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Bach: Goldberg Variations (1981) / Glenn Gould


Release Date: 10/25/1990 
Label:  Sony Classical Masterworks Catalog #: 37779   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:  Glenn Gould
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 0 Hours 51 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

After attending a concert he had declined to conduct because of the pianist's eccentricities, George Szell said of Glenn Gould, "that nut is a genius." Few recorded debuts have had the impact of Gould's 1955 recording of the 'Goldberg Variations,' which pretty much redefined Bach keyboard performance. That performance, which has never been out of print, was joined in 1982 by this digital remake shortly before Gould's untimely death. The work accidentally framed his entire career. The two performances are sufficiently different that admirers should have both.
By 1982 the romantic impetus behind Gould's playing was much more obvious. The performance is more expansive, introducing about a dozen first half repeats as well as a broader range Read more of tempos, both fast and slow, with Gould's tendency to swoon at slow speeds much in evidence. At the same time, by using an incredibly wide range of staccato to legato playing, his complete control of articulation allows him to vary the color of the piano in a brilliant rethinking of the stops available on a harpsichord. Purist Bach this is not, but as the work of a recreative genius, in service to music he loved, this is not a recording to be missed. Read less

Works on This Recording

1. Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:  Glenn Gould (Piano)
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1741-1742; Nuremberg, Germany 
 Date of Recording: 05/1981 
Venue:  30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York 
Length: 51 Minutes 20 Secs. 
Notes: Composition written: Nuremberg, Germany (1741 - 1742). 

Sound Samples

Aria
Variation 1 a Clav.
Variation 2 a 1 Clav.
Variation 3 a 1 Clav. Canone all'Unisono
Variation 4 a 1 Clav.
Variation 5 a 1 ovvero 2 Clav.
Variation 6 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Seconda
Variation 7 a 1 ovvero 2 Clav. Al tempo di Giga
Variation 8 a 2 Clav.
Variation 9 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Terza
Variation 10 a 1 Clav. Fughetta
Variation 11 a 2 Clav.
Variation 12. Canone alla Quarta
Variation 13 a 2 Clav.
Variation 14 a 2 Clav.
Variation 15 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quinta. Andante
Variation 16 a 1 Clav. Ouverture
Variation 17 a 2 Clav.
Variation 18 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Sesta
Variation 19 a 1 Clav.
Variation 20 a 2 Clav.
Variation 21. Canone alla Settima
Variation 22 a 1 Clav. Alla breve
Variation 23 a 2 Clav.
Variation 24 a 1 Clav. Canone all'Ottava
Variation 25 a 2 Clav. Adagio
Variation 26 a 2 Clav.
Variation 27 a 2 Clav. Canone alla Nona
Variation 28 a 2 Clav.
Variation 29 a 1 ovvero 2 Clav.
Variation 30 a 1 Clav. Quodlibet
Aria da capo

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