Customer Reviews

Bach: The Two and Three Part Inventions (Glen Gould Anniversary Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first heard the Bach Inventions/Sinfonias in a performance by Andras Schiff, which is a terrific album in its own way, should you happen upon it. But nothing could have prepared me for the shock that the Gould performance is. Yet time and repeated listening has made this my own personal favorite performance, as it is one of the most original musical utterances anyone could find anywhere.

For the uninitiated Gould listener, this album is eyebrow-raising. Some might even find it vulgar and off-putting. There's many obstacles in the way: the piano in this recording has serious malfunction, with a pronounced "hiccup" heard in the low-middle range. You'll also have to contend with Gould's creaking, noisy chair, which sometimes makes it sound as if this album were recorded in front of a large bonfire. Then there's the oft-mentioned Gould vocalise, which is more audible than ever here. The tempos are almost bi-polar in nature; either excruciatingly slow or hyper-fast, with not too much gray area in between. If that proves anything, it's that Gould had an almost superhuman technique which allowed him to play clean at extremely fast tempos, and with a profound emotional depth at slower tempos. No one can play as well at slow tempos as Gould does.

It has gotten to the point where I don't even have to make any attempt to block out these extraneous sounds. It's all part of what is, in summation, one of the most highly original and musical Bach albums ever issued.

I have to smile at the constant complaints over Gould's many eccentricities, especially in this recording of Bach. If one puts on their memory cap, it is Bach who was the iconoclast of his day, the one who went to jail rather than conform, the one who established modern music with his advocacy of a "well-tempered" instrument. (One wonders what he would think of the incredible Symphonic organs that transformed composition and performance so drastically.)

I simply choose to ignore (or smile at) the occasional hum. When we deal with people we deal with their falacies. Good art is not sterile but (I prefer to think) important, creative and more than anything, human. I am not sure if Gould was not slyly trying to tick off the critics with some of his antics. After the Goldberg I was expecting big things from this album and I was not disappointed. Gould has an inimitable manner in which he seems to imbue each note with his entire being, with all the artistry that he possesses. He excells at structure and has the ability to rework the architecture of a piece (think of his Brahms), maintaining the form while emphasizing a phrase here, a pause there, bringing out an internal melody not apparent in other hands, pouring his soul into each note. He becomes his music as few artists are able to do.

The Inventions were sheer prefection and the 3-parts were even better. It goes without saying that the tone of the instrument was superb. Even after only a few seconds, one easily detects that Gould "touch" - the purity of tone, the clarity of note, the almost imagined hesitancy in the performance as if the artists were still searching for the best presentation. My grade: A

To get the terminology clear - the 3-part Bach `Inventions' also go by the name of `Sinfonias'. There are 15 2-part and 15 3-part Inventions, and on this disc they are presented grouped in pairs by key, one of each type per pair.

The liner-note makes rather a song and dance of its own about the piano used for the recordings. It apparently suffered certain vicissitudes in the course of being transported around north America, and the first attempts at using it for recording these works had to be abandoned. With patience and perseverance they all got it back into an acceptable condition, and Gould himself contributes a commentary on the matter. He points out certain shortcomings in the sound of the instrument which have then been acutely perceived by others although not so much by myself even after being told about them. The only objective fault I find is a curious subdued `tick', and I can only say that after a lifetime of putting up with far worse on LP this minor blemish gives me no problem whatsoever. As often there is some background vocalising by the maestro himself. This is quiet, it is only intermittent, it is at least tuneful and I am accustomed to it from Gould, and again I simply could not care less. What I would say is that I like the sound of the instrument in general rather less than on some of Gould's other recordings, and that is a perception of my own and not something I have been told to look for, but once again it bothers me very little indeed.

The playing itself is exactly as one would expect it to be. The touch is non-legato, the precision of the fingerwork is phenomenal, little or no use is made of the pedals, there is comparatively little in the way of dynamic variation but there are enormous contrasts in the speeds adopted. This is Gould as we know him and either love him or do not love him. Myself, I find him a prodigy of the first magnitude, and in Bach he has never done any wrong from my point of view. You will not be amazed to be told that I recommend this disc wholeheartedly despite any minor reservations, and I have done what I can to make it clear what I consider recommendable and why.

