I am speechless!! I have never heard this recording and ashamed to admit that. No one has or probably ever will play this masterpiece with such glory, energy, perfection, and tenderness all in one moment of time. Grateful this is posted. Thank you so much!
A brilliant musical mind does not refer to Mozart as one of the worst composers who ever lived. This is not merely a matter of opinion, not a case of 'You like Mozart, I don't, let's agree to disagree'. Gould dogmatically stated that Mozart was an incredibly bad composer, based largely on the inferiority of Mozart's counterpoint to that of Bach. Gould even went to the trouble of recording the entire piano sonata cycle of Mozart in order to back up his opinion, making sure to play the pieces in as perfunctory and un-nuanced a manner as possible. This is not a matter of debate; it is a fact that Mozart is one of the greats. I could respect Gould if he had actually demonstrated his theory by conducting searching comparison and analysis, but for him to 'back up' his outrageous statements by playing Mozart's works in such a way as to make them resemble circus music is intellectually dishonest distortion of the most egregious sort. Needless to say, I am not a fan of Mr Gould.
@@jasonhurd4379 Mozart was great composer. If you read the lives of many brilliant people from infinite fields and backgrounds, ultimately you will find something they said (or believe) which isn't that outstanding. Human beings are not perfect. However Glenn was brilliant, so he didn't understand Mozart, unfortunate for him. I wonder if as good as he was?
@@jasonhurd4379 Lol. Circus music. Much like your circus post. He brought Mozart to life with his unconventional interpretations. Most other renditions of Mozart put people to sleep.
Mr. Newman, if you only knew how much I love and agree with what you just said. 🎶🤘 Like, no f**ing kidding, right? When I was recovering from surgery in the hospital room last week.. I didn't turn the tv on even once. I'm only in my 30s and I cannot stomach most of the idiotic crap on there now. Instead i was playing videos like this on my phone to listen to. Too bad i didnt bring my speaker.
Helene Grimaud is considered the female Glen Gould. Like Gould, Grimaud is highly articulate and bears the same facial movements when playing. Gould was Grimaud's piano idol.
Fascinating. Gould struggles with middle period Beethoven but, with late Beethoven, he realises that he can relate to the great composer’s arcane compositional research and especially to his contrapuntal engagement with older styles (especially Bach) and hey presto Gould can play it marvellously! It has its eccentricities (of course) but it’s so intelligent and clear and revelatory. The impeccability of his fast playing is astounding!
Glenn said he wasnt a teacher. Although he didn't teach private piano lessons at the keyboard, he was certainly teaching when he gave lectures like this one. 😀
Yes, Mr. Gould was quite the audiophile. Now that you mention it, it is very transparent and colorful compared to most recordings from that time. And of course, there's a warmth in these older recordings that is often missing from newer recordings. But as another commenter pointed out, most people come here and only focus on his performance, not so much the audio quality. Still, thanks for pointing it out!
How he strikes the key at 5:18 for emphasis.. This is one of his best interpretations of a Beethoven sonata. He uses more pedal here than he usually does.
I sometimes have the feeling that Gould is the only one who plays the "Prestissimo" as intended by Beethoven. When Beethoven writes "Prestissimo", he means it.
🪑🎹 *Glenn Gould Plays Beethoven* 🎹🪑 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 *(1820)* 00:00 *Remarks by Glenn Gould* 06:46 I. Vivace ma non troppo- Adagio espressivo 09:41 II. Prestissimo 11:46 III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo Glenn Gould, piano *Originally broadcast June 3, 1964 by the CBC*
one of the most rapid versions of this Sonata I'm aware of, even comparing to Richter who had serious speed. He must have had to fit the recording in within the time frame of the TV segment or something, after allotting for his speech. regardless, it's a really dramatic reading. Gould is the greatest ever because he was so transformative. Nobody is polling pianists' opinions of, say, Argerich, Cortot, or Rubenstein in the 2020s like they do still with Gould. I find with nearly everything he played, I will compare his version to other greats'. If I hear a version of a piece by a great, I will try to find Gould's version of it if it exists. His reading of any piece is *always* worth comparison whereas I cannot say that about a lot of others'.
This is the fastest performance of this sonata I have ever heard, and because I have the urtext version, I know there is just no way this is what Beethoven had in mind ... however, to the extent that Beethoven in his later years looked back so much toward Bach, the clarity of the counterpoint in the voices here that Mr. Gould brings out is remarkable ... I will know what to listen better for in more reasonable tempi for this!
i believe he needed to accelerate to bring the piece in under the TV segment limit given his time for speaking prior to the piece regardless, his technical proficiency is off-scale. Richter's version in Moscow '72 is rapid compared to some others', though not as rapid as Gould's. I find, though, myself thinking that if Beethoven could have heard Gould's versions of these later Sonatas he may have considered adjusting his scoring lol
Fantastic! Forget about all the book learning and premeditated rules. In the end so often the latter group of players do not possess essential feelings and humanity boiling down to anemic.results. Gould is a giant who all musicians should revere! He was also a lovely person. Eric Shumsky
This performance, no doubt, sets a track record for Op. 109--and by so much (without the clarifying repeats in the variation movement) that it reminds me of Secretariat's 31-length win in the Belmont Stakes completing the mile and a half in 2:24 and change. I fail to hear any compensating revelation for his ignoring most of Beethoven's scrupulous markings.
