopdedoop, Gould plays it following perfection that means clear, exact as the partitura, but toooooo fast and lacking of soul and heart.
enaralva 4 months ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
@enaralva
listen to gould's goldberg variations. He has plenty of heart
ratzlp0li 2 months ago
Wayyyyyy toooooo fast for me!!
jackdaws81 4 months ago
Someone mentioned this elsewhere on this site as an example of how Gould's idiosyncratic interpretations sometimes fell flat - but once you get over the shock at the tempo, I really liked this.
firestartertwistedfi 4 months ago
i k love godiva 3/25
dinkarrao1 4 months ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
Beethoven said that the inspiration for this movement was the music following the murder of the Commodore, from Don Giovanni. Yes it should be played more quickly than we are used to, but Gould is losing (imo) its mystery. He sounds uninvolved. And yes, he should emulate a piano of that period with the pedal down throughout. That would give it mist.
cuprik 5 months ago in playlist Glenn Gould - Moonlight Sonata pt. I (Beethoven)
I usually do not like Gould when he plays Beethoven. However here he was really prophetic. This is a great interpretation of this quasi una fantasia that has nothing to do with the Moon. But the courage to keep the pedal down, not even Gould...
FarineVal 5 months ago
Lovely... pampampam.... pampampam.... ( 5th )
keckvan66 5 months ago
Veganaise on my sandwich! Queers in my unit! Speed in my Sonata!
hymnofashes 5 months ago
when do you use the pedal?
theEinsteinable 5 months ago
@theEinsteinable you change it about every time you change bass notes. then adapt it to how you feel sound best
WTFisJamieUp2 4 months ago
This is a wonderful interpretation. He is not overly sentimental and schmaltzy. Just listen to the music within the tempo parameters he chose: just as much feeling as a ten-minute version! Incredible dynamics, rhythmic accuracy and voicing.
Fontainebleau7 5 months ago 18
love this music :)
theegyptianrose 6 months ago
Technically great. Emotionally void. Feels rushed and shallow. This rendition did not move me at all, whatsoever.
elucero1775 6 months ago
Amazingly Accurate Interpretation I would say. 10/10 Gould does great work, Bravo.
Arotatinglie 6 months ago
this song is an argument won over with silence afterwards.
I guess people play slow to maybe savor the notes.. or maybe its because they are not quite as smart, so time goes faster, so they slow down the music.
odiumimbues 7 months ago
If you listen carefully you can hear Gould humming while he's playing.
Lonesoll 1 year ago 3
@Lonesoll
If you listen eve more carefully, you can hear Beethoven humming :-p
gooshnpupp 7 months ago 3
Sem palavras!
Sou eu daqui 300 reencarnações, :-)
andersonejoelma 1 year ago
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Perfection that would make Beethoven proud.
speedinginmyporsche 1 year ago
Perfection that would make Beethoven proud.
Bravo!
speedinginmyporsche 1 year ago
He meant it to be fast. This is how he felt it. I like this so much better. It's dreamy and his sense of dynamics, wonderful.
cawobeth 1 year ago 2
I was in Disneyworld last week watchin' TV. Thankfully, my mother didn't turn off the TV when it was talking about Glenn Gould. And I heard somebody mention "Listen to his take on Moonlight Sonata. He plays his own version of the song". I have never heard Beethoven's version of Moonlight Sonata, but I'll love this version always. It works for my ears.
bobbyiscool1992 1 year ago 2
I think this piece loses its soul if it is played this fast but Glen Gould is a definate genius at the keyboard. Sadly his life ends as so many other gifted individuals, too soon.
stallionstance 1 year ago
@stallionstance the piece loses your soul. i like to think that people are slowing the piece down nowadays because music is so scarce.
