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I have been thinking about this myself recently--why does Gould seem on
the one hand to have a longer-lasting postmortem reputation than some other
great pianists who have died in the last few decades and why do I like
his peformances? The recent recordings by Perhaia and some of the
recordings from the Great Pianist series have led me to question the quality
of Gould's interpretations, precisely because they lack the singing quality
and also because the acoustics are so dry. But they are stunningly
precise and transparent--as if you could see the score as he played them.
When I consider how much of Bach is based on what are dance suites inspired
by the likes of Rameau and Lully and Purcell, and as I have become more
acquainted with their music, the lack of warmth and feeling and song in
Gould's interpretations of just about everyone except Brahms becomes both
obvious and disappointing. But then why is it that he is the defining
pianist of his period?
He also shows up in discussions of music in The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt. A pianist in that novel has ideas even stranger than Gould's. But what is interesting is that even if the perception is critical, he is considered worth wriitng about. It is noteworthy that Edward Said has written about him often too. Allan MacLeod Anne Smith wrote: Has anyone read "The True Life of J.S. Bach" by Klaus Eidam? This is a fairly new biography. The German copyright is 1999 and the English translation copyright is 2001. Klaus Eidam takes issue with Bach's previous biographers Philipp Spitta, Charles Sanford Terry, Albert Schweitzer and almost every musicologist who has ever written anything about Bach. He makes some good points. You may not agree with everything he says. This is certainly different than any other Bach book on the market. From page 138:"Hermann Keller has written a whole book on The Well-Tempered Clavier in which he meticulously presents what one could basically work out oneself - provided one does not confuse Bach's opus with Carl Czerny's Art of Dexterity, as did the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould." From the notes at the end of the book, page 383:"It is true that Gould's interpretation of The Well-Tempered Clavier is characterized by great transparency, but he does not manifest a cantabile, or "singing," performance such as Bach demanded of his pupils, one of the cornerstones of his teaching. His son Carl Philipp Emanuel similarly insisted on the ability to "sing on the clavier" as the basis of musical performance style. And on occasion Gould treats Bach's score rather high-handedly." I find it interesting that Mr. Eidam, who has a very low opinion of GG, finds it necessary to mention GG at all in a book about Bach's life. I have not finished the book. Up to page 138, GG is the only recording artist who is mentioned at all. Anne |