Glenn Gould plays Bach Prelude & Fugue in F minor

[fgbsdable]

Isn't this painfully slow?

[PianoKittyTree]

@fgbsdable it is. Gould's interpretations are unorthodox. Most piano instructors would shoot you on stage if you played it like this for a recital. I believe that his interpretation for this prelude is total crap. Probably just me, since i prefer more traditional interpretations of Bach. The fugue is not too bad, and I can tolerate it more.

[TabbyRoseMusic]

Simply Stunning. Something I can't imagine anyone wanting to live without...

[weepingguitar23]

This is absolutely breath-taking. Regardless of how people believe a piece to be interpreted, it really comes down to what the musician feels and how he/she is inspired by the piece. He felt it, and I respect that about him. :)

[xNaN3x]

I can hear singing in the background xD

[jayliew1]

@xNaN3x Maybe it is Bach himself. :)

[xNaN3x]

@jayliew1 I hope so :) 

[gr4l9um20b7o]

Though I think the prelude is too slow but the fugue is to fast, it's all up to the performer himself, passion at the moment is the most important.

[Terrdemarzielle]

@gr4l9um20b7o The fugue is about the right speed. But yes, you're absolutely right

[Arsen2488]

I am 23 years old, and I started learning piano for 2 reasons first is BACH, the second is now playing f minor prelude))

Now I start learning this peace, its very very difficult to play just notes but Gould play beyond the notes

want to thank you truecrypt, we have same taste in music)))

[PianoKittyTree]

@Arsen2488 if you want to be a serious pianist, don't listen to Gould

[Arsen2488]

@PianoKittyTree You want to say Gould isnt serious pianist? or its difficult (I think impossible) for me to be like Gould? I hope the second)

[PianoKittyTree]

@Arsen2488 Gould's playing. . . it doesn't capture the essance of bach itself. It is more of it's own thing. And although some people may like his playing, you shouldn't be trying to copy his style if you are studying bach as a classical pianist. Perhaps Gould could play Bach as he originally intended it to be played, but usually he does not. I have never met the man. That is the nicest way I can put this.

[NimbleTurtle13]

@PianoKittyTree That really depends on what kind of pieces he is playing. To some listeners, he doesn't play for himself but portrays only Bach. Personally, I find his French suite no 4 to be an example of that. I prefer Richter's wtc interpretations (usually).

Anyway the man was a genius. Misunderstood most of the time but a genius nontheless.

[jayliew1]

@PianoKittyTree Wow. Whatever you and I think is irrelevant. What is relevant is that he is by general consensus, the pre-eminent Bach interpreter since Bach himself. Therefore, if you are really serious about Bach interpretation, you should listen to him. You should also listen to others too.

[PianoKittyTree]

@jayliew1 He is also well known for performing eccentric and nontraditional interpretations of Bach.For someone first learning to play Bach(such as the original poster to whom I was replying), maybe they should start out learning traditional Bach and then look at different interpretations later. My opinion may not matter to the vast majority, but I'd still rather listen to this prelude in a traditional manner than Gould's lifeless interpretation.

[jayliew1]

@PianoKittyTree I listened to this prelude (Gould, Richter and Hewitt) again. I found all 3 of them different. Gould takes it slower which brings out the darker side. Hewitt uses more rubato and sounds a little more romantic. Richter is more expressive with his lines. They were all equally engaging to me, all unique to the each performer. Bach's music is simply too versatile to be stuck in one mode that we think it should be, or we can make a case to shoot all of them on stage.

[zesky]

I'm so excited to learn this piece now.

[UNSC123Runite]

beautiful

[padsax1]

this is very slow and linear

[mario54671]

He's not my favorite pianist when he performs music from other composers...but when he plays Bach...it's VERY hard to not see hear the genius in his playing.

[stilodieuterpe]

Che palle!

[happygolucky2000]

why should he get away with murdering Bach?

[fhpst]

Was Gould playing on a fortepiano?

[mezzoforte84]

does this one have Gould's voice edited out? otherwise, there are really creepy sounds here......

[iwanabana]

sublime! but sometimes i dislike his 'broken' interpretation of chords...did he want to imitate how a string instrument plays a chord?

[martimtavares]

@iwanabana As he wrote in some essay, he crisp breaks the chords to feel them horizontaly instead of verticaly. According to him, like this he is in perfect control of the harmony flow

[beholdmyswarthyface0]

most moving thing i've ever heard.