One needs a dictionary, a thesaurus, Grove's music dictionary and maybe even the Britannica encyclopedia to understand what this man is seeing, feeling, expressing and trying to explain to us his understanding of a canonical work for piano; it's hard to reduce genius to sound-bites and perhaps that's why we don't see programs of this quality often.
Ein unfassbares Wunder ist und bleibt er, selbst ein Superlative kommt ihm nicht gerecht. Sein früher Tod ist so wie er unfassbar, eines Tages werden wir ihn wiedersehen in einer Welt der Ewigkeit und hier gehört er hin in Gottes neue Welt...
Sound engineers used to have a nightmare trying to avoid recording the creaking of Gould's old chair. You can really hear that issue hear when Gould is sitting down and talking.
Gould’s almost offhanded point about Beethoven’s simultaneous time-spans is very analogous to how Heinrich Schenker’s strictly thematic structural relationships often work, too, across sometimes several layers (“Schichte”) of graphic analysis.
@@leonardrecker5377 his playing is dreadful and I have played it multiple times. He’s playing as if in a race…that is not what Beethoven intended. The first movement is an abomination.
The comments here are interesting. I love Gould's interpretations of Bach. His entire reputation rests upon these. His willingness to color outside the lines so dramatically in other areas is much less welcome. I have been disappointed in a lot of it. He was a profoundly talented musician. You don't need to buy everything he wants to sell.
How does Gould get 4 thumbs down? On an other Note, he would tell his closest friends that aliens were following him at times, and today we know that could be true!
Those people who downvoted either did it by mistake or just don't appreciate music simply or our rigid or biased. His playing is no doubt epic according to me. Aliens in the case of Gould, might be the souls of composers like Bach guiding him hahaha!!
@bingming Or maybe aliens = inmigrants 😋 . Or perhaps he had not paid yet his suit and the tailor was sending sicarios after him. The possibilities are endless. 😉
I didn't understand a single word...but I'm pretty sure this a very well eloquent speech that I would enjoy were I an intellectual. By any chance if u understand this and have time plz explain this in the comments in easier to understand words for everyone --To whoever reads this comment
He basically said that it was harmonically less adventurous than other Beethoven works, but that in those occasions where it is, it is very striking. That there are strong motivic links in the work and that an extract in the first movement that moves from e major to e minor and back to e major depicts the entire sonata in miniature, and that this play with time is basically predicting Christopher Nolan's film Inception. In other words, he's saying the sonata is great. It is interesting and clever, but not essential information, so no-one who doesn't catch it all is really missing out.
I can follow what he's saying but your question has already been answered well. What amazes me is that Gould seems to be talking without a tele prompter or other script. I guess if he follows the music in his head and explains what the music is doing, he doesn't need a script just as he doesn't need sheet music when playing.
@@johncitizen9540 I read in a biography that Glenn Gould would write what he was going to say days or weeks beforehand; and that he would write the dialogue as if he was talking, so the script would include interjections, pauses, and hesitations, even coughs, to make it look like he was speaking extemporaneously, and then he would memorize it and recite it precisely as it was written. So what we are seeing is Glenn Gould acting, with meticulous fidelity to a carefully calculated script, where nothing is left to chance. I think I remember he insisted on doing it that way; because the teleprompter, cue cards etc. had been suggested to him. So I guess with Glenn Gould nothing is as it seems. Which makes him a very interesting character. Of all the pianists, I think he would be the most entertaining to spend an evening with.
@@devlinbearra8897 Haha. Wow. Fascinating but in a way, not surprising. That's the sort of thing a person with Aspergers might do. Thanks very much for that. I can't believe my curiosity was resolved so quickly and precisely.
Ah, the brilliance of youth. I'm sorry but at this this early stage of his wonderful pianistic career he seems to be concentrating on the virtuosity of the composition, so it sounds tremendous; only later can a mature artist realise that Beethoven gave so much more in depth of feeling and unworldliness. His interpretation of the wonderful "adagio espressivo" is trite. He did well to build his legacy on Bach
Gould is certainly an incredible pianist/musician, and his observations here are wonderful. That having been said, I would have to agree that his interpretation of this piece does not do it justice. The Beethoven sonatas are among the greatest achievements of mankind, and this one in particular is so beautiful and profound. I felt he rushed through a lot of it in a way that did not recognize the emotional content. For example, listen to Barenboim's version and there is no comparison.
@@plekkchand Why are you so hostile? I didn't find his comment at all uninteresting. Performing Beethoven should not be a horse race. I am amazed by the contradiction between Gould's apparent intellectual insight and his hell for leather assault of this great work.
I generally find Gould's Beethoven relatively 'hit or miss' so to speak. Either they're among the finest readings I've heard, such as his Tempest Sonata (ruclips.net/video/XZ5-43nF07Y/видео.html) or his TV version of the Eroica Variations (ruclips.net/video/2YLQapqoz7U/видео.html), or they're perverse and immature, the best example being the Op. 111 (ruclips.net/video/cweD70A7OTQ/видео.html). The Op. 109 is bizarre in this sense. This particular performance is impressive, sure, and goes to show what wonderful virtuosity he had, but it reeks of immaturity, like he wanted to show everyone how great his technique was. However, just two years later, he gave one of the lyrical and tender performances of the first movement I've ever heard (ruclips.net/video/FW7WGAOCKHo/видео.html). I know he re-assessed the piece and, at the time of the interview, considered it his favourite sonata but it's incredible how it seems like performances are 50 years apart instead of two.
