Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Glenn Gould
This is the cover photograph to the 1981 Glenn Gould recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations BWV988.
I stumbled upon this recording at the State University. My roommate brought a tape recording. When I first listened to this, I was not really moved. It is not as stunning as, say, The Great Gates of Kiev in Mussourgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Nevertheless, I found myself inexplicably drawn to it. There is just something in it that I like very much but I could not explain why. It has since then become my favorite piano piece. In my limited experience, it is THE BEST piano music of all times.
And then I was able to listen to a rendition of Rosalyn Tureck of the same piece. It was vastly different. I remembered thinking, is that really the Goldberg Variations?
That is when I became aware of the peculiarities of the Glenn Gould recording. When you listen carefully to it, you will hear Glenn Gould humming in the background!
I stumbled upon this recording at the State University. My roommate brought a tape recording. When I first listened to this, I was not really moved. It is not as stunning as, say, The Great Gates of Kiev in Mussourgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Nevertheless, I found myself inexplicably drawn to it. There is just something in it that I like very much but I could not explain why. It has since then become my favorite piano piece. In my limited experience, it is THE BEST piano music of all times.
And then I was able to listen to a rendition of Rosalyn Tureck of the same piece. It was vastly different. I remembered thinking, is that really the Goldberg Variations?
That is when I became aware of the peculiarities of the Glenn Gould recording. When you listen carefully to it, you will hear Glenn Gould humming in the background!
