I get chills watching this. Two geniuses communicating across the centuries.

@OmarrAwake

8 жыл бұрын

well said

@OmarrAwake

8 жыл бұрын

well said

@MatematicaTel

8 жыл бұрын

No doubt Bach is close to him. Time it´s only a small detail...

@georginashone5642

8 жыл бұрын

dan you sound pretty cool. I'm now 18 years old been listening to Gould since I was about 16... he just amazes me ya know? words just can't describe Bach's music. it's magic.

@k4ir0s

7 жыл бұрын

this is just as much Gould as it is Bach :)

i don't know how many times i watched this over years.

@marciaflyte8978

19 күн бұрын

I'm the same, then recently listened in quality headphones and it was like I'd never heard it!!

This is the first version I listened to. And, after hearing it I realize that no other will compare.

@The_Invisible_Man

3 жыл бұрын

Except the original played by Bach… we can only imagine.

@rrrrrr-kb9sb

2 жыл бұрын

Except his tempo here is slightly too slow

@dylanisaac1312

Жыл бұрын

@@rrrrrr-kb9sb according to whom?

@lutubo07

10 ай бұрын

​@@The_Invisible_Mansì, ma il pianoforte chi glielo dava? 🙂

@dr.b2949

8 ай бұрын

Try the Version by Gulda: It is not so innig but has power and authority.

Bach is a rare type of a composer whose pieces can be played in such a different manner (slow, fast, staccato, legato etc.) and they still don't lose their meaning...

@lucienfournier5399

Жыл бұрын

So true..

@Nullum000

Жыл бұрын

s o o o true. is it beautiful? ... yea. but more than that. deep, far, wide, ancient, modern, eternal, simple, complex, elegant, fundamental, omniscient, omnipotent, other-worldly.

@DeepCrossing1

8 ай бұрын

yes exactrly it's a test of Bach's genius that his composition can be applied to so many instruments

@Prof.SeigfriedGildenblatten

4 ай бұрын

I agree.

@marlongoolcharan3162

19 күн бұрын

Any composers music can be interpreted that way...slow, fast. Bach's internal structure*harmonization/ structural development is what determines the tempo. Might I just hypothesize that Bach's tempos were slightly slower than we play then today?

I love the slow tempo of his Bach interpretations. It really allows one to truly appreciate the intricacy and beauty of Bach's pieces.

@tree_fingers

4 жыл бұрын

Yes this interpretation is much more profound than his studio version of this same piece

@eduardopuccini

3 жыл бұрын

@@tree_fingers I agree, the beautiful moments of harmony stand out much more in this tempo, making the piece so moving in general.

this fugue is the most touching piece among the 24 fugues in the two volumes by Bach, it's good to hear someone paying so much attention to its emotional and contrapuntal details which are not necessarily given its due by other pianists, even some Bach specialist aren't so aware of its emotional depth and beauty.

@sebastianciarfella3061

3 жыл бұрын

Hmmmmm nah, I'd say the 4th fugue (1st volume) is just the absolute best out of all in every sense, 5 voices, 3 themes, the 2nd longest fugue (depending also on which speed you decide to play it) constantly increasing completely, exaggerated amount of colours in the piece. Just perfection

@blankname4716

3 жыл бұрын

@@sebastianciarfella3061 his interpretation of the c# minor fugue from book 1 is kinda comical. The playing itself is incredible considering the level of detail kept at such a fast tempo. I personally prefer the interpretation from the channel smalin even though it's a compilation of vocoder recordings. Overall, the c# minor fugue is quite serious in manner (even Gould's version comes off, to me, as a scooby doo mystery). However, the E major fugue here feels like home..

@rebekahcuriel-alessi2239

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! I suppose learning technical intricacies of a piece is a fragment of the unseen emotional intricacies bound to it.

@vincent-ataramaniko

Жыл бұрын

@@sebastianciarfella3061 And it's also a triple fugue .... !

@vincent-ataramaniko

Жыл бұрын

@@blankname4716 I found Gould's interpretation of it very dark. At such tempo, the divertissement (I don't know how you call that in English) sounds like death approaching at a very fast pace.

Unbelievably beautiful... His Bach is simply unique.

Glenn Gould polarizes the audience. I don't mind his strange behaviours, in the opposite, in our times where everybody tends to try acting, looking and speaking "cool", he just immersed into the music on a level of intensity that is rare. The beauty that flows of every note of Bach is making even stones cry.

@anastaciaemilia4026

2 ай бұрын

simply love your comment

Glenn could really bend the laws of time....it really seems that time bends following his phrasing. Amazing

What makes Gould so special for me is that whenever you close your eyes and listen to Gould's recordings they "feel" alive, like he is your good friend sitting in front of you playing after a healthy musical discussion .

