Re: GG-Wtc E major

[Jim Morrison <jim_morrison@sprynet.com>]

Dominic wrote

"As Michael Stegemann's liner notes to the '55 Goldbergs states, GG recorded
this fugue as early as '57 as a "filler" to his album of the fifth and sixth
Partitas, so special was this piece to him.  Does anyone prefer Gould's
brisk (1:47) '69 WTC recording of this piece to the much slower (4:17) '57
version or the even slower Monsaingeon film version of '79 (5:02)?  I find
his version for the WTC set too choppy for this beautiful fugue.

Hard to pick which one I prefer because that WTC fugue is so widely
different from the other performance.  Most people do play this fugue
slowly, serenely, and it is refreshing to hear it played at a relatively
fast tempo.

But if I had to pick only one Gould version of this fugue, it would be the
CBC 1952 one, found on the Perspective Goldberg disc, PSCD 2007.  It lasts
2:27 and the touch is somewhere in-between the detache of the '69 and the
somewhat heavy handed '57.  (anyone out there a little surprised to hear
Gould hitting the keys of the piano with such force on the 57?  Its like he
thinks the instrument's a Wittmayer.)

By the way, Bob van Asperen puts out a typical stellar performance of this
fugue (3:35) on his WTC set.  Two big thumbs up from Jim on that set.  I've
been listening to it for months and it keeps getting better.


Jim