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Has anyone read "The True Life of J.S. Bach" by Klaus
Eidam? This is a fairly new biography. The German copyright is 1999
and the English translation copyright is 2001.
Klaus Eidam takes issue with Bach's previous
biographers Philipp Spitta, Charles Sanford Terry, Albert Schweitzer and
almost every musicologist who has ever written anything about Bach. He
makes some good points. You may not agree with everything he says.
This is certainly different than any other Bach book on the market.
From page 138:
"Hermann Keller has written a whole book on The
Well-Tempered Clavier in which he meticulously presents what one could
basically work out oneself - provided one does not confuse Bach's opus with Carl
Czerny's Art of Dexterity, as did the Canadian pianist Glenn
Gould."
From the notes at the end of the book, page
383:
"It is true that Gould's interpretation of The
Well-Tempered Clavier is characterized by great transparency, but he does
not manifest a cantabile, or "singing," performance such as Bach demanded of his
pupils, one of the cornerstones of his teaching. His son Carl Philipp
Emanuel similarly insisted on the ability to "sing on the clavier" as the basis
of musical performance style. And on occasion Gould treats Bach's score
rather high-handedly."
I find it interesting that Mr. Eidam, who has a very low
opinion of GG, finds it necessary to mention GG at all in a book about Bach's
life. I have not finished the book. Up to page 138, GG is the only
recording artist who is mentioned at all.
Anne
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