There is nothing like a a great artist, a master in his craft, that at the same time knows how to strike a pose.

@VictorVentriloquista

8 ай бұрын

Hahahahaha!

A timeless five minutes. How music goes beyond words, and every other art form. The greatest composer interpreted by the greatest musician of the century.

The spiritual depth of this fugue belongs in the realm of the divine.

Absolute chills hearing this version and seeing the emotion that Glenn pours into it.

I feel sorrow, loneliness, melancholy, and recollection of the past. The beauty and spirituality of the music is revealed when it acknowledges all of those feelings, and provides a mellow intimacy of gratefulness, contentment, and companionship. Life-affirming and celestial are my best descriptions of this masterpiece

There is certainly a mystical, metaphysical quality inthis fugue( as there is in all of Gould's playing) and what could be more metaphysical than trencending time and space listening to a piece in 2020 that was writtten in the early 1700s and recorded inthe 1980s

He LOVES each and every note and their connection to each other!

@rebekahcuriel-alessi2239

3 жыл бұрын

Yes. And did you notice his loving stroke of the last note?

He was already not well in this video --yet the maturity and depth of his emotion shines through. No longer a kid, he gives us a gift with this.

This is the highest level of music making. You need to hear to believe. A whole life is embedded in 5 minutes work.

I think the people making comments about his posture, or the amount of drama and emotion put in don't understand that it's GLENN FUCKING GOULD.

@eislakkon3110

4 жыл бұрын

I understand that. I accept his point of view. I accept the right of a musician who try so hard to express his opinion. I find his theatrical movements an exaggeration and excuse me but I don't like that. E

@michelecherchi154

4 жыл бұрын

@@eislakkon3110 just close you eyes and enjoy this miracle!

@lordspongebobofhousesquare1616

4 жыл бұрын

@@eislakkon3110 yet you're still here, probably unable to listen to other recordings because you immediately notice they're worse than Gould's :v (don't worry I do too)

@Kitties_are_pretty

3 жыл бұрын

​@@eislakkon3110 I'm pretty sure Glenn Gould was just crazy, and couldn't control these movements. I don't think it's right to call these movements "exaggerated".

@octave11thpianist58

3 жыл бұрын

@@Kitties_are_pretty I agree, he's been humming to his own music his own life and he never broke the habit.

What a moving performance. I became a Gould fan today.

The best cadence ever at the end!!! so good it's almost ridiculous.

From God's mind to Bach's heart to Gould fingers. Only this genius can capture the essence of divine profundity with his simple hands. God bless Glenn Gould

@supermassivedwarf

4 жыл бұрын

Gould Bless America

@DiegoCarrillo3

3 жыл бұрын

@@supermassivedwarf what

@rebekahcuriel-alessi2239

3 жыл бұрын

Yes. God bless him.

@cj5273

2 жыл бұрын

You nailed it

Superb,.. beautiful... no words to express such feeling!

yes this is the magic of Bach. To some extent it's not only irrelevant how you play Bach, his music retains its intimate nature also when it's played with different instruments

A treasure beyond any words... this is the sound of the human soul beseeching God...

Truly beautiful... and deeply moving. Bach read by Gould, intensely personal and to be honest a jewel.

Really like to see how Glen deeply melt into the music while playing the piano

After listening to this I think I wouldn´t be sorry to die because I´ve just heard the most beautiful thing ever... thanks a lot for sharing. It´s absoulte.

I've been admiring this piece for few months now and I never get enough of it, I even started playing it myself... tough piano is only my secondary instrument. After studying it so well, I do prefer the fugue on harpsichord, but this version from Glenn Gould is absolutely a favorite

He most probably is not the greatest player of them all, but he's the only one, who accomplished to make me enjoy, love, watch and listen to this kind of classic music, of which I'm not a big fan to begin with, again and again for years now. As this is something that is not only happening to me, but also to a ton of others in the audience,. he indeed has something special to offer. He's able to transport that specialty of him and the magic of the music to the listeners, that no one else can in his special unique way. Not only his idiosyncratic style of playing, which though underlines and transports his deep passion, love and respect from him for the composer and the craftsmanship of this masterpieces, forwards this directly over to the audience. There is a thin line between genius and madness that is just mesmerizing and fascinating.

This fugue is written in 4 part structure with each voice is treated independently, almost chorally. In a fugue, the subject is the main thing being stated, and each voice gets the chance to speak that subject. The counter subject is basically the accompanying conversation that goes along with the subject. The subject starts in the bass, and works its way to the tenor, alto and soprano line. For a good explanation, look for the video of Glenn talking about this piece.

