GG: What Bradley Sez...

[dagburks@halcyon.com (Steve Burkholder)]

Hmmm.  Stirrin' up the bees' nest again!

This is an interesting game that you are starting, and it is the one week
anniversary of the last one!

I think I understand what you are trying to get at, but by the length and
depth of your post, it seems like you are still trying to formulate this.
Maybe this is it in a nutshell; you don't like when a performer REALLY
pushes the limits on a piece.  Is this the case?  I guess the reason why
this makes me a little antsy is that I don't see how anyone could help but
put their personality into it whether they mess with what's on the page or
not.  That is why we have favorite performers.  We tend to like their slant
on things, kinda like choosing a favorite politician.

My biggest problem with this argument is what I stated last week also with
the Triple Fugue game.  Who is to say what those deceased composers wanted?
Music is kind of like a recipe.  We can either follow it to a "t" or add
more pepper, cumin, whatever.  My mom makes great brownies.  They are out
of a cookbook.  She adds less sugar than James Beard, but people aren't
popping up and saying that this is wrong.  I guess if they had NO sugar,
then people would complain, but it still is so subjective.  But this is an
extreme too, and I think that maybe this is what you are getting at.

Who is to say what is too extreme, though?  How do you feel about Wendy
Carlos?  Some feel that electronics and the classics don't mix.
Personally, I think that Bach can be played on any instrument in any genre,
but then again, I was a Jazz major!!  Without Bach, we might not have
Charlie Parker or Clifford Brown.  Maybe that is why I like Glenn.  I would
never want to give up either of my Columbia recordings of the Goldbergs.  I
like both of them so much, it makes me sad to even think about it.  I think
I must have ten recordings of Charlie Parker playing "Donna Lee" and I like
all of them too (well, maybe!).

Interesting game, indeed!  And a very old one!

>*** This is a wish list game.  What pieces which GG did not play would
>have been particularly receptive to his approaches?  Either musically
>stunning, or at least highly interesting and thought-provoking? ***

I wish he had done more Scriabin, more Chopin.  I haven't heard the stuff
that he has done yet, but I have heard people take great liberties with
these guys and I'd be interested in seeing what he has to say.

Did he like Stravinsky?  I know he didn't much care for Rachmaninoff.

Okay, this post is long enough.



*******************
Steven J. Burkholder

http://www.halcyon.com/dagburks
dagburks@halcyon.com
sburk@earthling.net