Glenn Gould plays Haydn sonata No 59 in E flat major Hob XVI 49 (1/3)

[crystaltee93]

well, is it supposed to be this jumpy? :s

[fbager]

Having distanced myself from the thou shalls and thou shall nots of conventional Haydn playing for a while now, this playing here sounds just plain awesome to me ;)

[Cancrizans]

You know, love the post, but seriously why is the reaction to seeing classical composers portrayed as stiffs to show them in jeans and sneakers? It seems like one inane portrayal to another. FFS I really hope no one actually believes Haydn Bach Beethoven or Mozart would be a fan or our technology because even a base understanding of their art should say otherwise....

[wolfy442]

gosh, this is my favourite song, and he is my favourite piano player

[maestrojimbo]

@Tyronethe24th All great artists can claim the same: Schubert/Schnabel, Rachmaninoff/Horowitz, etc. Gould seems to be singing (off key) and NOT listening to what is actually coming out. For me, he is a brilliant intellect but not usually convincing. I rarely have liked anything he plays, with some exceptions - Italian Concerto and a few others. His Goldberg Variations (both) are naive. His Brahms and other Romantic interpretations are laughable -sorry.

[simonofhell]

@maestrojimbo Now you can explain to me just what exactly you mean by naïve. How can you play an insturment naïvely? That doesn't mean anything. Does he play believing Obama will save America? Does he play thinking all animals are treated well before they're slaughtered? What does that MEAN?

[maestrojimbo]

@simonofhell Naive: Having unaffected simplicity; artless; frank; as, naive manners; a naive person; naive and unsophisticated remarks Gould recorded the Goldberg Variations at a time when knowledge of Baroque interpretation was just starting to be accessible. There was a lot of research done on performance procedure that was discovered in the 50's. Prior to that pianists had to depend on the over-edited versions by Ricordi and others-very Romantic biases prevailed. And Gould was mentally ill.

[nsimington]

@maestrojimbo We also know that violinists in Tchaikovsky's era used little vibrato and played out of tune. Does that mean it's a bad idea to play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto in tune and with vibrato?

As for Gould's craziness, that's hardly a rare condition among musicians. Obvious examples like Schumann aside, many musicians - being human - have irrational, self-destructive tendencies. Richter too was a very unhappy person, but that has nothing to do with his merits as an artist.

[Cancrizans]

@nsimington . /bow for applying common sense to the musical establishment, though I don't even get how so many people have academic careers under the title of "musician" and don't get that there is an emotional and incredibly flexible component to music. I mean OK I guess a lot of them are scared shitless they won't get their tenure so they keep teaching the same BS, but god almighty who manufactures the stick most of them have in their asses? I'd buy stock in that company.

[Cancrizans]

Over the years, the more corrupt a group of people become, the more negative "purity" or "naivete" is viewed. That does not mean that the "naive" is inferior...in fact, most artists strive to have ANY remote connection to the naive, because they recognize it as one with nature. And that is exactly how one would use the term related to Gould, because he never sinks to the political or technical, for good of bad according to ones opinion, he DIRECTLY engages with the score on his own terms.

[maestrojimbo]

@Cancrizans Yes-on his own terms, indeed. It's my opinion, on my own terms as a professional musician, period.

Nothing you can say will convince me that this is a convincing interpretation, so don't go there. No need to reply.

[Cancrizans]

@maestrojimbo @maestrojimbo Funny enough that your definition of the naive says more about you than your subject. Are you actually trying to employ a dictionary definition in a discussion about artistic sensibilities? We all know what the word naive means...if you'd like to profess any above average understanding of the word you should admit that it has taken on a meaning not at all intended in its original context.

[Cancrizans]

If you really want to debate the value of original instruments and baroque performance procedure, and you really were versed in the subject, you wouldn't apply it to Gould. Everyone knows Gould had a completely different opinion about early composers and which instruments they should be played on, it's ridiculous to even engage in it bc he can't defend himself beyond what he already has, which is far more eloquent and meaningful than any argument I've heard against his position.

[Cancrizans]

without a real inner connection to the music, you can study your butt off for millennia and it still won't sound like Bach. Why do you think so many people connect with Gould's interpretation? It has nothing to do with what instrument he used, his playing just FEELS Bach like. I guess some people don't think so and everyone can have their opinion...but I'd suggest pay more attention to the energy and feeling in Gould's playing rather than procedures people guess at.

[KABRIS1]

@Cancrizans I love your comments. They echo my personal sentiments.

[maestrojimbo]

Everything is there except the music! LOL

[maestrojimbo]

Am I the only one who thinks this is NOT good? Haydn writes "non troppo" next to Allegro. What part of "not too fast" didn't Gould get? Superficial playing for my taste. His Mozart is even worse. Listen to Richter if you want to hear real class.

P.S. Gould actually stated that he didn't like Mozart's music and thought Mozart lived too long! (or something to that effect)

[ZingZee123456789]

@maestrojimbo

"A" to the "MEN"

[Tyronethe24th]

@maestrojimbo Everything Gould played was to some extent an adaptation or re-composition: "Bach-Gould," "Mozart-Gould," etc.

Whether or not you like it, you have to admit it's interesting.

[dtscott13]

how is his clarity possible?!

[4785689]

dino, ti dico che l'interpretazione di gould non mi piace, ma l'immagine al 2:45 è geniale!!

[MagicDonDino]

@4785689 concordo! quella immagine è mitica XD

[mcfy25]

@4785689 e si!

[4785689]

you can use movie maker

[sclyfes1212]

Yes he was the greatest piano player of all time...

[mamourizd]

Liszt anybody ?

[BrucknerMotet]

It's more important to hear the dynamic changes than to have emotion get the better of you and force a major tempo hiccup or fret too much about getting too stacatto. Well played sir.

[morvensky]

This Gould kid has talent :)

[WorcesterAirportKORH]

@morvensky Yeah, he's not too bad a pianist. Maybe he'll make a name for himself one of these days :)

[mcfy25]

@WorcesterAirportKORH He is dead....

[Cancrizans]

@morvensky Ya he's the next Justin Beiber. >.>

[Cancrizans]

You may have read too much art history and are confusing the opinions of the academy, who used the word naive as a negative, and also sometimes the word is used negatively in a quasi-philosophical context, neither is correct. Naive refers to innocence. Naivete, nature, and innocence have only become negatives since we have created the artificial parallel, man vs. nature. The rest of the universe has nothing to do with such nonsense, so naive=nature=common sense=who we are.