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a really interesting letter. and I have been thinking about it for a
while. having spent ( misspent
? ) so much of my youth and adult life with playing chopin ,
rachmaninoff, etc. and only the past decade or so living in the
somewhat rarefied heights of bach and beethoven, ( the second
viennese school still eludes me I'm afraid , except for early schoenberg
) , was gould wrong about the romantics ? I believe he stated
that their works were based on some sort of trick. i.e. look at the
singular focus which occupies each of , say, chopin's etudes. or
the familiar groan : " schumann is on his horse again "
etc etc. but , then again, isn't there a trick, so to
speak, upon which each of the goldberg's is based? the same for , obviously ,
the fugues and various dances. no , I think what gould was referring to,
when he made his disparaging remarks about the romantics, was a certain type of
more lasting ( to him ) joy which can be found in his thinking and our
listening : the joy of intellectually, successfully unifying
the contrasting var. in goldberg through mathematical tempi interrelationships.
and hearing it actually work ! ( his states his ideas on the bonus
disc of " a state of wonder ) - or the
incredible clarity present in his playing.-- or just the novelty of his
fresh interpretations ( to the chagrin of many, but not all mozart lovers- and
definitely not to be found in the "complete mozart edition" !
) -- all this is as opposed to a joy in the froth created in the listener (
or player ) by an op.53 a- flat polonaise , or say, the last 5 pages of the
rachmaninoff third. of course , you simply must read the three
cornered world by natsume soseki ( a book he always kept on his
night table ) for more on this idea of the danger of being
swept down the current of heart racing emotions, as opposed to
the joy and astonishment when listening to gould. but then again
he displayed enormous emotionalism too !!! -oh well, I
give up. maybe somebody else would like to help me out and add
something. I have no answer. but again, a
thought provoking letter from mr. weiner. thank you !
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