@jacksycz

Жыл бұрын

It is a great education piece too. We did this in advanced ear training.

Wow, like a great hymn from above. No one can ever say what a correct tempo is for Bach. This is pure greatness, Bach and Gould.

I love his recordings later in his life vs when he was younger.

Plain, unobstructed, celestial--very difficult when dealing with arguably the best composer of all time. As usual, no fallacies in Gould's rendition. Thank you for the post!

This is beyond words.

I have watched many of these video's and I think I have come to the conclusion (albeit probably shallow on my part) that Mr. Gould actually becomes every note he plays. His hands are the mechanism, the piano, its strings and sound board the speaker with his soul the music expressed for our ears to hear...

Absolutely fantastic!

Absolutely sublime

Magnifica interpretazione della mia fuga preferita.

This piece makes me so thankful to be alive. So thank you God for my life and that this exists, and that this COULD exist.

Mesmerizing is the word. Perfectly flavor and not too much salt 👌

Beautiful music.

When I listen to this, I have to remind myself to breathe. Happy birthday, Glenn Gould.

Великолепный , великий пианист . Виртуоз. Слушать и смотреть сплошное удовольствие !

@releasethefrogs Not only slowness but also the special articulation and the phrases he chose to bold and the way he phrased everything. Pure genius, I have no words for it. I can't explain what I feel the moment I hear this truly divine performance.

Magnificent! So touching!

This man was SO into Bach's music and understood SO much that it killed him in the end. You can see pictures of him as the years went on and he really was destroyed from the inside. We are only so lucky to have had him, there shall never be another Glenn Gould.

@jacksycz

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. That’s an understatement

@hemiolaguy

8 ай бұрын

I disagree. Getting close to Bach doesn't kill people -- Bach gives life! Gould was a severe hypochondriac, and what destroyed his health was his incessant self-medication with all sorts of pills.

@musical_lolu4811

7 ай бұрын

Weird comment.

@robbyburns5822

7 ай бұрын

@@musical_lolu4811 I agree. I was pretty edgy back then

@87890-

3 ай бұрын

I did not understand the comment​@@robbyburns5822

Indeed we could say he mesmerizes himself by the beauty of the sound....

Per me la Fuga più espressiva e imponente del grande Maestro di Eisenach, degna di consacrarlo nel tempo come il Dio della musica universale sulla terra

he played this just ... right. I love Bach, and I admire Gould for playing it this way.

One masterpiece coming up !

@obxemt

7 жыл бұрын

Mehdi F "As I said, a masterpiece." :-)

When Gould and Bach meet, it becomes the most complete and touching art.

Welch eine schöne Musik! ❤

This is an extremely great interpretation of this piece. Wow.

Listening to this deep music,I close eyes eyes and feel myself in some other world,a very strange world.

What more can you ask for? I mean, Glenn just gives it his whole being. This is intensely personal, close, introspective, and above all full of "heart". Thanks for posting!

a swift uppercut to the invisible page turner at 1:00

@maybudha

4 жыл бұрын

lol

@ringzy

3 жыл бұрын

😂😂

@midny4087

3 жыл бұрын

LOL I wish he then flicks the invisible page turner off at 1:01 😂

Very expressive

The prelude to this fugue, which is the best in WTK2, is also unbelievably well performed by him.

@urekmazino8799

10 ай бұрын

I share the same Opinion:) (about being the best Prelude)

Pure music, divine; simply divine

On ne s’en lasse pas ! Superbe !

I have never seen Glen Gould with a piece of sheet music in front of him, even when playing with ensembles.--A complete, intimate and thorough mental memorization of the music he is expressing.

Yes. These version was recorded in 57, with partitas 5-6. So Glenn Gould made 4 recordings of this fugue: 1.1957 - Audio with Partitas 5/6 2.1963 - Audio of the complete WTC 3.(-) - Video in a modern harpsichord 4.1976-1981 - This Video, part of Glenn Gould plays Bach series Thanks!

A genius playing another Genius.

Imagine if Gould had met Bach! Well I suppose maybe he has? Only Gould could express to him what a phenomenal landmark Bach has been in human thought. Someone else has said that we could leave the achievements of Newton or Einstein as a testament to human achievement. - To leave Bach would just be showing off!

@joefagan9335

9 жыл бұрын

Orlagh Fagan Great points Orlagh. Oh I love your name!

@elisabou3683

6 жыл бұрын

Well said. I second that.

Wow , suddenly , this makes life just that bit more bareable :D , its music like this we truly live for isnt it Thanks for posting

when i hear it on Glenn gould the Fugue in E i understand it very much better as from all others pianist i ever hear it in the world, and i hear it so many...

