Re: Debussy

[Jim Morrison <jim_morrison@sprynet.com>]

Hi list,

Just wanted to say I'm in agreement with John Burke's recent
post of Debussy comments on Bach.

The bio doesn't give any context to the quote, so I'm not sure
what works Debussy was talking about, but he clearly overlooked many.

The list of wonderful Bach melodies is just too numerous for me to list,
I'm sure I've only heard a small percentage of them.
(Well, maybe not small.  Okay, I'll admit it.  I'm  a Bach cd junkie.
Are there 12 step programs for people like us?)

Still, Debussy's comments seem in line with Gould's "x-ray"
method of playing Bach, esp his late recordings, in which melody
is clearly sacrificed for an extreme emphasis in structure, clarity of
each individual note, extra significance the left (often non-melody)
hand, as well as adding importance to the silence between notes.

Please see Bazzana's book for in-depth considerations on issues
like this.  I can't recommend that book highly enough.
Certainly as equally important as the bio's on Gould
and if I could have only one book on Gould, "The Performer
in the Work" would be it.

Bye

Jim