GG Brendel vs Gould

[Anne Smith <smithqa@nexicom.net>]

From: Juozas Rimas:

Juozas replied to Arne's post about Bredel's feelings on Glenn Gould:

 "Gould crosses these limits voluntarily, or he does not notice
 them. Something inside him is at cross angles to the pieces he plays.
 Apparently this seems very attractive to many people. It makes me mad
 sometimes."

> Interesting, was he mad listening to Gould's interpretation of the BWV924
or 926
> Praeambulum? No limits are taken into account there. But the performances
are
> resfreshing, non-standard, alive. How many more identical performances
does the
> quoted person want to hear?

It seems to me that a great many people want uniformity in music.  Anyone or
anything that is different is WRONG to these people.  Massed produced
musicians  with no spark is what is coming out of conservatories and
universities.
As an adult, Glenn Gould's clarity is what attracts me to his playing.  As a
teenager it was the fact that he dared to be different *and* he got away
with it.  GG did not play for the critics and the musicologists.  He played
for the love of music.
I was told by music teachers not to listen to Glenn Gould.   They said that
he played Mozart all wrong and committed the greatest sacrilege of all --
he sometimes "changed things" in Bach.  I ignored this advise.  I must say
that I like GG's "wrong" Mozart better than the bland recordings I have
heard of Mozart "played right".   Most of my Bach recordings are by GG.  If
a student is preparing for an examination I will play him/her recordings by
the other pianists.  When I am trying to inspire a love for Bach in a child
I will play him/her GG recordings and my ancient LPs by Walter/Wendy
Carlos.

  "Glenn Gould made up his own rules - the word rules is not correct here I
 find. Obsessions were the guidelines along which he performed and which
 make his recordings seem so uniform in the way Gould treats the
composers."

> I have listened too little to the non-Bach recordings of Gould to judge
about
> the uniform treating of all composers. But the way Gould treats Bach
cannot by
> any means called uniform. His approach changes from piece to piece, or
even
> inside the same piece.

Well said.

Anne