I play it completely different from everyone. I use a dynamic of fast and slow and run on pure emotion :D
MrSpencyr 7 months ago
@MrSpencyr timing is not an opinion... i don't like accelerations and slowing down... :)
giovannibrunoro 6 months ago
@MrSpencyr when music falls of rhythm , it just feels like some has stabbed me in the heart :)
DarkCavaliero 6 months ago
I think it's a bit too fast for the first 15 seconds but after that it's great.
koosunami888 1 year ago 2
I finely hear the differance in Glouds version from those of traditional playing of this piece. Ended up watching PBS master Peice....was stuck on this mans performences.
blackdog3030 1 year ago
For some reason this song almost brings tears to my eyes regardless of who plays it. And it was the 2nd beethoven song i learned in my piano days.
Krikt26138 1 year ago
Mr. Gould said himself, why would he record a piece the same way. Glenn Gould put his own stamp on everything he did and this is just another example of that. I love his take on this.
nicoliomytoe 1 year ago 2
Subversive and wonderful.
tbilisijeff 1 year ago
this version is awesome
k9nubfeiw0 1 year ago
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k9nubfeiw0 1 year ago
50 ans la durée de vie de Gould , 33 cm la hauteur exigée par Glenn pour son tabouret , une aisance dans l'interprétation de l'oeuvre et voilà Beethoven réssucité !!!
SLAIEH 1 year ago
No one here bothers to understand or even look into the genius that was Gould. He wasn't an idiot. I'm entirely sure that he understood the first movement is marked Adagio, and is therefore slow, but the way Gould plays it here can be a revelation for one who is already familiar with these works. He is suggesting a wistful dance rather than the wallowing usual melancholy despair displayed.
MsFloopdedoop 1 year ago 26
@MsFloopdedoop Yeah, I agree, I saw when he easily playied this piece as the others, but he said he wanted to play it his way, it means with feeling and lyricism, and not full technic at all, as all the other pianists that only see the notes as something to press and not something to feel, I'm sure he plays the music as Bach, Beethoven, or Strauss wanted to.
MantisKiller 1 month ago
The recording devise do not seem to handle any high tones I recommend lowering the volume. But it might just be me.
Sveavivaldi 1 year ago
For adagio, this is the correct speed (between 66 and 70 BPM.) Other artists tend to play it largo. For example, Horowitz played it at about 50 BPM. If anything, modern performances tend to eschew the "adagio" marking for the sake of blending in with the crowd.
Dessyreqt 1 year ago
More than that i would say that Beethoven himself disliked this sonata and the tempo of 6 minutes is sweet to my hears too.
groumpf12 1 year ago
Adagio : 66-76 bpm . let's say 70 bpm
Moonlight sonata 69 x 4 = 276
276 / 70 = 4 min (aproximatively).
groumpf12 1 year ago
this is played to fast
adambumbadum 1 year ago
People constantly say this piece is meant to be played faster, as it was "back in the day". I'm sorry, but "adagio" only has one meaning, doesn't it? It means that a piece is to be played slowly. As much as I love Gould, I believe he and Beethoven were very different men.
thelettermanv 1 year ago
@thelettermanv
Well, through time the interpretation of certain pieces changes... somewhere there's a good explanation, that this piece is Alla breve, you count the halfs. When you play it 6 minutes long and count the halfs you'll see that you're actually playing VERY lento ;)
Mondluchs 1 year ago
@thelettermanv adagio means at ease, not slow
Valholm 1 year ago
My friend is listening to this right now. Crying.
SLYCoopaEatsChicken 1 year ago
happy bday beethoven.. you have composed beautiful music... great music of the romantic era................
niveditavasant 1 year ago
....beautiful-beautiful piano composition.....so fluid.
jonieheffner 1 year ago
Glenn Gould has obviously a problem with two things : the tempo and Beethoven. When he played Bach, he was a pure genius. But this is not what I'd call a great Beethoven recording.
HenriNioto 1 year ago
People who says " Glenn plays this way cuz Beethoven used to play like this ( fast ) " I say Shut up, neither you people or I know how Beethoven used to play , why ? cuz he died a couple of centuries ago and guess what, there were no recording machines so non of us will never know how Beethoven played this.
