Re: WTC's fugue in A minor

["Bradley Lehman" <bpl@umich.edu>]

>> >Until today, I've never really had bothered to locate precisely where
>> >the (in)famous splicing occurs in GG's recording of WTC-I's A minor
>> >fugue;
>
>I'm new to this list so could you explain to me what this is all about?
Very
>interesting.


In his recording of this piece (between 1963 and 1965) GG had two complete
takes that were approvable for release without needing any internal fixes
for wrong notes.  However, upon listening to them after the recording
session, he and producer Paul Myers decided that both takes were rather
monotonous in character, although different from one another.

They decided to build a more interesting interpretation by cutting back and
forth between the two versions for various sections.  The result is an
interpretation that GG hadn't thought of before the time of performance.  He
then argued later for this technique as a valid creative approach to making
a recording.  The performance moment doesn't have to be the last opportunity
for the performer's creative choices.

(Really, it's analogous to writing at a word processor rather than being
confined to a typewriter.  The thoughts don't have to be in the same order
that they occurred in "real life."  They can be rearranged as much as one
wants before the piece is released, and good editing makes a better piece
than could be done in a straight-through session.  Is there anybody here who
*doesn't* edit their e-mail messages before sending them, writing parts of
the message out of order and fussing with details until the message is
judged ready to send?)

Brad Lehman
bpl@umich.edu