GG: More alternatives to GG

[eric.coates@which.net (eric.coates@which.net)]

Alun Severn wrote:
> 
> Dear All,
> 
> Tonight I am locked in unequal struggle with the LvB Late Quartets: first,
> the Op130 and Grosse Fugue; and now the Op132, prompted by reading that
> Sylvia Plath in her late (but painfully young) years was addicted to the
> grosse fugue.
> 
> There is enough damned music in these late quartets alone for a lifetime --

Alun,
I completely agree. I discovered the late Beethoven Quartets  about 
twenty years ago and I had firmly decided that they had set an 
unapproachable standard in the art of music. (I marginally prefer Op 132
to the others). 
The GG connection is that I find that Gould's interpretations of Bach 
fit into the same category of music in its purest form, completely 
lacking in pretention yet so effortlessly sophisticated. 
I would suggest that the reason for the similarity in musical quality is 
that the Beethoven Quartets and the Bach keyboard works were not 
composed as commissions for wide public consumption, but were primarily 
expressions of deepest feelings and musical ideas to be shared with 
close friends, family and highly talented and appreciative musical 
acquaintances.
For me, Gould has revealed Bach to be as wonderful a composer as 
Beethoven was in his amazing last ten years.
Regards Eric