[killerbunny123123]

i love gould's playing so much.....what i hate about him is that he ruins the performances with his humming.....the notes he plays were written for pianoforte....not voice

[Terrdemarzielle]

@killerbunny123123 They weren't written for pianoforte. However, they sound nice on pianoforte, and I'm sure if anyone could pull it off they would sound nice for voice too.

[gbickell]

@killerbunny123123 A cousin of mine plays professionally and when you're seated close to the front, you can easily hear him going through a series deep breathing exercises as the music changes. It's a bit off putting at first but it's a technique many pianists use to help them memorise and "feel" the musical flow.

[josephknecht]

Who would have guessed that we reached the pinnacle of composing in the first half of the 18th century, and then another, greater, higher pinnacle of performance over 200 years later?

Humanity will have a difficult time surpassing Bach/Gould... it will take someone of currently unfathomable talent.

[thejugglenaut91]

i couldn't put it better myself. Bach is really the be all and end all of music. Really though, his music is the be all and end all of humanity. Neither can surpass the works of bach.

[Vgggeflat]

Friedrich Gulda's performances, also available on You Tube are much cleaner and unencumbered by extraneous noises.

[SirWWW]

No words indeed. I can not describe what makes it different but the fact is that I can listen to this hours and hours. It's driving my wife nuts.

[Chopin1986]

no words...

[Lavalampoflava]

Did you know Glenn Gould was also a singer?? He only sang one song: "DUUNNGGG.....DUNNNGG...DI-DUN­GGG"

[Irelandlass7789]

nice..haha he was most talented at that song too!

[Lavalampoflava]

lol, his singing!

[yorkshiremusician]

Beautiful, best interpretation I've heard, but which edition did he use? There seems to be a few bits he's making up -especially the ornaments in the Prelude.

[avroma2]

The fugue in this song is something special.

[ik3333]

i thought the tempo could be different somewhat between 2 performances from different players, but Richter plays this MUCH faster, why is that i wonder, was it Richter decision to play it so much faster or Gould's decision to play it so much slower?

[SidedPanic]

Gould chose to be different.

[Irelandlass7789]

and that is why he is loved by some and despised by others, but whether you like his music or not he is truly a very unique artist! He is my favorite interpreter of Bach.

[SidedPanic]

Personally I think every interpreter good and bad is 'unique' - just the collection of a pianists strengths and weaknesses makes it impossible from one to sound the same as the other. I think it's a bit unfair to view Gould specifically as the unique one and then group Yudina, Fischer, Feinberg, Richter, Tureck etc. as the conformist masses.

Personally, though Gould is a phenominal pianist, I find he forces change and I end up questioning his sincerity - the most important quality I look for.

[BrucknerMotet]

Anyone who "groups" Maria Yudina with the slaves of musical decorum and tact haven't heard the woman's playing and haven't heard of her unyielding defense of poetry, artistry, and beauty. However, I should question the dig on Gould's "sincerity" because Gould's musical sincerity (i.e., authentic honesty in presentation) is omnipresent in every recording I've heard. Having an OCD requiring incessant exposition and explanation does not equate to loss of sincerity.

[SidedPanic]

I'm not sure i was digging, i think i phrased it as 'questioning' and I certainly never mentioned OCD. Gould has always been quite open about trying to set his music apart from other more literal/faithful interpretations because he views many of them as unsurpassable or even perfected. This approach certainly makes the music different and i'm sure he believed very strongly in it but it is this degree of concious intervention that makes Me question how much his ears have a say on the matter.

[BrucknerMotet]

If "musical sincerity" is a term of art with a razor-sharp definition inflexibily used in precisely the same manner by all musicologists, I defer to your better judgment. If not, it may be fair to Gould by admitting that his interpretations were faithful, but more faithful to what the composer would have preferred once having, like Gould, heard and grown musically perterbed by a glut of seemingly perfect and unsurpassable interpretations, preferring an evolving perfection to a static one?

[tocalpianix]

He was different indeed but I'm not sure he chose it.

[KostyaCreepY]

Thanx for posting this terrific thing! I think nobody has ever played Bach as deeply, as thoughtfully as Glenn Gould. Each and every note has a very special meaning when he plays.

[Thorpebank]

Thanks for posting this; Gould's performance of the fugue is particulary helpful to us mortals who are learning this (FYI I am including it in my ARCM diploma recital this year). I love the way that Gould brings out the diferent voices.

