Re: g minor sinfonia bwv797

[Jim Morrison <jim_morrison@sprynet.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Juozas Rimas"

who wrote concerning the different gould recordings of the bach sinfonias

> Thanks. I'll go for this 1964 recording - that is, for the slow one.


that would be my choice if I wanted the best version of the sinfonias.  It
should be kept in mind though, that the CBC broadcast disc also contains the
fifth partita, the Italian concerto, and the concerto in d minor.  so if you
were looking for more time value for your money, you'd be better off buy
this  73 minute disc than the 50 minute sony.  the live sinfonias on sony
are coupled with a live recording of the Goldbergs.

 > The slow interpretation of the sinfonias reveals so many "hidden"
treasures...

If slow inventions and sinfonias are your thing, then I strongly encourage
you to check out Rubsam's version at
http://web02.hnh.com/scripts/newreleases/naxos_cat.asp?item_code=8.550960

For those that may not know, Naxos has put most of their catalog, in its
entirety, on the web.  So from the above link you'll be able to hear all 66
minutes of the Rubsam disc.  (Rubsam, by the way, includes two separate
versions of the invention in C major, which adds an extra 90 seconds or so
to the recording)


> The 5th and 11th sinfonias (sorry for the numeric values, I'm not a
musician,
> just a listener, and find it hard to remember musical pieces by
tonations),
> especially prosper from the explicitly slow tempo,

Hey, you've been doing some homework, I think, because those or two of the
sinfonias that Gould extends by the longest amount in the 1964 recording
when compared to the CBC and live discs.

> Anyway, I enjoy all the 15 sinfonias from this slow-mo recording, except
for one
> moment in the 15th sinfonia, just before the end (at about the 0:50 mark

snip
> he resembles a car getting a flat tire.


yep, but I like that moment in the recording.  Though I've never looked at
the score, I think that pause is built into the composition (certainly the
other recordings I have take a pause there as well.)  It's the very fast
tempo and forward momentum that he's putting into the piece that adds to the
"flatness" effect.  For the CBC he performed the work at a somewhat slower
tempo and the effect is less significant, though still clearly apparent.
that piece clocks in at 1'16 compared with the 1'02 of the Sony/CBS stuido
recording.  Rubsam comes in at 1'40.

> I can also hear more extraneous sounds - something like a creaking chair

hold on a second here Juozas.  Are you asking us if there's the sound of a
creaking chair in a gould recording?  :)  My goodness, it'd be easier to
count the recordings that don't have the creak of the chair his father built
for him than to count the one's that do.  yes, Juozas, there is a creaking
chair in the recording.  We could talk more about the chair if you'd like.

Jim