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Re: [F_minor] Beethoven sonatas (was Gibbons on piano)
At 12:01 PM -0400 3/14/08, Brad Lehman wrote:
The one Gould performance of Beethoven that I'd say is at "ludicrous
speed" (thank you, Mel Brooks's "Spaceballs") is the finale of the
sonata #5 in C minor. It's so fast that in at least one spot he
really DID NOT even play the notes. I slowed down a tape of it
once, to check it.
When Gould's recording of the Hammerklavier was released, in
comparison to the recordings I then had of the sonata, it seemed that
Gould actually had internalized the passage in Fred Hoyle's classic
science fiction novel, "The Black Cloud", where an alien (super)
intelligence establishing communication with scientists on Earth
hears a recording of the first movement, and sends a message back:
"Very interesting. Please repeat the first part at a speed increased
by thirty per cent."
Beethoven's metronome advice for the first movement was a half note =
138. Gould's timing for the first movement was 11'04". In comparing
to what I currently have on hand, Nikolayeva's first movement is
14'30". The cloud would probably have approved of Gould's version.
On the other hand, even Gould's pales in comparison to Badura-Skoda's
9'47" (on an 1824 Graf).
Myself, I'm not sure I'd use the Hammerklavier, or even Beethoven, as
an introduction to an alien super intelligence. I'd go with Lewis
Thomas's advice here, even if it was bragging.
Charles
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Charles McElwain
33 Vernon Street
Somerville, MA 02145
617-628-5542 (home)
617-501-1591 (cell)
charlesmcelwain1@verizon.net
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