GG: repeats...

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

Jorgen wrote:
(...)
>Why make it a question of right and wrong? A masterwork has much too much
>to offer, to be put into a scholar straight jacket. Again, discussions on
>these rules are always interesting and important. We mustn't forget
>Gould's main thesis, that a performer always should have something new --
>and relevant! -- to say about o piece of music. The example of the
>theatre, where re-interpretations of the classics are the norm and not
>the exception, could well be a lesson for the musical world.
>
>Too many of today's musical performers are bland and uninteresting. Too
>much emphasis is put on tradition and detail, where the ability to
>communicate with an audience is almost forgotten.

Agreed, Jorgen.  And (for my own performances) I'd be the last to put
scholarly "objectivity" above musical commitment and projection...creation
of a vivid, relevant, and communicative performance *in the moment* is a
top priority, far above merely going through a "correct" presentation of
notes.

I suppose overall I was mostly offering a caution to anyone who may be
acquainted with Gould's Bach performances as (so far) the *only*
presentation of the music that they know: Gould most frequently plays only
3/4 of the musical structure, not all of it.  For better or worse, it's a
rather severe distortion, and something to be aware of in getting to know
the music.

As I've said, Gould's approach is interesting anyway on its own terms.
In many past discussions, I (and some others here) have chosen to label
this "Glenn Gould's Bach" to differentiate it from "Bach Played By Glenn
Gould"...Gould takes so many liberties with the music, not only
structurally, that his performances really are _sui generis_.

-----

As for playing only AAB structure in music that should be AABB, I do it
myself on occasion, too: depends on the situation.  (For example, last
weekend I was playing a wedding and performing the F minor prelude from
WTC book 2; I had to cut it short before repeating the B section, for the
simple reason that it was time for something else to happen in that
particular occasion, the wedding party was ready to come in!)  External
considerations can trump the intention of playing the whole thing.

In the big picture, I'm simply saying that Gould's choice to play AAB (as
a regular rule for himself) says more about Gould than about Bach.


Bradley Lehman, Dayton VA
home: http://i.am/bpl  or  http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl
CD's: http://listen.to/bpl or http://www.mp3.com/bpl

"Music must cause fire to flare up from the spirit - and not only sparks
from the clavier...." - Alfred Cortot