I have always loved GG's rendition of Beethoven's "Appassionata".
If you read the liner notes with the vinyl record of his performance, GG
indicates that he didn't like the "Appassionata" very much at all. He
comments that Beethoven was full of himself and was turning out work that was
formulaic. The "Appassionata" is a work that GG essentially
recomposed for his recording. He did this mostly by changing the tempo and some
of the dynamic indications. He turned a piece from Beethoven's "middle
period" which was characterized by his more extroverted sometimes
"heroic" style into a much more introspective and intimate work more
reminiscent of the last quartets (Opp.127 - 135) and the slow movements from the
"Hammerklavier" Op.106 and the sonata in c minor Op.111 from
Beethoven's "late period". This is especially evident, I think, in the
manner in which he plays the secondary theme in the first movement and the way
he performs the variations in the second movement. The very slow
tempo and GG's more legato playing in the second theme of the first movement
gives it a mood of deep introspection instead of agitation. He does the same
thing with the coda at the end of the exposition in the first movement and the
parallel passage at the end of the recapitulation as well. GG really imparts a
sense of singing and I think it is gorgeous.
The theme from the variations is played in a much more hymn like manner with the
final variation really emphasizing the singing line while also giving it a more
intimate feel.
GG's choice of tempo allows the work as whole, first movement to last, to build
from the ground up in tension gradually winding tighter and tighter until the
explosive presto in the last movement. Although I would never have the courage
(or creativity perhaps?) to do what Glenn Gould did, my personal preference is to adhere
as closely to the composer's intent in the score as possible, which is what I
did with this work as a student in my former life, I have to admit that GG's
"recomposition" of this work has a certain logic to it. In my opinion,
as Beethoven wrote them the first and last movements have always seemed too
extreme relative to the second movement for my taste. Played with the written
tempi in the score, the presto always seems to slow down the momentum already
set up at the beginning of the third movement. It somehow to me seems anti
climactic, but who am I to argue with Beethoven? Beethoven supposedly composed this whole sonata in the course of a single weekend. On his deathbed he identified this work as his favorite of his piano works. I suspect that Beethoven composed this work more according to his artistic sense of perfection not practicality. I remember reading somewhere that the "appassionata" required some notes in the upper register of the piano that were not commonly available yet on most instruments.
On my best day I couldn't compose anything as good as this. In GG's performance the presto flies away as a logical extension of the tempo he established at the beginning of the third movement, and even more logically, to my ears anyway, from the work as a whole resulting in a satisfying climax. GG's performance builds and builds and builds until the last movement completely explodes. Everything in proportion.
His performance gives a nice sense of unity to the work as a whole which is one
of the things GG was able to really do well, witness his work in the Goldberg
Variations (both the 1955 and 1980 recordings). GG did not seem to like
"middle period" Beethoven very much when Beethoven was really
developing his "herioc" style. Interestingly enough I saw an interview
(I think it is on the Sony VHS tape with Karel Ancerl) in which he discusses his
performance of Beethoven's "Emperor". Here he talks about how his goal
was to unify the piano and orchestral parts so that the work had less of a
concertato character and more the quality of a symphony with an obbligato piano
part. He sites the "Eroica" symphony, oddly enough, as one of the
models for his performance. Go figure.
Eric Cline
Reichhold
Sr. R & D Synthesis Chemist
P.O. Box 13582
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
USA
Office Phone: +1 919 990 8116
Fax: +1 919 767 8506
E-mail: eric.cline@reichhold.com
-----Original Message-----
From: F_Minor [mailto:F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU] On Behalf Of Anne M. Marble
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 9:52 PM
To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
Subject: [F_MINOR] GG Recordings You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Are there any Glenn Gould recordings you like that everyone else hates?
I'm partial to his infamous organ recordings myself, or at least some of
them. And I (gasp) like some of his Mozart.
------
Anne M. MarbleMy Blog: http://gorokandwulf.blogspot.com/
My Column: http://www.writing-world.com/columns/romance/current.shtml
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