Glenn Gould plays Bach~Prelude & Fugue No.21 (The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1), BWV 866

[aileneco12]

I like the liberties he took with the prelude, but personally I believe in sticking to the music, only because it's Bach. Maybe with Romantic you can get away with it, but not a purely straight, Baroque pieces like the WTC.

[Jolteon206]

@aileneco12 Baroque music was much more concerned with freedom than Romantic. The prelude here was probably an improvisation that was written down. There is little music out there which is more profound and more passionate than the WTC.

[BassicStorm]

Love this fugue! i could dance to it XD

[boogeeboogie]

wtf, i'm not even HALF his speed

[MrTonykulas]

I love that photo of the young Gould with a dog at the keyboard. He was so talented that he could probably teach a dog to play the piano.

[poti0909]

うわあぁぁ　こりゃ完璧だあ！

Wow ooo It's really perfect!

[junka22]

aahhh, I feel like someone is massaging my brain when I listen to this, feels heavenly

[MCHOI1108]

Glenn is amazing. i like the way he plays the chords in the prelude. im rubbish compared to him

[music4me9613]

7 people are airheads.

[Maria18081977]

wonderful !!!!!!

[111Blowfish]

The piano will never be played this well again.

[Nomekiller]

Bach was possessed by God. 

[LiangVids]

@tomclementss in canada with the royal conservatory of music there is grade ten and then ARCT or diploma

[LiangVids]

@spaceshouldbeallowed yea sorry, i meant Piece

[BrantFortunate]

that prelude is something else . . . oh Glenn.

[ontupite]

So good.

[lusiyuan1]

so good

[MrSalimMilas]

awful

[FINKELANDPOLL]

@MrSalimMilas Dead.

[LiangVids]

speechless

oh and btw, isn't this song a grade ten song?



[spaceshouldbeallowed]

@LiangVids It's not a song...

[tomclementss]

@LiangVids Well i'm doing it for my grade 8, there's no such thing as grade 10, after grade 8 it becomes diplomas.

[712Stephen]

@tomclementss There are ten grades in the RCM.

[conway200903]

May all of you

go to my channel listening for the same song

and give me some comment ?

I ma having grade 8 exam with this song

[conway200903]

Give me some comment too.... go to my channel and listen to the same song please

I am having a grade 8 exam with this song

[fiorearmwrestler]

grande interpretrazione =)

[lusiyuan1]

best 

[exia32]

And i´m supposed to play this...

[misterj4mz]

@exia32 good luck

[jaythoven67]

Such clarity. His playing is like crystal. To bad we can't see it though.

[iluvturkeyegg]

amazing

[marroyo666]

Bravísimo!!  Merci Beaucoup

[nivtal20]

but.. but.. I want to play like that as well :( So AMAZING !

[Mr02213]

Absolutely Inspirational!!! Makes me want to get to work.

[Elsid1111]

how fast is this on a scale of one to ten?

[yumeybaconcutout]

@Elsid1111 12

[pianopower1]

i'm afraid to play this

[eewawa2010]

@pianopower1 tatallly agree!!!

[connie3112]

@pianopower1 Afraid? I am playing this right now and I am ten. (It's actually fun and addicting.) Just to tell you, int the Fugue part the right hand playing both 1st and 2nd voice in measure 24 and 25 is ahrd because you have to use your 4th and fifth finger at the same time.

[iguarni]

wonderful wonderful. A legendary pianist!

[Arksband]

How can anyone dislike this?

[SwampKing04]

I love the way gould does bach. Its weird, his style just makes my brain tingle more than is usual

[afffred]

my god...

[phryar]

The problem with Gould was it was always more about him than Bach

[Pianist46]

@phryar Haha! So true!

[SCArmCannon]

@phryar If it's not about the artist who interprets the music, then who IS is about?

[phryar]

@SCArmCannon well, the listeners for one, and the composer's intention for another. If a piece loses its beauty or clarity because the performer is just showing off how fast they can play, or how good their finger-memory is, then it does the composer's music an injustice

[Ianthe22]

@phryar How can you think this does the piece injustice? He's absolutely not just showing off speed here. Else why would he play the fugue part soo much slower than the prelude part? If he shows off speed, why is he playing many other pieces in a slower pace? Please don't tell me this isn't exceptionally beautifully played. And don't hate gould for this. Look up some others that has played this piece. Gould didn't start this trend. He's just good at it.

[SCArmCannon]

@phryar You are speaking from the perspective of a business musician

[hirgons]

@phryar : : poliphony, man ! popolililililili, put your ears over the main roads and you'll find a new drag, and if you already walk on it you just don't like gould's playing, but nobody deeply cares here unless a part of their heart is devoted to gould, what you can understand as I do, I guess.

[SCArmCannon]

@phryar The fact that you believe a composer's intentions and the audience's desires are in any way, shape, or form even remotely related to an artist is the greatest statement possible to the autruisitic brainwashing that has saturated our so-called democracy into a shade of its former, great self. We are nothing more but a bunch of tyrants that carry the banner of freedom while be secretly revel in the hammer and sickle. You disgust me.

[phryar]

@SCArmCannon So any opinion on an artistic performance that differs from yours is 'brainwashing' and disgusts you? What a very strange person you are. By the way, I think you mean 'altruistic'.

[SCArmCannon]

@phryar How typical of people like you to find irrelevent typos which you obviously can decipher in order to further your own faulty argument...

[phryar]

@SCArmCannon If you can't even spell (and it's a spelling error, not a typographical one) why should anyone pay any attention to your paranoid ranting?

