RE: [F_minor] BACK TO BACH AND BELLYACHING

["Houpt, Fred" <fred.houpt@rbc.com>]

Consider how ridiculous the authenticity argument is.  Let's take two
examples.  Beethoven owned pianos of various sorts including some pretty
mighty grand's.  If his hearing was still with him when they were
delivered he would have had a pretty good idea of what sound dynamics
the beast could produce.  One would then be safe to assume that in
creating music for the piano he would have had those dynamics close to
his awareness.  So, the so called authentic Beethoven sound is not such
a hot topic.  He probably would have pounded and scorched it just like
his music does from time to time.  

Then consider JS Bach.  Pianoforte's had already been invented and
simple piano's were just becoming available.  The sounds of these
dinosaurs was not a pretty sound by any means.  The action of these
instruments was far below what Beethoven would have had available.  So,
Bach, whose hearing was perfect, would have experimented on the many
piano types he bought and also would have had the dynamics in mind.
What then would he have wanted in the music? We really don't know
because the old Cantor did not think it important enough to give us many
dynamic markings in his music.  

I think that his mindset, firmly cast in counterpoint, tends to be a
more balanced one, where the voices are placed to be in harmony rather
than one taking the lead. That's just my over all impression of his
music.  Classical music with Haydn and Mozart took a much more involved
interest in dynamics and the ideas of musical feelings through dynamic
contrasts started to be exploited. By the time we get to Beethoven he
advances the use of dynamics and speed with a very heavy emphasis on the
musical motif, the struggle of the main theme as it works its way to a
resolution.  Whereas Bach would have implied emotions in an
internalized, almost stylized form, Beethoven was all extroverted and
heart on the sleeve.  Even when Beethoven is roaring around with a fuge
he does so with so much more animated emotion than Bach allows.  

So, what is authentic Bach? The Bach of his day would have been played
in a mannered, powdered wig form, with the player barely breaking a
sweat.  The vagaries of the bohemian artist came first with Beethoven
and then reached its zenith with Liszt, with women passing out in the
drawing room.  Authentic Bach is then always in the hands of the
interpreter and in GG's version I think we get a good balance of the
tightly controlled Bach musical lines set to a backdrop of GG's curious
and inventive mind.  Remember: lots of pianists can play a passage
quickly.  How many of them can make the hairs on the back of your neck
stand up when he or she plays some of the Goldberg variations like GG?
Answer: almost none.  It is GG's magic that adds something extra to
speed, articulation and architectural clarity. It is GG's own soul that
meshed with such intelligent passion.  For us GG fanatics, the results
are only short of miraculous.  

Regards,

Fred Houpt

[snip]
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