As always It's also very entertaining to read through all the other posts LOL....

[velazquez2009]

unbelievably fine, it is abstract and very much near, real and tactile.

[mmcupcakes]

this prelude somehow reminds me of the nightmare before christmas. kind of somber and dark but beautiful nonetheless

[yorkshiremusician]

Beautiful, the best recording of Bach I've ever heard. The man was a genius. Does anybody know which score he's using? I've followed with my version (Edition Peters) and there are several differences.

[Schopenoven810]

Someone says that the Gould interpretation is too sentimental, not accorded to Bach's spirit, but it is not true: if you have heard Bach's chaconne for solo violin that he composed for his wife's death you will recognize the "romantic" and intense Bach.

[FOOFOOKITTY]

I agree, Schopenoven810! Much of Bach's music is intense and passionate! His harmonic progressions tug at your heart and soul.

[hornuser]

Fugue starts at 4:58.

[blackacacia94]

Hehe. It's so awesome how you can hear Gould humming the notes he's playing. =]

[fsharpmajor]

I play most of the WTC books I & II. I love GG's performances. He does play this one very slowly, quite a bit slower than I do, and much slower than say Angela Hewitt et al, but his interpretation is awesome.

[Kneenibble]

Sometimes I wonder about Gould... heightened genius or disconnected savant?  But after having tried to learn & interpret this song myself, I very deeply appreciate what he does with it. I agree with Opsipation, I am rapt in the music.

[truecrypt]

No he doesn't!

But you comment definitely does.

[etude12]

HasegawaTakeshi78,

I just lost my faith in humanity. You may as well have urinated on a Degas pastel.

That insensitive comment demonstrates with painful clarity the ignorance and stupidity of mankind.

I am saddened that you are so blind, for you miss out on the only thing which makes this world bearable.

[BenGabbay]

Heh heh, I like your words. So true...

[lilly763]

Oh, come on. I agree that saying "Gould sucks" is a crude way to say it, but I can see why Gould may not be everyone's cup of tea. Personally, although Gould's interpretations are highly unique and a great listening experience (and I certainly appreciate his genius), I wouldn't say he's my favorite Bach interpreter.

[truecrypt]

It's one thing to say you don't like, don't understand or don't accept Gould.

It's completely different - to insult one of the best and unique performers of XXth century.

[AnnaderWald]

Si l'âme de Bach parle à l'Infini, et si l'âme de Gould parle à celle de Bach, n'est-il pas inévitable que Bach, comme Gould, soient inaudibles aux oreilles qui ignorent le silence de l'Infini, comme la musique du Silence ?

[sC11nt]

vous Ethiopeans etes des philosophes!

(ad AnnanderWald)

[etude12]

However, to submit a message like "Glenn Gould sucks" on this perticular recording- how could one do it? Even if one were not to like Glenn Gould particularly, one should be able to respect the fact that much emotion is being expressed, and that it is wrong to write such words in this place from where such beauty is emnating.

[TinSpajic]

...the stupidity of mankind makes me very angry - every day.

[timpanitimptim]

I think mankind is just immature, not permenantly stupid, and as thus, that people will behave themselves better several hundered years. I can even see it today compared to before: in the music department at my university there is this spiritedness in people that I don't think was there many decades ago. Baha'u'llah, a spiritual luminary said that "all men have been created to carry forward an ever advancing civilization". I don't know, let me know if you think this idea is inaccurate.

[SirMeowMeow]

There is meaningfulness and many sorts of meanings in advancement, but so to is there meaningfulness and multiple meanings with conservatism or even regression. Sometimes we need to retreat to an earlier way, sometimes we need to move on, and sometimes we are fine where we are. I do not know who this spiritual luminary is, but I do not believe that this person carries a unique clarity about what people have been created for; perhaps this person would agree as well.

[WildBillHickums]

well would it be accurate to say that music has become lazier due to technological advances? Mainstream music appeals to the dimwitted (killing, sex, drugs, cars and clothes). People say that music affects people, but i think its the other way around

[jim0watkins]

music, and pop culture in general, is a reflection of society's state of mind, and it perpetuates that state of mind as well; having said that, those descriptions of music are ultimately superficial... if you want to know what a style of music is about, you have to understand the deepest passions that drive those who create it and those who are moved by it; every style of music illustrates a small part of human nature, and we should strive to reveal the meaning that is similar within all of them

[numbers3934]

People define the music and affect it, but people are also affected by music. I would think it goes both ways

[Oric]

Somehow I knew before I saw the word "Baha'u'llah" that this response was Baha'i-inspired.

