Re: Gould's 1st contrapunctus

[Sean Malone <spm29386@oregon.uoregon.edu>]

> hyper-subtle and quiet fragment! :)) And he's humming on BOTH of the moments.
> And aren't the pauses a little too long? (my listening experience was
> interrupted by waiting for the pauses to end:)

I think this is certainly one of those instances where the visual (regarding
the piano version) helps the aural. While only listening, I agree the pauses
seem a bit exaggerated, but when I watch him perform it, the added visual
information helps to bide the time, and seems a little more appropriate.
It's quite an interesting debate regarding whether or not a performer's
movements add or distract from an audient's experience. And of course, so
much has been said about GG's vocalizations and gestures...I won't continue
to bore the list with the research I've done regarding his
conducting-while-playing and the transcriptions of his vocalizations, but it
has been his performances from the Art of Fugue that have been the most
revealing.

There are a few other versions of the first Contrapunctus which are rather
haunting, in particular the version from the Moscow recital. There is also
the version from the GG On the Record video / DVD.

To sum up my feelings on the performances of this piece: I was in Paris last
summer visiting with Bruno Monsaingeon, and the topic came up of this piece
on the "Question of Instrument" video. His only response was to place his
hands together, as if to pray, briefly closed his eyes then he briefly
looked skyward; then looked at me smiling. I couldn't agree more.

Best,
Sean Malone