( Sorry for my English if there are any mistakes )
NewtonBlog 1 year ago
@NewtonBlog I have read that somewhere and that's why i said that beethoven was playing faster than today. You can hear F. Lamond (1868-1948) playing this sonata in 4 minutes 13 seconds on youtube. Lamond is known to be a great interpret of Beethoven. (sorry for my english too).
groumpf12 1 year ago
beautiful
123zizi456 1 year ago
im listneing to this because this fits resident evil 5 so well
zombiehunts147 1 year ago
Some people don't like Glenn Gould's interpretation of this piece because it is faster that they are acustomed to, which is undestandable. It is jarring when you here familiar music played differently. I like both versions though. A slow interpretation like Rubenstein's makes you feel at peace with the world and relaxes you. This one stimmulates you and gives you the feelig of agitation that comes with a great loss, which may or may not be what Beethoven intended. You'd have to ask him.
WAHarachel 1 year ago
This is original. This is always played slow, so Gould played it fast! Original and creative.
FranLesPaul 1 year ago
too fast
hgg4 1 year ago
God this guy has no idea, fuck Glenn Gould, most overated shit i've ever heard. Look up wilhelm kempff to hear beethoven played properly.
Corrupt5358 1 year ago
Maybe Gould was playing so fast because he wanted to make a version of the piece that fit into our busy lifestyles: high-speed rail, high-speed internet, and ...high-speed Beethoven!
thequantumcollapse 1 year ago
Ok, is this crazy? I was practicing with my harp and all of a sudden I started playing this tune, a bit slower though and in C minor. I'm a beginner, but I have never heard this song ever in my life until now. Crazy right? It just sort of came to me.
Glad2bAquarious 1 year ago
@Glad2bAquarious thats freaky
pitsiflyable 1 year ago
@Glad2bAquarious maybe you heard it somewhere but you don't remember... Or maybe it was just a nice night and you got inspired :P assuming you're a musical genius
UNORIGINALdot3x 1 year ago
Well, we have to agree on something: Glenn Gould is unique! This tempo brings across the structure clearly, along with a wonderful sense of continuity.
clashtitans2 1 year ago
first time ever heard this one playing so fast. but i love it. this just shows how good gould is. he can play same music with different speed and same emotion level. i know he is good. but not this much. thanks gould to live in this world. i fould him playing many other songs differently from many other pianists. which is a good thing. there shouldnt be just one way of playing it, since there is no record of beethoven playing it. keep it up gould!!!
baesuk81 1 year ago
lovely, makes you feel good about feeling sad for a while, 4:16 minutes to be exact
RoyalRaven007 1 year ago
i want this song to be played at my feuneral either that or ivan platonov: the joy of those who mourn :)
kennsie8 1 year ago
Wow....Besides Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy, this is the prettiest piece ive ever heard....We need more musicians like this.... Flo Rida and Lil Wayne need to go away :/
MJmoonlight1 1 year ago
112 people must die!
VicaCOBHC 1 year ago
@VicaCOBHC 113 actually
kennsie8 1 year ago
Comment removed
simcha181818 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@VicaCOBHC "1 week ago 112 people must die!"
A stupid comment cogitated by a certified imbecile.
simcha181818 1 year ago
technically when he plays this, its perfect in the theoretical sense - no mistakes, however whether you like it played fast or not is a matter of opinion, so comments like "this is fucking terrible" or " the beauty is lost when played fast" aren't of consequence
RealLegendUnitedFC 1 year ago
@RealLegendUnitedFC
'matters of opinion ... aren't of consequence'
That applies to 99% of Youtube - including your own comment.
lsbrother 1 year ago
@lsbrother actually i was talking about the technical quality of the piece, therefore my comment was objective
RealLegendUnitedFC 1 year ago
@RealLegendUnitedFC
your opinion of the technical quality is still just your subjective opinion
lsbrother 1 year ago
@lsbrother meh.. i disagree but whatever
RealLegendUnitedFC 1 year ago
@lsbrother its isn't an opinion technical quality is derived from fact whether he hit certain notes isn't an opinion
RealLegendUnitedFC 1 year ago
@RealLegendUnitedFC Your comment is correct. Isbrother is just another dumb motherfucker who's logic is all fucked up.