This interpretation is unique. Its hard to listen to the same piece of music again by other performers without missing the intensity and expression by GG

...eine wunderbare Interpretation; ganze Eigenart, Genie und absolute Leidenschaft, also Bach in seiner Vollkommenheit...Komplexe Musik für die Seele...

This boys and girls is what happens when the boundaries between you and the instrument desolves.

@ericlopez6866

5 жыл бұрын

Yes. It's very hard to achieve, but it happens once in a while.

@fractalphilosophorum9405

4 жыл бұрын

Yet, Gould was against attaching yourself to the instrument. As Monsaingeon approximativly said about Gould and the piano "detached from the instrument that he mastered to perfection". You can find this citation in the beginning of the documentary about Gould's second, and last, recording of the goldberg variations.

The way Glenn responds while playing makes me think he feels the fuge is heroic.

The English composer S. S. Wesley nicknamed this fugue "Saints in Glory". Not an impertinence given the noble nature and breathtakingly clear counterpoint.

Of all Bach's music, all of Glenn Gould's interpretations, this one simply makes me speechless, even sad. It is as if a whole life is told in one short piece of music. I was listening to this at a Cape Cod beach sunrise, alone. The feeling transcended words or even emotions. BTW, does anyone know if there is a CD/audio version of this? I bought a Sony released Well Tempered Clavier by Gould, but in that he plays much faster. I'd much prefer this tempo.

@navigator1383

7 жыл бұрын

It seems to be one one of his favorites

@music_pillow3246

7 жыл бұрын

HeyIt'sBrian it's on his cd with Goldberg Variations from 1955 as one of few additional tracks

@music_pillow3246

7 жыл бұрын

HeyIt'sBrian i think it's not exactly this recording but it's quite similar to this one

@miguelm5764

7 жыл бұрын

There is a version so similar to this included in an early recording of the partitas nos 5 & 6. But this is, without doubt, his best.

@johntravena119

5 жыл бұрын

When I was in college I would walk a lot and think. When I felt lost I would always play this fugue on my headphones and it would bring me back to Terra Firma, like walking through a labyrinth.

Please, this is the way this master feels the music...

Very emotional and expressive performance indeed❤

A remarkable fugue, a remarkable performance AND tempo

This is madness. Sheer genius. He feels every note as if he is one with them...complete dissolution into the piece. Ahhh!!! just close your eyes and listen. I think Bach would simply faint if he heard this interpretation of his composition.

@pwnayr

7 жыл бұрын

:'D

The slow tempo gives one time to savour the beauty

this one gets me every time.

生きる意味みたいなものを感じられる次元を超えた演奏

This performance makes me feel so sad and lonely for some reason

@tester5709

3 жыл бұрын

Listen to it when you’re sad and lonely, and it’ll have the opposite effect

@The_Invisible_Man

3 жыл бұрын

Indeed, something about the truth is sad.

it feels like he's still with us :)

GLen Gould is the true master of fugue and he is ruler of Music at all!

Gould plays the piano as though it was an organ….he controls the sonority so that every single note is heard, which is an insane accomplishment. A lot of concert pianists can obviously play Bach’s music, but there are far too many who actually-incomprehensibly!-use the sustain pedal, pummeling the gorgeous contrapuntal framework into a mass of mush. There are commenters who rave about the exhibitions, and all I can think is that their minds can’t make any sense of what’s going on. In Gould’s genius hands, the music is so pristine, so crystalline, so heartbreakingly gorgeous, that I often forget to breathe.

Perfect teknik, perfect sound, thank you m. Glenn.

Immenso!

One of the greatest fugues in the whole WTC.

Ohhh! I love him for this!

Can you even begin to imagine their reunion???

@theavodkado

5 жыл бұрын

Janet Smith this is such a wonderful comment! It made me smile !!

Wow! this is the first video I've seen of Glen Gould playing the piano. He is quite mad, and extremely brilliant.

My piano teacher: Don't tense your shoulders. Don't exaggerate your hands. Sit up straight. Glenn Gould:

The Cleveland Orchestra conductor said it best: "this nut is a genius."

tan apasionado y expresivo Gould, me encanta :)

That is REAL meditation It is based on ABSOLUTE dedication That is LIFE 🔶

How can he handle two voices so perfectly. A few notes. With one hand Ikr i play such things myself and i can handle everything but this is just something else

Playing that speed-slow is much more difficult ! Glen gould : trippatif ! Merci à ce génie.

Making love to his piano! So much intensity.

sometimes when i'm working really hard on music and need a break, i listen to glenn, then decide is should just give up... and take a little break. lol

With Gould none of his mannerisms seem fake. I'm sure Beethoven was a bit weird to a lot of people as well. Thank God for weird people.