Pedal in Bach

[Thayer A <A.Thayer@rhbnc.ac.uk>]

Dear F-minors,

It was fairly recently that I first saw the Gould 81 Goldbergs video (to go
off the point before I even start:- Does anybody know if there any
differences with the audio recording? I heard that there is one G which is
louder on the video but dubbed over more quietly for the tape, but I'm sure
the first aria is different.) and was surprised to see how much pedal he
actually uses. I'm particularly interested to know how frequently he
actually used it for Bach (and other baroque music) and how much this
changed throughout the periods of his life. In the liner notes for WTC1
there is a mention of Gould playing the B flat minor entirely without pedal
for a competion, at an early age. Does this mean that it was in later life
he tended to use more pedal, or could it be that he was simply trying to
make a point for this competion? In fact, was there any kind of consistency
through the different periods of his playing, or did he simply use as much
pedal as he felt like on the spur of the moment? Listening to the dryness of
later recordings I had always imagined he used less pedal than in most
earlier ones, but the Goldbergs seem to contradict this. 
	Presumably Gould had no authenticist views on the pedal, and merely
used it in small measures to obtain legato (people always say that pedal in
Bach should be used merely for colour and never for legato. Personally I've
always thought the opposite:- it should be used for legato only, BUT only as
a last resort where finger legato is impossible). Did he make use of the
sostenuto pedal at all, which would be particularly useful for holding slow
repeated notes (eg. Marcello/Bach 2nd mvt.) without giving a wash of sound
and blurring textures.
	Having been brought up on the urban myth that Gould didn't know what
the pedals are for, and having only seen the Goldbergs video,  I'd be
grateful if those who know the videos well (or those who closely observed
his pedalling in concert, and still remember!) could give me any
information. Did he actually talk about his views on the pedals at all? I
hope this raises an interesting point for discussion, as there has been no
mention of pedalling since I joined the list.

Andrew Thayer.