Valholm 1 year ago
this is perfect!
lacrymosa85 1 year ago
I feel like when its played this fast the beauty gets lost.
lalaura241 1 year ago
flows well and easy to listen to... a lot of ppl play this slower, but Gould is unique. It doesn't get over-dramatic this way.
kb27787 1 year ago
so fucking bad
kriteon 1 year ago
gould shouldve just stuck to bach
viralpianist95 1 year ago
God Gould is Good.
PorroFirst 1 year ago
troppo veloce senza "sostenuto"! è un adagio sostenuto!- fast-without sostenuto, it is a adagio sostenuto--Ohne sostenuto! das ist eine Adagio"sostenuto"
skolpy76 1 year ago
well it is supposed to be played lightly and calmly so i get why hes playing it so fast. many people think its supposed to be heavy but it even says on the music.
beastlypianoplayer1 1 year ago
i gotta agree the tempo is faster than i'm used too, but who or which is my point of reference i could not say...it's still intoxicating...
ListRunTwo 1 year ago
I would play this peace much more slower so there would be more impact
rveiagol 1 year ago
It takes real talent to play this slowly... I still can't get it over 5 mins long without losing focus and screwing up... Wilhelm Kempff's version is much better.
As for the third movement, Glenn Gould has talent.
PaxAtheista 1 year ago
Best version on youtube.
HeadCaptain 1 year ago 3
Fast or not, I still prefer the character shown in this one, compared to, say, Kempff, who seemed utterly disinterested in his own perfect and slow-paced performance.
sabrejack2 1 year ago 3
it is the taste of our time to play this part in 6 minutes or more. Beethoven was playing this faster than today, maybe that's why Gould plays it so fast.
groumpf12 1 year ago 32
@groumpf12 really if you look at the score the time signature is cut time, so rather then slow triplets to the beat, its sextuplets, the quarters become eighth notes, and so on. so Gould is playing it close to the correct tempo.
Doug19752533 1 year ago
@groumpf12 no beethoven played it slowly. i know this because he did it on purpose. sonata form is fast slow, then fast again, kinda like the ig finale,but beethoven realized people begun to get tired or sleepy during the second movement. being the innovater he is, he decided to put the slow movement 1st, then faster, then faster!
nohpets07 1 year ago
@nohpets07 you re wrong you have no idea how beethoven played this. and: we dont have to play it like beethoven, because we have an other instrument. if we play on a hammerklavier, then of course we have to play it as much similar as beethoven. but on a modern steinway you cant compare it. its just an other instrument ---> other music
chipncharge94 1 year ago
@chipncharge94 how r u going to tell me that i hve no idea? if you read the score you would see the tempo in plain sight kid
nohpets07 1 year ago
@nohpets07 i say that because you didt hear beethoven play. and he dindt wrote like tempo: 100 per minute or something like that. he just wrote adagio sostenuto, which doesnt mean the tempo is slow but the feeling of playing must be calm and with pedal. its a fact that there is no perfect interpretation, evenn when beethoven played it slowly
chipncharge94 1 year ago 2
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@groumpf12 no beethoven played it slowly. i know this because he did it on purpose. sonata form is fast slow, then fast again, kinda like the big finale,but beethoven realized people begun to get tired or sleepy during the second movement. being the innovater he is, he decided to put the slow movement 1st, then faster, then faster!
nohpets07 1 year ago
@groumpf12 True, but it's definitely too fast. Also Murray Perhaia's version of Moonligth sonata is faster, but it respects the moderate mood of this piece unlike Glenn Gould's one.
Umb89 5 months ago
So rushed.... to play fast is not really impressing in this case!
Raymoiful 1 year ago
@Raymoiful You should try his version of No 23 Appassionata then :) It's available here on youtube.