I remember what film made me look into classical music and what made my life different. It was the film "A CLockwork Orange". I remember hearing all the Beethoven sections and saying "Hey classical music is cool!!" I found this album in a similar manner. Instead of hearing this music in a film I read about it in Thomas Harris' novel "The Silence of the Lambs". Oh yes the film references the aria from the Goldberg Variations but not only is Glenn Gould's name left out of the film but also another famous piece of work that Dr. Hannibal loved dearly. The two and three part invention by Glenn Gould. Hannibal Lecter asks for this very piece of music specifically while he is hiding away in a fancy hotel. Well I ran out and purchased this recording and all I have to say is that this is probably a better overall set of music that the Goldbergs as far as I'm concerned. There's a playfulness and longing here that Gould absolutely nails. And yes his piano in this recording is indeed defective. Some of the notes "stick" occasionally. I'll honestly tell you that this sticky and awkward piano sound SOMEHOW matches the music and is quite fun to listen to. Don't hesitate to buy this great album.

When I was very small, I would be put to bed by seven or seven-thirty in the evening. I would have eaten at five and watched some cartoons on our eight-inch television. My father, an accomplished pianist whose occupation had nothing to do with music, would arrive from work between six and seven. He would eat dinner with mother soon after he arrived and would then sit down at the piano to relax. He always relaxed in the same way. He would play, over and over, the two- and three-part inventions and the Italian Concerto. If he missed a note he would go back to the beginning, always, and start again.

By the time he began playing I would be in bed, and the music would float upwards through the little house like faint scents I knew even then, lilacs perhaps, or roses. The sun would slowly go down, the light would slowly fade, and the music would gently go on and on and on. To me, Gould's quaint noises and the noises of his piano are very naturally part and parcel of the inventions and the Italian Concerto. I learned these pieces through my father's playing, as birds twittered in the twilight outside my window, while I heard my mother cleaning up the kitchen downstairs and listened to the settling of the house itself.

I feel sorry for those who've only known this music in concert halls or on records or CD's. Music like this can be and should be an integral part of daily life, blended with other normal human daily activities. (Including coughing and nose-blowing.) All such things enhance each other. The supposed imperfections of this recording, together with the perfection of Gould's playing, combine to make a whole far better than what we would have heard if the supposedly extraneous noises had been edited out. This is a superb presentation, just as it is, and any lover of either Bach or Gould should have it in their collection.

One can tolerate Glen Gould's grunting and groaning throughout, as his interpretation of the Bach inventions is outstanding. However, despite Sony's reputation the recording is flawed. The first track (Invention 1 in C major) has a "tic-tic-tic" for the first few bars that is unacceptable. Amazon very kindly replaced the disc free of all charges, including freight, but the replacement had the same flaw. I noticed that the disc played OK on my computer so I tried burning a copy. Lo, it was fine on my hi-fi gear so that solved the problem. But take care; why should we have to go to the trouble to make allowances to fix a technical fault when we are paying good money for a faultless one?

The asking price for the CD is less than $10.00.

This is for Glenn Gould playing my favorite Bach's composition, the two, and three parts Inventions and Sinfornias. This is the "Gold Standard", and we need a review?

Just buy it, for $9.98 !!!

If you're just looking for a good recording of Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias and Amazon brought you here, keep looking. The presentation/packaging is vain and tasteless, and the sound is full of defects (out of tune piano, creaking chair, Gould's annoying audible humming, etc).

Tempos are all over the place, and the liberties taken often miss the contrapuntal weight of the compositions. Invention #13 in particular loses its diabolical edge and is turned into a witty showoff piece.

It's actually kind of funny that somebody decided this could be a real mass-produced CD sold for money. A suitable joke gift for classical lovers, maybe?