GG recording

[f h <boyboy_8@YAHOO.COM>]

Greetings Gouldians!  Today Southern Ontario got
slammed with our first winter storm.  Hurray for
weather.

As it turned out I had two Gouldian experiences today.
 When out skidding around in my car I was listening to
CBC French language FM radio (no, I don't speak or
understand French; they just play such nice music that
I often have it tuned to that dial!) and sure enough
after a few minutes I heard them cut away from the
people talking and go back to the middle of that
wonderful Brahms intermezzo I so love.  I am sure it
was Gould playing it and I listened again very
intently to what he was doing with the voices.  For
those of you who don't have a musical background, the
idea of "voices" is just the way it sounds.  The
musical ideas speak through individual voices or
motifs and a good composer, like Bach and Brahms (who
understood how to write strong musical lines) can make
each individual voice stand out like colors, distinct
and clear on their own.  The genius of a great piece
of music is that combined together, the voices do not
clash or sound chaotic, but complement each other and
somehow hold hands together as they dance in your
mind.   That is the essence of great music.   But, I
digress.

Gould was playing with the two very distinct voices in
this beloved Intermezzo and I could hear how he
approached the ideas with the intellect of a
contrapuntal archaeologist.  How's that for a turn of
phrase!!!  Why do I say 'archaeologist'?  As I have
said before, Gould was unhappy to merely flop his
fingers on the keyboard and reproduce the music.  Any
person with the facility can do that.  Gould was a
deep thinker and his desire was to be like an achor,
tolling the bottom, looking to sink his mind into the
inner heart of Brahms essence.  What you hear on the
recording is a man who resurfaced, after deep
reflection, holding the themes in each hand, very
delicately, like pearls, showing you one and then the
other, slowly turning them over and over so you can
hear each part clearly.  It still stands as a
revelation to me how he was able to do that, how he
was able to hear the voices, the musical lines so
distinctly, where legions of other pianists merely
played nice notes.  You see what I mean?

Gould took the music and completely made it his own
interpretation, revealing an inner world, largely
unseen by most mortals.  For that alone he stands in
my mind as a titan.

The other Gouldian experience of the day was quite
disconcerting.  Sitting at my computer, typing away on
some work, I was listening to a CD I had borrowed from
the local library.  The 2 CD set: "The Toccatas &
Invention" of J.S. Bach, on CBC masterworks.  What set
my ears on edge was the attrocious sound of the piano
action.   You have to understand.  I am a pianist and
I have sold pianos and read about their construction.
I have played Boesendorfer's (however it's spelled),
concert sized Yamaha's and Steinway's.  I know what a
good clean action should sound like.  However,
throughout this recording you could hear the action
hickupping and slipping and making reverb-like noises.
 It was horrible.  I can't understand why Gould put up
with such nonsense?  Perhaps this IS THE RECORDING
that he referred to many years later as one that he
regretted having released to the public?  I seem to
remember hearing him say that.  Does any one have any
info on that?  Has anyone else heard this recording
and come to similar conclusions?

Well that's it for now friends.  All the best!

Kindest regards,

Fred Houpt

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