I can scarcely believe this hasn’t been reviewed before.
Were I to be forced to listen to but one piece of music for the rest of my life, then J.S Bach’s Goldberg variations would be my immediate and unqualified nomination, and if I was given the opportunity to choose a specific recording, then the 1956 Glenn Gould would certainly be top of my list.
A few notes on the piece of music itself;
Written in 1742, just eight years from his death, the Goldberg Variations represents one of the highest points in cultural achievement of any composer in the western tradition.
JS Bach came from a large extended family famous for their musical ability, for around a hundred years it was virtually compulsory that every aristocratic family in central Europe employed one of the Bach clan as their principal composer.
Bach lived at a crucially important period in musical history, the old tuning systems associated with ‘early’ music were being swept away as a greater understanding of harmonic modulation could be achieved over the entire range of the musical scale – before the 1700s it was only possible to play ‘decent’ music in a very limited number of keys, if you strayed away from them, the results were so discordant as to make them virtually unlistenable.
The piece comprises of a series variations, the key of the central theme remains constant, however the accompaniment follows the full range of major and minor sharps and flats (hence a total of 32) in a variety of time signatures.
With this knowledge, it may be anticipated that the piece is a largely ‘dry’ and academic exercise, tending towards self indulgence.
Far from it.
Far from requiring a detailed knowledge of musical theory in order to fully appreciate this music, the really astonishing thing is that the work stands on it’s own merits. It’s a bit like enjoying ‘Westside Story’ without knowing that it was a musical version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, or indeed that ‘Top Cat’ was a cartoon version of ‘Bilko’.
What sustains the music is the range of emotion expressed within the variations.
Which brings us nicely to the second part of the background.
Glenn Gould was a Canadian classical piano player who came to the public notice at a relatively young age, and was responsible for some of the most intimate and expressive recordings ever made.
He had one distinctive Achilles heel, and that was that he became so emotionally involved in his work that he was almost as famous for making involuntary noises (hums, out of tune singing, grunts and squeaks) much to the despair of any recording engineer involved in the process.
In spite of their very best efforts, it was often suggested that the only way to cut this out would have been to put his head in an airtight soundproof box!
Far from detracting from the experience, it is that one ‘fault’ that really brings these recordings to life.
It’s true to say, that unless you are aware of these noises, most people would be completely oblivious to them, but they still manage to weave a subliminal magic thought the recording, and to be honest, I rather like them.
It’s also a pretty good test of your Hi-Fi kit, the clearer they are, generally the better your system is.
The Gould Recordings are available under a number of labels, the most common being the Sony mid-price CD range at around £14 each, although I’ve seen some as cheap as a fiver a throw.
I’ve only listened seriously to the Sony versions, so I can’t say whether the budget titles are significantly better or worse in quality.
The original recording was made in 1955 in New York, at the start of Gould’s career, where recording techniques were not as sophisticated, but Gould’s youth and vigour come over in spite of the recording’s shortcomings, these were remastered in 1981 shortly before Gould’s death 1982 of a stroke.
His interpretations may not meet with full approval with the ‘purists’ – some of the playing styles might raise a few eyebrows amongst Bach scholars, however the results are still exquisite. The very fact that the music is played on piano instead of two manual harpsichords would mean the ‘period’ lobby would be immediately dissatisfied with the lack of authenticity, however it isn’t marketed as such, and this is more than made up by the raw emotion contained in the tracks.
Whether you might consider this to be the absolute ultimate in keyboard recordings may depend on whether your preferences are for ‘Classic FM’ or ‘Radio 3’ – I consider myself sufficiently broadminded enough to suggest there’s bucket loads of interest for both tastes.
You get two absolute giants of classical music bearing their souls for the price of one, and resulting in one of the most exquisite recordings of all time.
If you aspire to owning just one classical keyboard album, this should be it.
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Outstanding
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