Check out what Glenn Gould did with this piano

[kenny]

THe late Canadian pianist Glenn Gould amazes me.
This is J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #5.
It is usually played with a harpsichord, not a piano.
But Gould was an innovator.

If you don't want to listen to the whole thing just listen from about 7:40 to 10:40.

I think this may be the time I read about when he replaced the piano's felt hammers with metal ones.
Very unique sound.
Harpsichord-like, but richer.
It even is a bit like an old out of tune honky tonk upright piano.

The second movement is particularly haunting with this tone.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6984208089899995423#docid=-2626723245082747523

 

[monarch64]

Why not post him on his own?? I'm lost. He had such a true sound...

 

[kenny]

Why not post him on his own?? I'm lost.

I've heard/seen a zillion recordings/videos of him on piano.
This is the first one in which he apparently modified the piano to sound like a harpsichord by swapping the piano's usual felt hammers with metal ones.

I read about that but never heard what may be an example of it until now.

Gould is the best at Bach!
I can't get enough of him.

BTW he also did a recording for Colombia of Bach's 2-part invetions in which he adjusted the piano action to doublestrike.
It sounds like the hammer is bouncing on the strings (which it is).

The producer and engineer thought he was crazy and didn't want to release it.
Gould talked them into it.
Maestro George Szell summed up Gould perfectly when he said, "That nut's a genius."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... z0zTuUN3RW

 

[monarch64]

Awesome. Thank you Kenny for posting this. It is quite beautiful.

 

[Tuckins1]

This is so beautiful, thank you for sharing! I really love Bach, in fact I usually have Bach playing in the background in my classroom. I do, at times, find the harpsichord tedious. This was a nice, fresh take on a classic.

 

[ksinger]

Bach is killer to sing too...

I've sung Lobet den Herrn BWV 230 in concert....

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I'm such a Glenn Gould fan--I've started replacing the cds I've had for decades because they've worn out. I recently caugh 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould on IFC, I hadn't seen it in years!

 

[kenny]

I'm such a Glenn Gould fan--I've started replacing the cds I've had for decades because they've worn out. I recently caugh 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould on IFC, I hadn't seen it in years!

How funny, last night I also put that back on my Netflix queue.
Time to see it again.

BTW, Angela Hewitt (on her 10'2" Fazioli) is now my second favorite Bach deliverer.
I heard her in Orange County CA a few years ago play both books of the Well Tempered Clavier (mostly from memory).
I also attended a master class she gave.
I'm such a geek, I stood in line to buy a poster of her and get her to sign my WTC scores.