Flaoo 1 year ago
Do you think someone of this calibra doesn't know what he is doing ? It is such a frequently played piece by the most brilliant pianists, he is offering you something just a little different for your ear. You don't have to like it or dislike it, you have to listen to each note played with the touch of an artist. I will say though that the piano sounds somewhat bright for this piece but just my opinion.
softandloud 1 year ago 20
Each composer, in his day, was thought to be radical, or would polarize public opinion.
In this way, Gould recreates something familiar, and transforms the way we think it should be played.
noclouds111 1 year ago 2
Strangely compelling. Difficult to reconcile this with "Adagio sostenuto," so it's probably not as the composer intended, but it definitely freshens the ears. By the way, I don't agree with those who feel that debating the performances are out of place. No doubt comments sometimes can be obnoxiously expressed, but the discussions can be thought-provoking. And after all, Gould's performance certainly is provocative, and he was the type of guy who enjoyed talking about his music-making.
dchiapello 1 year ago 3
i love this song its so soothing!!!!!!! it helps me concentrate on homework. i hate homework :(
kelseyclarinet 1 year ago
lol, the to highest rated comments, ironnnnyyyyyyy :D
ozzymate666 1 year ago
And of course while I listen, I am offered Hyundai Sonatas. Silly youtube... Funny, my dad drives a sonata and I drive a forte. Music takes me places.
KellenParkinson 1 year ago 4
Glenn Gould was a god amongst pianists, but I'm in agreement with many others: he played through this way too quickly.
Maybe the concert house bar was closing down and he really needed a drink.
rjs01007 1 year ago
love it
ozzymate666 1 year ago
I didn't know that Gould recorded Beethoven. This has really made me think about how I 'hear' Beethoven in my mind. Really, really facinating.
cantabilemuse 1 year ago
This really sux, sorry. What does the 3rd mvt sound like? A jet? lol He knows better.
Tlllllllllllllll 1 year ago
Comment removed
Tlllllllllllllll 1 year ago
It sounded better slower. Still like this though :)
Typewriter102 1 year ago 2
By comparison with Valentina Lisitsa's performance (you can see it all at Derrick's Blog) this is emotionally flat, even sterile.
wildknight1103 1 year ago
Surprisingly mean interpretation from Gould IMHO... I'm usually a big fan of Gould, but not with Beethoven.
EnderTheSkier 1 year ago
this is appaling
kriteon 1 year ago
@kriteon You know what's truly appalling, the degeneration of the English language in subjects of clearly limited mental acuity. To render this as appalling (which I hope you'll notice has 2 l's) is to clearly signal your complete lack of musical literacy.
I hope you appreciate your intellectually stunted life.
Milligan1932 1 year ago
@Milligan1932 lol stfu.
WrathRI 1 year ago
@WrathRI Fairplay
Milligan1932 1 year ago
Awsome. Perfect.
Ellevius 1 year ago
What makes this recording good is that he is playing at a STEADY TEMPO---even though his tempo is a bit fast
illidnarg 1 year ago
@illidnarg its not supposed to be steady...hence the 'sustenuto'
kriteon 1 year ago
@kriteon There is a lot of confusion about tempos in classical music--though it is well known that Mozart Beethoven and even Chopin--played their music MOSTLY at a steady beat---with only -- SLIGHT-- variations in tempos---varying the tempo TOO much often Destroys the Rythmic Charm of the music- SO-you can put a whole LOT of "sustenuto"- -in Moonlight as much as YOU WANT--but IN MY OPINION--That's-- NOT--HOW Beethoven wrote it !!!
illidnarg 1 year ago
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@illidnarg its not supposed to be steady...hence the 'sustenuto'
kriteon 1 year ago
grande
koshakddd 1 year ago
Comment removed
PoorYorick3 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I love this sound. I invite you to hear my performance in my channel ;) I expect you like that.
DanteJeffar 1 year ago
Glenn Gould is an absolute genius when it comes to Bach, but Beethoven is not for him. It's just not in his soul. This music is truly aweful.
LoneMonk1 1 year ago
@LoneMonk1
DanteJeffar 1 year ago
¡Gould es Gould!.
Si lo hizo por motivos economicos,la aconomia no existe en el arte.
paradoxicus 1 year ago