I don't agree. How on earth can one simply degrade a brilliantly thought through performance of the variation movement as "trite"? Trite applies when a performer merely shows the surface of a work in a kitschy or indulgent way, making use of superficial emotional expression. Gould demonstrated in this performance just how very much Beethoven can be considered an avantgardist, the father of ensuing Romanticism, by showing with great clarity the intense time span and continuous harmonic under(over)pinnings of this work. It is a revelation!!
As intellectually brilliant and genius as he is and as absolutely thorough his analysis of this piece is, I have serious doubt that Beethoven was thinking of all of that when composing this music. I’m sure he was aware of what he was doing harmonically of course and the departure from traditional form was obviously intentionally. But to dissect a piece of music that, at its essence, is founded in human emotion, tragedy, struggle, and doubt, is like depriving it of its inspiration and soul and leaving only the “mathematical principles” behind. However beautiful they may be to analyze and see, such a molecular breaking down of a profoundly human piece of music just feels horribly cold and devoid of feeling.
I'm not sure Gould was cued in to the emotions on this work...his interpretation certainly seems to show a focus on counterpoint rather than emotion. I've never heard a Gould recording of Beethoven I've liked tbh.
he plays the first movement like he has a train to catch. He plays fast for exactly one reason - everyone plays it slower. here's a beautiful performance ruclips.net/video/5eKGHvoh93M/видео.html
The explanation is excellent, but I think he takes the opening too quickly. Claudio Arrau always allowed space between the notes, Gould does not. The whole think sounds rushed.
It’s not a sporting event. One can learn from, enjoy and be transported by Schnabel, Annie Fischer, Perahia, Serkin, Schiff, Backhaus( I’m sorry to say) Maria Grinberg….Everybody reveals something new about this and other works. Everyone solves or tries to solve a different problem. Or heard something that only they hear….Cortot…Yvonne Lefebure….Kempf…Gieseking(I’m sorry to say)
@@lewbretz Never said it wasn't brilliant ... I commented on the time it took to present it. Bernstein did this all the time, as well, before conducting ... it says more about the musician than the music - considering Beethoven said about performing: "Sit down at the piano. Place your fingers on the keys ... and PLAY!"
The rest is understanding the nature. Flowers, grass, people that have experienced certain amount of distress, the beauty of wrinkles and natural aging process. Basically natural human rights protectors. While not everyone has the same amount of the integrity, which means we will never be safe even just walking, some cities like Chicago is a good place ne spotknutsa from the stairs.
The only way to understand Gould, and why we react to him in such a polarized way, is to remember that he is Canadian, destined by geography, culture, and national temperament to measure his abilities against an external world that he assumes (mostly correctly) presupposes his insignificance. Think of Gould alongside other Canadian luminaries: Northrop Frye, Margaret Atwood, Jim Carrey. Put any of these people in relation to their Canadian peers and they seem like colossal geniuses. Put them in relation to their peers elsewhere in the world and they seem, at best, solidly in the middle and, at worst merely eccentric. All 5 of these I have named are highly self-indulgent and have a strong adolescent appeal. The thing about Gould (Carrey too in some isolated instances) is that he could definitely play with less annoying affectation than he usually did: C minor partita; E major fugue in WTC2; F minor sinfonia; a performance of the Emperor concerto he did where he sat in for another pianist who got sick (can't remember who, but you can find it on RUclips).. Undoubtedly you'll think of other examples. But he remains, by his own choice and design, defined by the kind to willfully perverse--notice me!--technical proficiency you see in this video. And that horrible humming. Bach, who, as you may know, got in a knife fight with a bassoonist who rubbed him the wrong way, would have slammed Gould's face into the keyboard if he'd hear him playing like that...
True that small population countries like Canada value their off-scale people more than say Russia. So let's give thanks for small countries. They don't waste talent like Gould.
this is simply an unfair characterization of Gould's body of work. In fact, eschewing gratuitous technical virtuousity was something he was very well known for and the impetus for his dislike of romantic-era piano composition
He ignores so much of what Beethoven writes in the score that it boggles the mind. Beethoven clearly writes Adagio Expressivo in bar 9 and again in 58. He just runs over it as if it's all in one tempo. The middle movement may be prestissimo but it's still quavers, not semiquavers. But truly, he's simply off to the races all through the piece. It's just 'watch my fingers go.' The climax is barely involving at all much less elevating, and the few times he tries to be lyrical it's simpering.
Non riesco a capire perché il primo suono della sonata sia sentito da molti pianisti, compreso Gould, come prima dell'inizio della battuta. Certo, un professionista vede la musica in modo diverso rispetto a un dilettante (e io sono un dilettante). Ma dopotutto, sentiamo che letteralmente dopo poche misure l'intera costruzione ritmica per qualche motivo si sposta dal secondo suono al primo. È come iniziare un passo prima con il piede destro e poi improvvisamente con il sinistro.
