RE: Wagner?

[Thayer A <A.Thayer@rhbnc.ac.uk>]

> Hello,
> 
> my name is Bernhard Rulla, German and admirer of Glenn Gould's piano 
> art.
> 
> I recently have bought an interesting CD, where Gould plays some 
> piano versions of Wagner music, e.g. the ouverture to "Die 
> Meistersinger". It was quite an experience, I can tell you! :)
> 
> The performance gave me the impression of the surgical operation of 
> the music in tiny pieces. It fell apart, there was nothing left than 
> absolutely independent melodies. A very new Wagner for me!
> 
> In would like to ask you if someone could tell my some sources 
> concerning the attitude of Gould towards Wagner and maybe also some 
> personal impressions of the Gould/Wagner interpretation...
> 
> I am looking forward to a very interesting and instructive 
> conversation with you!
> 
> Yours truly,
> Bernhard Rulla.
> 
> ---
> Bernhard Rulla, Dipl.-Ing.
> brulla@tky2.3web.ne.jp
> b_rulla@yahoo.com
> http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~brulla/
> 
Dear Bernhardt,

As a young Gould fan I am not yet very knowledgable on Wagner although I
have recently begun to take a considerable interest. I believe that Gould's
interest in Wagner stems mainly from the abundance of counterpoint and
tightly compacted motives, which obviously (being mainly a Bach man)
appealed to him. Gould stated in a letter that he was uninterested in
Liszt's transcriptions of Wagner as they are generally not big on
counterpoint and also that he believed piano music in general should be of
contrapuntal textures to suit the instrument.  
	As a man who dismissed practically everything after Bach (including
Mozart, much Beethoven, and virtually all Romantic music) I hear that he
looked on Wagner as practically the first great composer to follow the
baroque period. Of course there is much more to Wagner than the technical
side (which is what makes his music so great) but Gould was hardly a
Romantic. It is interesting that he stated himself to be interested in
Wagner purely from a musical point of view and ignored the drama side (which
was inseperable to Wagner from the music). One might say that Gould's
performances are a misconception of such obviously emotional music (I don't
agree) but I think that there is great value in viewing the music in such a
technical manner.   

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Thayer.

PS Are you aware that multi-tracking was used to aid the inclusion of all
parts in the Meistersingers?
What do you think of his conducting in the orchestral version of the Idyll?