Allah-u-abha (:

[timpanitimptim]

Yeah!

[jimmyjamesWang]

The existence of the lewd and the mundane gives me a certain sense of reality and self-gratification. It show just how big this world really is, that there exist a bulk of greyness of the world that even the most profound and the most enlightened genius of mind and spirit fail to redeem. It shows excatly how relevent the Choice is, and how true is the inevitability of suffering and tragedy. Humanity as a whole were never nessaserity prone to enlightenment. That make us the fortunate ones.

[etude12]

It makes me sad for all of those who miss out. Moreover, I am angry with those who not only miss out, but try to ruin it for the few who appreciate true art.

[jimmyjamesWang]

Well, the wonders and the thousand sentiments the music invoke in us is what fueled our sadness and our hopes that the world be 'evangelized' by such sentiment. but your latter point angers me a little: let me ask you, how important is music to you? If you truly love music as much as glenn gould does, nothing (let along something so puny and pathetic) would have the force to touch or even ruin anything for you. None possesses my soul except me, thus no one can take away the music in my heart.

[jimmyjamesWang]

Not even deafness can take away beethoven's music, because it is in his heart. deeply inprinted in his heart, and from it a wealth of melodies wells up, nothing, no even the whole world can touch the music in his heart! and you are letting some idiot's puny words which are sooner forgotten as it was written, ruinning you music!?

[etude12]

Ah, I said "try to ruin it"!- they don't succeed, but they make themselves known to be ignorant, and evoke pity in my heart. I love music just as much as if all people enjoy it and appreciate it- my sadness for humanity is completely unrelated to my personal experience of music.

[jimmyjamesWang]

I see, I've judged you too harshly, I appologize, let us both enjoy the music. but the way, I was listening to Maria Callas' rendition of the Turandot aria 'tu che de gel sei cinta', she's the only singer I would never get tired of listening to.

[etude12]

Thanks- that was big of you.

Maria Callas is amazing- I have very limited experience with vocal practice and training, but every time something she sings comes on, I can tell it's a phenomenal performance.

[MadMadMadTom]

I used to think he played the Prelude way to slow, but I was wrong - it is fine. And the fugue is close to perfection.

I do wish he wouldn't sing along!

[manuelkatarino]

...indeed, gould´s phrasing, tempo and sentimento are the works of genius

[Byzantine78]

this is so disstorted, the punishment for ears, the tempo is so slow and i loose the concept of both melody and rythm listening this...Richter and Yudina are the best Bach's performers ever!

[kozborn]

I think you should listen to this in Richter's interpretation. Right here it sounds just like as he was learning how to play it :) I don't like Gould. In my opinion he massacres Bach completely... :(((

[Opstipation]

i've listened to both Richter and Gould, and it seems to me that Richter plays it, not without feeling, but just not 'deep' enough as Gould does. when listening to Gould's interpretation i can here every note emphasized in such a way that i feel completely lost in space and time.

[Opstipation]

*hear:)

[igorpdx]

Richter believed that Gould was the best interpreter of Bach who ever lived. You must remember that Gould never played a work the same way twice. Music is not a static art. What's not to "like "? He was a master.

[adams82683]

Very aptly put igorpdx. I've gotten into a few minor spats with some individuals who scathingly criticize Gould for "not respecting the composer's intention" or "not capturing the spirit of the piece," and of course I respect their comments, but my biggest argument is not about Gould as much as always thinking of new ways of playing a piece and not merely trying to play exactly what we've been taught, which to me, makes music a static art, which I'm sure none of us want it to become so.

[BrucknerMotet]

@igorpdx Whatever Sviatislav says about the piano, I tend to take as truth. If Richter says Gould is the best interpreter of Bach, so let it be. Bach is like liquid gold. You can pour it into most any mold and it will still shine. It is because Gould' invests his molds so completely with his unexpurgated conception of what he wants to communicate that his interpretations emerge like a thing of beauty. You almost want to wear it as if it were jewelry. You wear it in your memory.