And those who praise this interpretation have clearly never played this sonata or in fact any of these late Beethovenian masterpieces. Gould contradicts everything he states in his initial monologue. Though I admire many of his interpretations, primarily those of J.S. Bach, his musicianship, and impact on music as a whole, he did a tremendous injustice to one of the greatest works ever composed for solo piano.
it's a very dramatic contrast to Gould's performance of the sonata 31, which is remarkably slower than some others'. This is a significant departure from how Gould typically interpreted music.
You see the danger is the support of muscles to play the piece beautifully. So many aspects of it that anyone with damage will experience shortage of brain signals and end up with Amnesia.
Sauf le respect qu'on doit à ce grand interprète, le premier mouvement est joué, à mon avis, beaucoup trop vite et de façon trop mécanique. Comparez à Claudio Arrau... Mieux dans le second qui se prête mieux à un interprétation un peu sèche. Définitivement Glenn Gould n'est pas un grand beethovénien.
Questo non è Beethoven. E' tutto stravolto. Tempi staccati in modo assurdo, nessun ritornello. Classico esempio di nessun rispetto per il pensiero musicale dell'autore.
Basically, someone decided to go around and tell everyone about my condition, like Tourettes syndrome and making sure you speak to these people the same way as anyone else and etc.. So basically making everyone welcome and not showing the condition until someone treats it. While we are not violent, people are. With that being of concern you want to make sure Government gives everyone equal rights to be as elegant as us. While this can't be forced on everyone it can certainly be forced on many.
So sad someone can understand of the logic but can’t get and transmit beauty and pleasure of it because of that fast tempo, lack of singing tone and contrasts ..
Now we all want to show respect for people that made it. You pay equally to everyone except certain professions that are an exception. If a president does not understand that much, shall we blame him for that? No, I say blame statisticians for filing a lawsuit against local politicians.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I am speechless!! I have never heard this recording and ashamed to admit that. No one has or probably ever will play this masterpiece with such glory, energy, perfection, and tenderness all in one moment of time. Grateful this is posted. Thank you so much!
he blows all other pianists out of the water with his articulation and precision.
What a wonderful artist he was and brilliant musical mind. It's a joy to listen to him speak and preform.
A brilliant musical mind does not refer to Mozart as one of the worst composers who ever lived. This is not merely a matter of opinion, not a case of 'You like Mozart, I don't, let's agree to disagree'. Gould dogmatically stated that Mozart was an incredibly bad composer, based largely on the inferiority of Mozart's counterpoint to that of Bach. Gould even went to the trouble of recording the entire piano sonata cycle of Mozart in order to back up his opinion, making sure to play the pieces in as perfunctory and un-nuanced a manner as possible. This is not a matter of debate; it is a fact that Mozart is one of the greats. I could respect Gould if he had actually demonstrated his theory by conducting searching comparison and analysis, but for him to 'back up' his outrageous statements by playing Mozart's works in such a way as to make them resemble circus music is intellectually dishonest distortion of the most egregious sort. Needless to say, I am not a fan of Mr Gould.
@@jasonhurd4379 Mozart was great composer. If you read the lives of many brilliant people from infinite fields and backgrounds, ultimately you will find something they said (or believe) which isn't that outstanding. Human beings are not perfect. However Glenn was brilliant, so he didn't understand Mozart, unfortunate for him. I wonder if as good as he was?
@@jasonhurd4379 p
@@jasonhurd4379 Lol. Circus music. Much like your circus post. He brought Mozart to life with his unconventional interpretations. Most other renditions of Mozart put people to sleep.
@@jasonhurd4379 спасибо за Ваше мнение. Великого Моцарта невозможно оскорбить. Гульд высоко мнения о себе.
On this piece he articulates the various voices /melodies better than any other pianist I have heard. Very Impressive!!
If only there were still programmes like this on the television.
I'd almost consider having one again...
Mr. Newman, if you only knew how much I love and agree with what you just said. 🎶🤘
Like, no f**ing kidding, right? When I was recovering from surgery in the hospital room last week.. I didn't turn the tv on even once. I'm only in my 30s and I cannot stomach most of the idiotic crap on there now.
Instead i was playing videos like this on my phone to listen to. Too bad i didnt bring my speaker.
@@lvbdevinelove2329 Yep, l entirely agree.
I hope you made a full recovery. 😊
The most articulate musician I've ever heard and that's just in his speech
Helene Grimaud is considered the female Glen Gould. Like Gould, Grimaud is highly articulate and bears the same facial movements when playing. Gould was Grimaud's piano idol.
A planet of smart and talented people who are thoughtful. I want in.
16:07 Fantastic moment by Gould. Perfection. But only perfection.
Fascinating. Gould struggles with middle period Beethoven but, with late Beethoven, he realises that he can relate to the great composer’s arcane compositional research and especially to his contrapuntal engagement with older styles (especially Bach) and hey presto Gould can play it marvellously! It has its eccentricities (of course) but it’s so intelligent and clear and revelatory. The impeccability of his fast playing is astounding!
Glenn said he wasnt a teacher. Although he didn't teach private piano lessons at the keyboard, he was certainly teaching when he gave lectures like this one. 😀
And when he played as well Teaching by example and also inspiring
Why is no one mentioning the extraordinary quality of this 60s audio?
Maybe it's more of like quality of Mr gould
Perhaps because few of the people here are focusing on that and perhaps don't know much about the recording aspect.
