Re: '55 Goldberg + first listening experience

[Kate Clunies-Ross <goldbergs@TALK21.COM>]

Jörgen Lundmark  wrote:
 I
> believe Bach's many re-arrangements of his own and other composers'
> music does indicate his willingness to experiment with the text.
>
> The question of absolute fidelity to what is written is, I would guess,
> rather a modern concept; the romantics would probably have found the
> idea strange.

This is interesting; I hadn't thought if it like that.  I tended to think
that the tendency to experiment and vary what the composer wrote was a more
modern idea. After all,  we may take it for granted now, but it isn't so
long since we all began to have access to recorded music (only common since
the early 20th century; hi-fidelity sound and longplaying recordings are
even later).  Today we think it normal to have music surrounding us round
the clock t - not so pleasant  if your neighbour's musical choice differs
from yours!  - but presumably , prior to the advent of recording, nost
people would not hear "classical" music much unless they lived in a place
where one could go to concerts or were themselves musicians, or knew other
musicians. In such circumstances people would not have such a well-developed
idea of what a piece "ought" to sound like. And since you would not hear
many musicians playing the same piece, it would not matter if most of them
played it the same way, in accordance with what the composer intended (or
what they imagined he intended!)

But as Glenn Gould  humself said, once we had recordings.what would be the
point of playing something in exactly the same way as another person? Music
would become boring (God forbid!) if each recording was nearly identical to
tthe previous ones. Hence, absolute fidelity to the composers' intentions is
no longer so important.

This does not belittle a composer and his works in any way. Nobody is
suggesting we overlook the composer or his crative powers, or ignore his
sontribution! Rather we are stressing the richness and variety that can be
found in his work. We can also appreciate the richness and creativity that a
player like Gould also brings to our experience of the music.

I have a friend, an organist, who really seems to loathe Gould and all that
he represents. Fair enough; but it appears his dislike centres not only on
the fact that Gould did not always adhere to the original composer's
intentions ( in so far that any of us can be  100% sure how a long-dead
composer would have played his own music) but also on the fact that Gould
dares to play Bach, say, on a modern piano; this seems anathema to my
friend's 'Authentic Instrument Only'  soul!

Thats another point : I think, from what little I have read of the man, that
Bach would have loved the modern piano.

> Whether Gould went too far in relationship to either historically
> informed concepts or what is regarded as "sound" keyboard practises is,
> in my opinion, less interesting than the immense emotional impact of his
> recordings.

  I agree. If what I hear moves me, and deepens my experience of the music;
this is important.

Kate