Re: Gould's heart in Baroque period?? oder ASCH?

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

On Tue, 8 May 2001, Juozas Rimas wrote:

> > Meanwhile, as for Baroque music, what did Gould know/appreciate of the
> > 17th century, which is the heart of Baroque music?  Bach's music was
> > already "old-fashioned" by the time he wrote it.  And Gould's Bach (as
> > opposed to regular Bach...) was a modern concoction through Schoenberg and
> > others, anyway...Bach as seen from the future, rather than Bach as a
> > culmination of 17th century music.
>
> I can't imagine Schoenberg being "the core" of Gould. It understandable he had
> an idol in the modern epoch on which he based his unique style but the material
> from what he crafted his art was Bach. Schoenberg (or almost any other composer)
> couldn't offer the sheer quantity (could anyone compare the amount of solo
> keyboard works by Bach and Schoenberg that Gould recorded?).

Your argument's logic here assumes that there are equal quantities of this
music.  But Gould recorded ALL of Schoenberg's solo piano music; there
simply isn't nearly as much of it!  He also recorded Schoenberg's piano
concerto, many of the songs, and some of the chamber music.  I could use
your same argument and say that since he recorded a higher percentage of
Schoenberg's music than Bach's music, he must have liked Schoenberg
better.  (But it's a flawed argument due to that disparity of quantity,
and besides it isn't necessary.)

> So notwithstanding the fact that we may be looking at Bach through Schoenberg's
> glasses, we see Bach. I'm sure Bach was the only composer who could offer enough
> material and variety for Gould to express himself. Much less attention would be
> payed at Gould if he for some reason played very little Bach compared to other
> composers. He's "primarily a Bach interpreter" (an approximate translation from
> one LP cover), don't you agree?

No.  That's just the way he's popularly seen.

Gould's Bach paid Gould's Bills and generated Gould's Celebrity!  :)
Playing Bach for eager consumers was "just his day job," as the expression
goes....  How many people stake an entire career on success at playing
Schoenberg?  That would only work if Schoenberg were more popular.

Gould was very good at Gould's Bach, and he probably also enjoyed it
(artistically, not only fiscally).  But I still think he was more
dedicated to Schoenberg than Bach.


Bradley Lehman, Dayton VA
home: http://i.am/bpl  or  http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl
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"Music must cause fire to flare up from the spirit - and not only sparks
from the clavier...." - Alfred Cortot