[sorim1967]

@BrucknerMotet : of couirse Richter said, rightly, other things also about Gould, and being Richter was relatively reserved. Much as though i too admire Gould's musicianship (not only with repsect to Bach btw - e.g. his super fast mozart a-minor sonata is addcitive in the best sense), it is difficult not to dissaprove of his disdain for the work of many composers; and his criticism of Shubert's Sonatas is, to me (as it was for Richter, probably) shameful.

[ggalexhutchings]

@igorpdx yeah, this sums it up well. it's funny, because of that fact i've heard gould readings of bach that i hated then later heard him play the same piece and loved it to death. guess it depended on what kind of mood he was in that day.

[neuroscience05]

Glenn Gould is the best interpretator of Bach to ever be recorded.

[wozzeck1234]

beautiful...gould's phrasing & tempo are the work of genius

[lichtkind]

its wonderful, and the temp just suits to the mood of the song itself. its perfect.

[jennyfromalbania]

a bit slow but great sound

[trevjr]

There is no 'correct' Bach tempo, I wish people could grasp the concept. For all the crap that Gould has taken for playing to fast, people should listen to this and hear the tenderness in his playing. Gould could play it all fast, slow, loud, soft, Mozart, Brahms, Prokofieff, Webern, Scriabin, Strauss, etc. I miss one of the true titans of the piano. You will never hear a more musical, tender performance of Bach than this.

[kozborn]

tenderness you say? I simply don't hear it... For me it is too... mechanical.

[jewish1972]

a bit too slow

[pandaz1993himick]

Gould s just hands -down the best interpreter of bach and one of the best pianists in general!!!!!!!!I love his Brahms, as well as his Chopin*believe it or not* and his Scriabin, but my favourite is his performance of the Pathetique-listen to it sometime :-)

[xjonnx]

It is because youtube is now owned by google and copyright violations could mean a lot of money to lawyers and companys. Before, it was an absolutley non-profit thing so nobody was commercially interested in what was going on with youtube, but now a lot of money is involved and google fears the consequences of copyright violation.

[gramps88]

Why are so many beautiful Gould pieces not available any more on you tube? (Along with many others deleted) Is it web space or something?

[alexongcs]

Gould is fantastic. His recreation of bach, and making the piano alive with his own way of doing it, makes me always go back to his recordings for bach. For me, he is the top I have ever heard for bach keyboard.

[horatiodreamt]

Thank you for posting this, Truecrypt. For me, Gould's interpretations of Bach always made Bach's keyboard music seem like it was composed yesterday, not 300 years ago. Perhaps Gould was concerned, too, about how the piano sounds instead of just playing the notes on the page.

[diftorhehsmusma]

A propos of the key of this piece, Gould once said that if he were a key signature, he would be f minor because "it's rather dour, halfway between complex and stable, between upright and lascivious, between gray and highly tinted...There is a certain obliqueness."

[musician1770]

Thanks for importing this! I've had trouble finding a Gould WTC I recording. now there are some on youtube. sweet recording.

[cageynerd]

I love how he plays the prelude -- a lot of people just rush through it, but if you play it slowly and bring out the bass voice for example, it's just like walking through heaven... It's soo introspective and beautiful, especially when it recaps and Bach puts a D flat instead of the A flat at the beginning -- just, ugh... I love Bach...

[cageynerd]

and the 8ths in the prelude and the quarters in the fugue match up -- nice...

[trevjr]

exactly, the genius of Gould. he specifically did the Goldbergs again because of this, the variations are all related by tempo or he called it the 'math'. Notice sometimes there is no space between variations.

[GnarlyPanda]

Nice piece, I love Gould. But bad sound quality and extremely boring video, but ok, at least you have 2 different images, not just 1, and it makes sense that Bach is the first image, then Gould himself.

[truecrypt]

There is no video whatsoever - it's about performance and interpretation, not about *video entertainment* or sound quality. You are welcome to buy CD and enjoy fully digital surround sound. I also don't see any need for images - they are simply "fillers" to create a video file. I think it's logical to place Bach before Gould, as you said - "makes sense"...

[RenoRaider]

The sound quality is as good as any of the Gould posts and I don't listen to YouTube for the videos. In fact, I can't hear them at all. Which is a good thing.

[chad410]

whats with the accents every beat

[pianopera]

Gould is again looking for extremes here. I don't like the tempi (Prelude too slow, fugue too fast). For me, the version of Eunice Norton is still the most inspiring.

[beethoven4ever]

This is a perfect recording to play in your head when you're day-dreaming.

[faraz1729]

Well said.

[christian6657]

beautiful!