Oh, I found another by the way - "while be secretly revel" doesn't even make sense. Crap spelling as well as grammar. You're not doing to well here.

[SCArmCannon]

@phryar You, sir or ma'am or whatever, have just proven my exact point in that you are merely a sore loser who resorts to low blows and irrelevent nit-pickiness...Just read the comments that others have for you and maybe you will finally see that this so-called audience that you aim to satisfy so much is, in reality, against you. If anyone is ranting here...it's you, because you're the one who talks more about my quantum typing mistakes than Gould and his interpretations...

[SCArmCannon]

@SCArmCannon and obviously, saying that I can't spell nor write with proper grammar because of a few obvious mechanical errors in typing, while avoiding the subject at hand, just makes you look, frankly, silly.

[SCArmCannon]

@SCArmCannon Just admit it, you're just jealous that Gould is original and successful....and that I'm right about his ingenuity and that you're wrong...it's also ironic since you persist in this that the statement in which you say I'm not doing too well, you make a mistake yourself, being that it's "too" and not "to".

[Ianthe22]

@phryar I think you are wrong. It is always about the music for Gould. And why should it be about Bach? Gould is the one playing the instrument.

[Enix5548]

@phryar Gould cared deeply about Bach's intentions. Occasionally he did exaggerate some aspects of the music but it was all to give a new revelation to the listeners. I don't think he was concerned with giving the "perfect" interpretation as giving an "educational" interpretation. But yes I do agree that the artist is of mere importance when compared to the composer and listener.

[fbager]

All that matters is whether you like the music.

[wonderlasting]

I know, let´s play how fast can I play Bach. Ready, go!

[pianovirtuoso1000]

Very nice performance!

[ThePianistCat]

precioso

[A7henderson]

The prelude was stupidly fast, seemed like he just wanted to get it over with. The fugue was great though

[ladygaga1me]

he plays it too fast to express the beauty of the prelude.

[lightmyfire90]

seriously guys he is not that good sometimes he plays very well but others not so good like this one he plays it to fast

[SalHernor]

I love the photo 00:47 !!!

The dog seems more focused on the score than Gould ! haha

[iansquared3]

oh god i just finished learning the prelude, and i was expecting this recording to go fast, but when it started, i had a physical jolt away from my computer because of the tempo he was playing at.

[TheOtherMusicMan]

What amazing FUN to sit here and just listen, especially to that fugue. Sometimes I wonder if a technician from the computer age did not take one of Gould's recordings and diker with it to make it so precise, but all I have to really do to check that idea out, is to listen to an old vinyl and confirm there was no need to. Gould was his own computer.

[raraandraja]

AND HE IS CANADIAN

[Pivotevil]

lol this guy was really good at fingering :D:D

[violinsrockdude]

This is insanely fast!! Fastest recording I've heard on YouTube thus far!

[blooper631]

The prelude is supposed to be in improvisatory style, but he just....too much with section B....keep it light, is what I'm trying to say, I guess.

[RoyalDecapitation]

Glenn's probably the only one who can play this piece in a matter of two and a half minutes. :O

[goldnuggetby]

@RoyalDecapitation richter plays it this fast

[MusicVideoLooker]

Glenn Gould is astonishing and amazing, no doubt. But the supersonic speed perhaps goes beyond Bach's intentions.

[KABRIS1]

@MusicVideoLooker Only Bach would know his own intentions.

[MusicVideoLooker]

@KABRIS1 And you can know Gould's intentions, because he himself in due time explained them. The tempo is stretched to the limit: slow is extremely-slow and fast is extremely-fast. I prefer a bit more of moderation. Nevertheless, I've spent hours listening to Gould. I share the passion for Bach music. Bach, the super-genius.

[Ianthe22]

@MusicVideoLooker I hope you know what "supersonic" means... Plz don't tell me you seriously mean this is supersonic.

[BrucknerMotet]

1:09 - the fugue begins here

[Veldionar]

Amazing speed in prelude, but all in tempo. Gj Glenn :D

[bachkwt]

Thank you Glenn Gould

[anisometropie]

perfection

[coujellis]

I don't know why, but this version just doesn't work for me. No denying his technique is impeccable, but it just doesn't seem to feel right...

[oas1s2004]

suprisingly i hate this recording of prelude 21.... goulds the bach guy i understand, but way to kill the prelude.. idk it sucks, booooooo gould

[ChopperGAD]

I think rallentando aren't pointful for Bach thing! Prelude sounds like Chopin nocturne, only Chopin invent that musical mode, not I'm sorry - Bach. I hope you understand :)!

In other way, this is 21 gs.

[wawawaanita]

I thought it was Triple Pie And Mash Walk-in

[hatstalker]

aye!

[babygotbach22]

ahhh! i'm playing this for my jury tomorrow!!!!!! lol!

[lkove]

good luck!

[babygotbach22]

thanks! i got an A! :)

[iguarni]

un genio un genio un genioun genio un genio un genioun genio un genio un genioun genio un genio un genioun genio un genio un genio

[MrAde747]

fantastic triple pie and mash walking there!

[Kraviotho]

WOOW! awesome!

[Franci110]

er spielt das präludium voll anders als gewohnt ((=^_^=))

[ssXgeneral]

0:47 funny dog ^^

[Arithmos90]

Un genio... fortissimo a 0.47 !

[etellerannet]

Absolutely amazing! I havn't got words!

[chopin8585]

Glenn is the best to play bach. Thank you.

[hirgons]

@chopin8585 one of the best for sure (richter..!) but don't forget the harpichord players