From: Arne Klindt <a.klindt@GMX.NET>
Reply-To: Arne Klindt <a.klindt@GMX.NET>
To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
Subject: The thrill of GG
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 20:52:38 +0200
Before getting to know GG's recordings of Bach's music, I often found
myself wondering what polyphonic compositions were, and why I could not say
: this is monophonic, this polyphonic music.
When I stumbled across the 81' Goldbergs (my Librarian said: I don't know
whether the CD is okay, there's a funny background noise, i think...) I
became instantly aware of the difference.
Gould's immaculate timing and the incredible variability in his "Anschlag"
what's the word ah , touch works just like a stereo-expander:
The individual voices are clearly divided yet at the same time beautifully
integrated in a larger sound-"context" which is -again- different for each
of the variations.
And now, some years after that, having heard not nearly all of his
recordings, I am still amazed at the self-confidence that Gould showed in
all of his artistic choices. I often get the feeling that the classical
music scene is a place where you either behave (i.e. do as the money of the
recording companies wants you to) or get thrown out. Only very few people
have had the audacity to do only what their heart told them, I feel. And
oftentimes what most people see as a queer decision, like conducting
Wagner's "Siegfried-Idyll" at app. half the suggested speed, makes a
fantastic musical experience.
Ad submersion via humming: I have canceled all my memberships in classical
music mailing-lists because i could not stand the continual fighting among
hummophiles and hummophobics. Not a word in those discussions was topical,
and yet you could not even send a double G without provoking them. (As
Elmer puts it: GROUP HUG!) I strongly believe that great art can only be
created by "unconscious" actions. That does not mean that I am a fan of
action-art and the-like, I just think that one needs to be oblivious of
everyday worries and cares to fuse with ones topic, sort of "mystical
unity". Is that what you meant, Anne Chrystine?
What about GG's religious/spiritual beliefs? Was that something so
personal, that there are no records on that??
Somebody at sometime in the past mentioned he/she was doing research on
GG's timing and the correlation between humming and musical context. Are
there any results yet? (I SHOULD go to the archives, really.)
And finally:
I guess I would never have become as conscious of music without GG, and
that's the biggest compliment i guess i can give to an artist.
Arne