Glenn Gould records the Sinfonia No. 15 in B minor: Outakes

[staccato1975]

Of course, it was intended to be played slower than this but... it has already been played that way, so Gould's version adds to the existing available versions for us to enjoy. He does it that way, because he can :)

[heimskringala]

well.....bache didn't write this invetion at that speed ..... even if is played by glenn gould he plays too much speedy and than expressivity? what? please.....let it play by leonhardt that is a man that has studied J.S. Bach, let that Glenn Gould plays other music, but not this because there is really a big effort to play bach in this way....

[StephanePleyel]

I really respect dispite he's a genius he stays very humble, that makes him a ARTIST!!

[nloc1929]

Whether i agree with Gould's 'liberties' in his interpretations is irrelevant. I always see his logic, and what beautiful logic!

Whether it's to my particular taste isn't important, what's important to me is whether his liberties are interesting, and Mr. Gould's ALWAYS are :)

[MegaBigDank]

wow, those flourishes are beautiful

[principessadolce22]

I'm playing this, I WANT TO THIS AT THIS SPEED! PLEASE GOD GIVE ME THIS POWER! :D

[galaxion2]

What a speed demon! I wonder if the keys ever caught on fire?...

[nikkitytom]

I'm a life-long fan of this extraordinary pianist. i have also followed his eccentricities and unorthodox interpretations .... usually with admiration. But this is just way too fast. It reminds me of my Conservatory days when we students would try to 'outdo' each other in speed contests. We favored "Flight of the Bumble Bee" and so didn't inflict any real damage on a masterpiece.

Just because Gould CAN play cleanly at this speed doesn't mean he SHOULD.

[30inventionman]

this is the only sinfonia that I like.

[darioso5]

By glenn's standards this is messy playing

[idignall]

Don't know what's going on here - take three, take four

This is just messing about, and it happens to be with the b minor sinfonia.

No-one knew better than Glenn Gould how to 'draw the line' - that is to extract from the score the particular thread that is Bach's musical 'argument'.

Here, however, Glenn is clearly showing off, or trying to annoy some producer - I don't know. But I do know that this man could play this particular piece blindfolded- so what's the probem?

[Spexter1337]

@alienalienss Gould's LP of the Inventions & Sinfonias was released in 1964, so these outtakes might be from those particular recording sessions. But the audio quality (as well as Gould's playing) is rather reminiscent of his first Goldberg Variations (1955). If I had to guess, I'd say this was recorded shortly after the 1955 GVs but for some reason the full album of Inventions & Sinfonias only came to fruition ten years later.

[Matteo7419]

@Spexter1337 These outtakes are from the recording sessions of the Goldberg of 1955. The recording of 1964 has nothing to do with tese sessions at all: Gould re-did theentire recording.

[1Jiller]

Mr. Gould, I'm afraid i heard a pin drop halfway across the world. Next take!

[ebardfull]

sweet

[jamesbannon100]

You can hear his frustration increasing as he plays; each take is just a little quicker. As for it being "too fast", does it really matter that much? Who says the piece had to be played at a specific tempo anyway? Bach didn't specify the tempo for these exercises if memory serves.

[serenaisgood]

I don't think Gould ruined the piece. Every pianist defines the way to play certain pieces their own way. And the way Gould played this piece was with great articulation no matter how fast that I think it's amazing. I don't think I would even think to say something negative about how he played because he played it amazingly and with so much effort it's almost impossible not to notice.

[djstkora]

Dirtyseconds!

[snbois100]

nice

[geminiC88]

I absolutely disagree. Controversial maybe. but absolutely uniquely. Wonderful.

[djstkora]

@Lopear27 These pieces were meant to be only excersises... nothing more.

[interceptor6]

@Lopear27

i hate to hear pieces be played too fast, but no one knows if this should've been played like this. Gould isolated himself to know Bach as good as one can know him, and someone would've asked him why he plays it at this high speed, it wouldn't be: "because i want to", he would have a solid explanation which maybe a handfull of musicians all over the world can argue with. this man has recorded every known piece to man by Bach, so please don't say he ruins it.

[Lopear27]

@interceptor6 I stand by my original statement. One cannot fault the technique applied here, but the interpretation is very poor indeed.

[interceptor6]

@Lopear27

then it's a matter of taste, which is personnal. i like it this way better dan the slow way, and that's very rare, because mostly i like slower interpretations, of about everything. he had very good reasons beyond our understanding to play it this way, i believe. if you listen to his other bach recordings you realise what a genius he is. but you shouldn't say it's poor because you would've done it differently, that's personnal

[armgarci]

Glenn Gould seguramente era de otra parte de nuestra Galaxia, ni siquiera del Sistema Solar. Increíble.

[RICPOIRIER1]

Very fine!

[samilvaccaro]

the real recording is a bit slower

[priMMoz]

@samilvaccaro the real recording is every recording for itself.

[nleytman]

Unhuman, in a good sense.

[analyzingfunny]

Very nice.