You just did
The quality of this 60s audio is extraordinary.
Yes, Mr. Gould was quite the audiophile. Now that you mention it, it is very transparent and colorful compared to most recordings from that time. And of course, there's a warmth in these older recordings that is often missing from newer recordings. But as another commenter pointed out, most people come here and only focus on his performance, not so much the audio quality. Still, thanks for pointing it out!
Good tidings Mr. Glenn Gould where ever you are.
He's dead.
How he strikes the key at 5:18 for emphasis.. This is one of his best interpretations of a Beethoven sonata. He uses more pedal here than he usually does.
Love your insigth
Daniel Barenboim hits that particular fortissimo with his entire fist if you watch his No. 30 interpretation lmao
I sometimes have the feeling that Gould is the only one who plays the "Prestissimo" as intended by Beethoven. When Beethoven writes "Prestissimo", he means it.
A great intellect and a wonderful pianist.
I would say one of the best in the world.
@@francobonanni3499 Pienamente d'accordo.
@@francobonanni3499how he hasn't heard of a metronome are stupid
@@damianomazzarini6464you are dome 😂😂
It is a terrific joy to hear Glenn Gould play the masters
🪑🎹 *Glenn Gould Plays Beethoven* 🎹🪑
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major,
Op. 109 *(1820)*
00:00 *Remarks by Glenn Gould*
06:46 I. Vivace ma non troppo-
Adagio espressivo
09:41 II. Prestissimo
11:46 III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster
Empfindung. Andante molto
cantabile ed espressivo
Glenn Gould, piano
*Originally broadcast June 3, 1964 by the CBC*
1770 - 1827. He died at age 56.
@@palladin331 : Thanks. I fixed my typo. ✅
Questo è" più grande pianista di tutti i tempi passati presenti e futuri
Most wonderful. Geniale Glenn Gould
one of the most rapid versions of this Sonata I'm aware of, even comparing to Richter who had serious speed. He must have had to fit the recording in within the time frame of the TV segment or something, after allotting for his speech.
regardless, it's a really dramatic reading. Gould is the greatest ever because he was so transformative. Nobody is polling pianists' opinions of, say, Argerich, Cortot, or Rubenstein in the 2020s like they do still with Gould. I find with nearly everything he played, I will compare his version to other greats'. If I hear a version of a piece by a great, I will try to find Gould's version of it if it exists. His reading of any piece is *always* worth comparison whereas I cannot say that about a lot of others'.
This is the fastest performance of this sonata I have ever heard, and because I have the urtext version, I know there is just no way this is what Beethoven had in mind ... however, to the extent that Beethoven in his later years looked back so much toward Bach, the clarity of the counterpoint in the voices here that Mr. Gould brings out is remarkable ... I will know what to listen better for in more reasonable tempi for this!
i believe he needed to accelerate to bring the piece in under the TV segment limit given his time for speaking prior to the piece
regardless, his technical proficiency is off-scale. Richter's version in Moscow '72 is rapid compared to some others', though not as rapid as Gould's. I find, though, myself thinking that if Beethoven could have heard Gould's versions of these later Sonatas he may have considered adjusting his scoring lol
I can just imagine Glenn and Ludwig having colorful conversations in Heaven
Interpretazione non Beethoveniana, glenn gould riesce ad arricchirla. Ne trova altro oro nascosto. Genio assoluto.
Thanks you tube for suggesting this video
GG, sometimes quirky, idiosyncratic….but always worth a careful listen. Formidable technique. Well-equipped to demonstrate his ideas and theories.
yes, unlike nearly every other great, Gould is always worth a listen
Fantastic! Forget about all the book learning and premeditated rules. In the end so often the latter group of players do not possess essential feelings and humanity boiling down to anemic.results.
Gould is a giant who all musicians should revere! He was also a lovely person. Eric Shumsky
What an eccentric genius!
Isn't it wonderful to have someone who knows what was going on
in Beethoven's mind. What would we do without Gleen?
This performance, no doubt, sets a track record for Op. 109--and by so much (without the clarifying repeats in the variation movement) that it reminds me of Secretariat's 31-length win in the Belmont Stakes completing the mile and a half in 2:24 and change. I fail to hear any compensating revelation for his ignoring most of Beethoven's scrupulous markings.
Agree completely.
I wish his humming wasn’t edited out
One needs a dictionary, a thesaurus, Grove's music dictionary and maybe even the Britannica encyclopedia to understand what this man is seeing, feeling, expressing and trying to explain to us his understanding of a canonical work for piano; it's hard to reduce genius to sound-bites and perhaps that's why we don't see programs of this quality often.
grazie ancora
Ein unfassbares Wunder ist und bleibt er, selbst ein Superlative kommt ihm nicht gerecht. Sein früher Tod ist so wie er unfassbar, eines Tages werden wir ihn wiedersehen in einer Welt der Ewigkeit und hier gehört er hin in Gottes neue Welt...
grazie di nuovo
That flash of ankle. Those big words! I'm having palpitations. And then he plays. ❤
grazie
tv used to have really nice things...amazing.
The Boss.
Such interesting rubato!
nice to hear him using so much pedal.
Sound engineers used to have a nightmare trying to avoid recording the creaking of Gould's old chair. You can really hear that issue hear when Gould is sitting down and talking.
