Re: GG Posture and Romantic Composers

[Juozas Rimas <JuozasRimas@TAKAS.LT>]

> This is a loaded statement.  Most people consider the 19th century the time
> when the piano came into its own.  Most of us think that Chopin wrote
> "substantial literature for the piano."  I think perhaps that GG just did
> not like
> the piano music of the Romantic composers. He seemed to like their
> orchestral work better.

I find Gould's opinion about 19th century piano music very close to mine. Let's
don't forget that Gould is speaking from the perspective of a musician who has
played a huge amount of Bach keyboard music and has felt it thoroughly. His ears
and hands are used to polyphony, superb organization and forward momentum in
Bach's works.

Even Chopin can seem quite bland after such a "dose" of Bach. I felt this
myself, although I'm only a listener - I have started my acquaintance with
classical music from Chopin because he was easier to accept for a newbie and for
some time I thought this was the peak of keyboard music. When I was soon exposed
to Bach, it was very hard for me to listen to Chopin with the same fascination
as before. I started missing something, maybe that same "substantiality" Gould
is mentioning. Chopin's 15th prelude, for example, still sounds very strong but
many other pieces, especially etudes, have lost their charm for me. I find it
almost impossible to listen to, say, Debussy now.

So it seems Gould's heart was in Baroque period (one composer, basically). Most
eager performers and listeners of Bach I know regard themselves as a sort of
First Class. Other music is inevitably at least one step lower in their
hierarchy of musical "substantiality" and value, in a broad sense.

Juozas Rimas Jr
http://mp3.com/JuozasRimas