There are moments in 'The Art of Fugue' that are much more valuable than just its incredible virtuosity. There are moments that surpass everything else that Bach wrote. I can't think of anything that moves me more deeply than the last fugue, the unfinished fugue. Not just because of all the ... Read review
Advantages: Very good price, brilliant quality of performance and recording Disadvantages: None to note
There are moments in 'The Art of Fugue' that are much more valuable than just its incredible virtuosity. There are moments that surpass everything else that Bach wrote. I can't think of anything that moves me more deeply than the last fugue, the unfinished fugue. Not just because of all the emotional, sentimental views that we inevitably bring to it, not because we know that he died while half way through a bar. But because that last fugue has a ... ...
It's a still a serious world, deserted and rigid and without colour and without light and without motion. This piece reaches hundreds of years into the future.
It creates an impression of an infinitely expanding universe.
He literally signs his own name - by using the notes Bb A C B (H) for the theme - to the work he obviously new would sum up his own life.
There are moments in 'The Art of Fugue' that are much more valuable than just its incredible virtuosity. There are moments that surpass everything else that Bach wrote. I can't think of anything that moves me more deeply than the last fugue, the unfinished fugue. Not just because of all the emotional, sentimental views that we inevitably bring to it, not because we know that he died while half way through a bar. But because that last fugue has a sense of peace, that even for Bach, seems completely overwhelming.
It's a still a serious world, deserted and rigid and without colour and without light and without motion. This piece reaches hundreds of years into the future.
It creates an impression of an infinitely expanding universe.
He literally signs his own name - by using the notes Bb A C B (H) for the theme - to the work he obviously new would sum up his own life.
I don't believe anyone has ever understood what Bach was writing more than Glenn Gould. And in this recording, he has the ability to translate from the page to piano with ultimate perfection and understanding and virtuosity.