Not to mention his incessant humming along with the music.
Gould’s almost offhanded point about Beethoven’s simultaneous time-spans is very analogous to how Heinrich Schenker’s strictly thematic structural relationships often work, too, across sometimes several layers (“Schichte”) of graphic analysis.
Glorious performance. How rare is it for the performer to discuss the primary motifs of the piece before the performance?
His playing sucks big time.... horrible performance of this gorgeous sonata... but you will never convince Gould groupies............
@@TJFNYC212 you play it then, clown
@@leonardrecker5377 STFU!
@@leonardrecker5377 his playing is dreadful and I have played it multiple times. He’s playing as if in a race…that is not what Beethoven intended. The first movement is an abomination.
@@TJFNYC212 hi hi hi ! Poverino....
The comments here are interesting. I love Gould's interpretations of Bach. His entire reputation rests upon these. His willingness to color outside the lines so dramatically in other areas is much less welcome. I have been disappointed in a lot of it.
He was a profoundly talented musician. You don't need to buy everything he wants to sell.
Великолепное исполнение Браво!!!
How does Gould get 4 thumbs down? On an other Note, he would tell his closest friends that aliens were following him at times, and today we know that could be true!
Those people who downvoted either did it by mistake or just don't appreciate music simply or our rigid or biased. His playing is no doubt epic according to me. Aliens in the case of Gould, might be the souls of composers like Bach guiding him hahaha!!
Come on. The non appreciation was solely the result of this video being presented in Black & White.
😊❤
@bingming Or maybe aliens = inmigrants 😋 . Or perhaps he had not paid yet his suit and the tailor was sending sicarios after him. The possibilities are endless. 😉
I didn't understand a single word...but I'm pretty sure this a very well eloquent speech that I would enjoy were I an intellectual. By any chance if u understand this and have time plz explain this in the comments in easier to understand words for everyone
--To whoever reads this comment
He basically said that it was harmonically less adventurous than other Beethoven works, but that in those occasions where it is, it is very striking. That there are strong motivic links in the work and that an extract in the first movement that moves from e major to e minor and back to e major depicts the entire sonata in miniature, and that this play with time is basically predicting Christopher Nolan's film Inception.
In other words, he's saying the sonata is great. It is interesting and clever, but not essential information, so no-one who doesn't catch it all is really missing out.
I can follow what he's saying but your question has already been answered well. What amazes me is that Gould seems to be talking without a tele prompter or other script. I guess if he follows the music in his head and explains what the music is doing, he doesn't need a script just as he doesn't need sheet music when playing.
@@johncitizen9540 I read in a biography that Glenn Gould would write what he was going to say days or weeks beforehand; and that he would write the dialogue as if he was talking, so the script would include interjections, pauses, and hesitations, even coughs, to make it look like he was speaking extemporaneously, and then he would memorize it and recite it precisely as it was written. So what we are seeing is Glenn Gould acting, with meticulous fidelity to a carefully calculated script, where nothing is left to chance. I think I remember he insisted on doing it that way; because the teleprompter, cue cards etc. had been suggested to him. So I guess with Glenn Gould nothing is as it seems. Which makes him a very interesting character. Of all the pianists, I think he would be the most entertaining to spend an evening with.
@@devlinbearra8897 Haha. Wow. Fascinating but in a way, not surprising. That's the sort of thing a person with Aspergers might do. Thanks very much for that. I can't believe my curiosity was resolved so quickly and precisely.
@@johncitizen9540 Haha. You're welcome.
Ah, the brilliance of youth. I'm sorry but at this this early stage of his wonderful pianistic career he seems to be concentrating on the virtuosity of the composition, so it sounds tremendous; only later can a mature artist realise that Beethoven gave so much more in depth of feeling and unworldliness. His interpretation of the wonderful "adagio espressivo" is trite. He did well to build his legacy on Bach
You're sorry ? Why apologize? Do you believe we care so much for your uninteresting opinion?
Gould is certainly an incredible pianist/musician, and his observations here are wonderful. That having been said, I would have to agree that his interpretation of this piece does not do it justice. The Beethoven sonatas are among the greatest achievements of mankind, and this one in particular is so beautiful and profound. I felt he rushed through a lot of it in a way that did not recognize the emotional content. For example, listen to Barenboim's version and there is no comparison.
@@plekkchand Why are you so hostile? I didn't find his comment at all uninteresting. Performing Beethoven should not be a horse race. I am amazed by the contradiction between Gould's apparent intellectual insight and his hell for leather assault of this great work.
I generally find Gould's Beethoven relatively 'hit or miss' so to speak. Either they're among the finest readings I've heard, such as his Tempest Sonata (ruclips.net/video/XZ5-43nF07Y/видео.html) or his TV version of the Eroica Variations (ruclips.net/video/2YLQapqoz7U/видео.html), or they're perverse and immature, the best example being the Op. 111 (ruclips.net/video/cweD70A7OTQ/видео.html).
The Op. 109 is bizarre in this sense. This particular performance is impressive, sure, and goes to show what wonderful virtuosity he had, but it reeks of immaturity, like he wanted to show everyone how great his technique was. However, just two years later, he gave one of the lyrical and tender performances of the first movement I've ever heard (ruclips.net/video/FW7WGAOCKHo/видео.html). I know he re-assessed the piece and, at the time of the interview, considered it his favourite sonata but it's incredible how it seems like performances are 50 years apart instead of two.
