Re: [BACH-LIST] gould

["David B. Klein" <dklein@microtec.net>]

At 03:04 PM 4/20/98 -0600, jerry and judy wrote:
>
>Mozart was composing for an early, rudimentary pianoforte, while Glenn
>Gould had presumably the best technology available to him.


Oy vey!!! Au contraire!! Mozart was writing for a highly perfected
instrument, the Viennese fortepiano, which expressed to perfection the
musical aesthetic to which it belonged. Mozart sonatas don't work properly
on any modern piano. Moreover, Gould played a tricked-up old Chickering that
he had modified to produce a special, jangly, percussive effect for Bach
playing. Finally, Gould's recording technology at Columbia was crappy, to boot.


  GG could play
>them in what he  probably considered to be the most "idealized" manner.
>Or, as you say, he might have intended to trash them (but I don't think
>you'll convince his true fans of that), in any case, he probably wanted to
>finish the project as soon as possible and go on the something more to his
>liking.  I'm glad he gave us a very different set (even though I can barely
>stand to listen to some of them!) and I'm glad that he quickly moved away
>from WAM for his last years of recording.

Gould admitted in interviews that he was defacing the music, and that he
didn't respect Mozart as a composer. No composer suffered as badly at
Gould's hands as did Mozart. For his part, Gould should perhaps be
remembered for his Bach, and can at best be forgiven for his sins against
Mozart.

dbk