I don't agree. How on earth can one simply degrade a brilliantly thought through performance of the variation movement as "trite"? Trite applies when a performer merely shows the surface of a work in a kitschy or indulgent way, making use of superficial emotional expression. Gould demonstrated in this performance just how very much Beethoven can be considered an avantgardist, the father of ensuing Romanticism, by showing with great clarity the intense time span and continuous harmonic under(over)pinnings of this work. It is a revelation!!
Wonderful video. Would you be able to post Gould's pre-performance discussion of the Sweelinck Fantasia from the same programme?
Here it is: ruclips.net/video/RNCjTVcPPFI/видео.html
@@slingshotmiracle Much obliged - have had an eye out for this for a while!
0:26 "such as ____ used to build his piece". What's the name of this composer?
@@nutbits Thank you!
wait who
6:49 start
BEETHOVEN :Qu’aurait il composé s’il avait vécu plus longtemps ?
Il évoluait sans cesse…
Right and beautiful words. I totally agree.
Je pense il aurait ouvert la piste du jazz
La sonate 32 regorgeait déjà de pleines de surprises
@@remidemetz5964 да, 32 соната - это уже конец сонатизму как явлению и форме.
Это уже романтизм и импровизация
The only thing missing is a lit cigarette somewhere in the shot.
And talk of the Twilight Zone!
Can’t be 60s TV without a lit cigarette somewhere I swear 💀
❤
Gould plays Shuman
As intellectually brilliant and genius as he is and as absolutely thorough his analysis of this piece is, I have serious doubt that Beethoven was thinking of all of that when composing this music. I’m sure he was aware of what he was doing harmonically of course and the departure from traditional form was obviously intentionally. But to dissect a piece of music that, at its essence, is founded in human emotion, tragedy, struggle, and doubt, is like depriving it of its inspiration and soul and leaving only the “mathematical principles” behind. However beautiful they may be to analyze and see, such a molecular breaking down of a profoundly human piece of music just feels horribly cold and devoid of feeling.
I'm not sure Gould was cued in to the emotions on this work...his interpretation certainly seems to show a focus on counterpoint rather than emotion. I've never heard a Gould recording of Beethoven I've liked tbh.
11:45 😇
God made him a genius
I think you cannot know this so you should put "I think that" in front of your sentence. Thanks.
Agree. Everything comes from God!
he plays the first movement like he has a train to catch. He plays fast for exactly one reason - everyone plays it slower. here's a beautiful performance ruclips.net/video/5eKGHvoh93M/видео.html
Just an FYI - the second theme is marked "Adagio espressivo". Gould's is neither.
The explanation is excellent, but I think he takes the opening too quickly. Claudio Arrau always allowed space between the notes, Gould does not. The whole think sounds rushed.
Rod Serling energy
La genialità di Glenn Gould non si discute, in nessun caso
Very much an intellectual accent of his time, strangely affected yet totally honest.
A brilliant intellectual, judging the western world. Very harsh
Can you imagine anybody topping Glenn Gould´s interpretation of this sonata?
Nah
I think he actually visualized himself as a spinning TOP while playing this.
It’s not a sporting event. One can learn from, enjoy and be transported by Schnabel, Annie Fischer, Perahia, Serkin, Schiff, Backhaus( I’m sorry to say) Maria Grinberg….Everybody reveals something new about this and other works. Everyone solves or tries to solve a different problem. Or heard something that only they hear….Cortot…Yvonne Lefebure….Kempf…Gieseking(I’m sorry to say)
Gilels
Josef Raieff .
Shuman's play))))
🎉😢 3:37
The tonic, then comes the tonic followed by the diminished seventh, etc, etc, etc…LOL…
The rest is the position of the neck.
14:20
Carl Sagan introducing Beethoven in the style of The Twilight Zone.
😀 Clever! 😀
"Let me play for you: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No 30 in E Major ... but first ... allow me to talk for nearly 7 minutes."
Not just talk, but a brilliant exposition on what makes this sonata so remarkable. They gave him the time to fill (this was live TV) so he filled it!
@@lewbretz Never said it wasn't brilliant ... I commented on the time it took to present it. Bernstein did this all the time, as well, before conducting ... it says more about the musician than the music - considering Beethoven said about performing: "Sit down at the piano. Place your fingers on the keys ... and PLAY!"
@@Dizzyfingers2 Well to be fair, it's how programming was constructed back in the day. They were asked to teach/explain/lecture for the programs.
Arrau he understood
I don't think he has ever heard of a metronome bad performance.
This is so strange a performance, nothing like Schnabel's or Pollini's.
Because they are hard of hearing. Marc
The rest is understanding the nature. Flowers, grass, people that have experienced certain amount of distress, the beauty of wrinkles and natural aging process. Basically natural human rights protectors. While not everyone has the same amount of the integrity, which means we will never be safe even just walking, some cities like Chicago is a good place ne spotknutsa from the stairs.
I never understand why Gould is so praised - I find his interpretation of this masterwork cold and emotionless !
The only way to understand Gould, and why we react to him in such a polarized way, is to remember that he is Canadian, destined by geography, culture, and national temperament to measure his abilities against an external world that he assumes (mostly correctly) presupposes his insignificance. Think of Gould alongside other Canadian luminaries: Northrop Frye, Margaret Atwood, Jim Carrey. Put any of these people in relation to their Canadian peers and they seem like colossal geniuses. Put them in relation to their peers elsewhere in the world and they seem, at best, solidly in the middle and, at worst merely eccentric. All 5 of these I have named are highly self-indulgent and have a strong adolescent appeal. The thing about Gould (Carrey too in some isolated instances) is that he could definitely play with less annoying affectation than he usually did: C minor partita; E major fugue in WTC2; F minor sinfonia; a performance of the Emperor concerto he did where he sat in for another pianist who got sick (can't remember who, but you can find it on RUclips).. Undoubtedly you'll think of other examples. But he remains, by his own choice and design, defined by the kind to willfully perverse--notice me!--technical proficiency you see in this video. And that horrible humming. Bach, who, as you may know, got in a knife fight with a bassoonist who rubbed him the wrong way, would have slammed Gould's face into the keyboard if he'd hear him playing like that...
True that small population countries like Canada value their off-scale people more than say Russia. So let's give thanks for small countries. They don't waste talent like Gould.
So when it comes to Gould I am putting you down as undecided?
this is simply an unfair characterization of Gould's body of work. In fact, eschewing gratuitous technical virtuousity was something he was very well known for and the impetus for his dislike of romantic-era piano composition
He ignores so much of what Beethoven writes in the score that it boggles the mind. Beethoven clearly writes Adagio Expressivo in bar 9 and again in 58. He just runs over it as if it's all in one tempo. The middle movement may be prestissimo but it's still quavers, not semiquavers. But truly, he's simply off to the races all through the piece. It's just 'watch my fingers go.' The climax is barely involving at all much less elevating, and the few times he tries to be lyrical it's simpering.
Very true!
He said himself that he was rather a composer than a performer
Non riesco a capire perché il primo suono della sonata sia sentito da molti pianisti, compreso Gould, come prima dell'inizio della battuta. Certo, un professionista vede la musica in modo diverso rispetto a un dilettante (e io sono un dilettante). Ma dopotutto, sentiamo che letteralmente dopo poche misure l'intera costruzione ritmica per qualche motivo si sposta dal secondo suono al primo. È come iniziare un passo prima con il piede destro e poi improvvisamente con il sinistro.
And those who praise this interpretation have clearly never played this sonata or in fact any of these late Beethovenian masterpieces. Gould contradicts everything he states in his initial monologue. Though I admire many of his interpretations, primarily those of J.S. Bach, his musicianship, and impact on music as a whole, he did a tremendous injustice to one of the greatest works ever composed for solo piano.
it's a very dramatic contrast to Gould's performance of the sonata 31, which is remarkably slower than some others'. This is a significant departure from how Gould typically interpreted music.
You see the danger is the support of muscles to play the piece beautifully. So many aspects of it that anyone with damage will experience shortage of brain signals and end up with Amnesia.
He should never have released this Performance
Sauf le respect qu'on doit à ce grand interprète, le premier mouvement est joué, à mon avis, beaucoup trop vite et de façon trop mécanique. Comparez à Claudio Arrau... Mieux dans le second qui se prête mieux à un interprétation un peu sèche. Définitivement Glenn Gould n'est pas un grand beethovénien.
I tempi sono sempre quelli non canonici
Too rushed, why?!
probably a limit on the TV broadcast
He found the soap that works best for him.
I love his performance, but it's like quantum physics that he is explaining. 🙂
Questo non è Beethoven. E' tutto stravolto. Tempi staccati in modo assurdo, nessun ritornello. Classico esempio di nessun rispetto per il pensiero musicale dell'autore.
Lei ha raggione
Per fortuna Beethoven non l'ha sentito suonare.
Слишком легко и поверхностно? Много rubato
日本語の字幕付けてくれへんか。
Because someone's psychological state did not match with mine or somebody did not have the proper discipline?
11:47 .. aria .. Beethoven ..
Features matter.
Basically, someone decided to go around and tell everyone about my condition, like Tourettes syndrome and making sure you speak to these people the same way as anyone else and etc.. So basically making everyone welcome and not showing the condition until someone treats it. While we are not violent, people are. With that being of concern you want to make sure Government gives everyone equal rights to be as elegant as us. While this can't be forced on everyone it can certainly be forced on many.
I do not like his interpretation and his speech is just as restless and jumbled together. It's a miracle he doesn't run out of air mid sentences.
So sad someone can understand of the logic but can’t get and transmit beauty and pleasure of it because of that fast tempo, lack of singing tone and contrasts ..
With the eyes of the painter. #Eyes matter
Mother's Shoes?
Now we all want to show respect for people that made it. You pay equally to everyone except certain professions that are an exception. If a president does not understand that much, shall we blame him for that? No, I say blame statisticians for filing a lawsuit against local politicians.
Basically kak pautina sometimes your fear takes over.
The biggest fear? To not see my mom. Blindness.
This shows an uncredible genious at work. Nothing less.
But this is cold like a Manhattan building in January.
Gould is unable to enter an emotion.
I think Pollini is much better, paying attention to much more details but still keeping the rhythm much better.