Amongst G.G.'s amazing skills is his unique ability to maintain the tension/intensity even in the slowest of tempi. If anyone else were to try that we'd be bored to death!
I’ve never seen a resting place for music on the top of any piano he plays. He must memorize his music the first time he plays it. His brain must be full of a ton of piano music. It blows my mind, his talent.🥰
Gould's technical capacity often gets brushed under the rug in favor of his articulation/phrasing/eccentricities, but he was certainly no slouch when it came to technique too!
....it doesn’t change a thing, no matter how often I listen to GG and how eloquently he himself describes what he was doing, GG and his world of music remains a miracle. Mi piace moltissimo
From 0.44 to 1.10 the technique is unbelievable: hands desappear and reappear while crossing over the keyboard, creating a dance visual effect. In the following variation (1.11) as Piero Rattalino said, Gould becomes illusionist, playing the left hand in the air, over a virtual keyboard. Something related to jazz. No other interpretation reachs such effect (you can see here Richter, Kissin, etc), appreciated could be or not.
No other pianist, to my knowledge, has such vast knowledge of music of every genre as Glenn Gould. And every composition he discusses he can play (and sometimes sing) instantly and perfectly without the printed music.
I played the piano and had to work very hard. Still, I was no where near this level and never could be. Glenn Gould was amazing and as you said, it did it from memory.
Fantástico Como se pode ser tão virtuoso! E depois a característica especial de tocar com a cadeira mais baixa. Outra característica, toca sempre sem pauta!
One of the things that make these three videos so compelling, besides of course Gould's playing, are the camera angles which allow us to see how fast his fingers move. The great performance by Kissin, on the other hand, doesn't do this so the playing doesn't look as exciting as Gould's although it sounds as exciting.
Que puedo hacer? A mi edad totalmente enamorada de Gould-Beethoven , imposible no caer en extasis , únicos .... únicos ... rayos de luz , en las sombras de esta oscura vida
A los fanáticos de Gould les hablo; se han fijado que siempre está en extasis? En el Nivana? En el Eter ? Dios , es maravilloso y se siente la felicidad , la bondad , el amor puro?
People don't play piano like this anymore. Back in the day, musicians had limited access to recordings, and so a lot of the time you learned a piece entirely from the page and not by "copy and pasting" what you hear another musician do in a recording. The connection to the composer is quite intimate through the page. And so there weren't as many diluted "hand-me-downs" of interpretation. This video is an excellent example of that...
First of all, GG was just a very good pianist and still would be if born in the modern era. Second, having access to many different interpretations via recording allows us to see many perspectives, which only grows our understanding of music in general. GG was an outspoken champion of recording technology. People still learn from the sheets anyway, and craft their own version just as they always have. You couldn't be more wrong.
@@InvigoratedSewerRat I don’t want to “dilute” someone else’s interpretations. What fun is that? Glenn Gould himself said “If I won’t play it differently there’s no point in recording it”. If I play a piece I would want to have my own ideas, not someone elses.
He is my hero when comes to the piano playing (Maybe more) I find it funny that number 32 follows him around. Goldberg variation, this Beethoven, his birthday1932, even the house number where he grew up. I went to Toronto to visit his grave and other place that Gould touched in his life. But his famous chair was in Ottawa.
Gould's career began with Beethoven recordings, I believe he recorded complete Beethoven sonatas before going to Bach afte the 1st Goldberg. Back in the day the records only had 2 sonatas, maybe 3. The WTC was recorded like P and F 1-8 one record and 9-15 the next. You had to wait at the store for the next shipment of recordings to come in, or you could have them call you when the next Gould recording came in and have them hold it for you. We are so spoiled now, everything is instant.
This has got to be one of the most difficult piano pieces that Beethoven wrote. Am I correct? I know the hammerklavier is usually regarded as the hardest.
I think so. If you play the Eroica Variations like this with the mindboggeling tempo, then they are very difficult. However there are other pieces from Beethoven, which I think are more difficult like the Hammerklavier Sonata which you already named, his last Sonata No. 32 Op. 111 or the Diabelli-Variations (Although the Audio Quality is very poor I love the version of Friedrich Gulda the most).
An original mind. But above all an amazing technical facility. The kind of motor control where practice is a bit irrelevant. So much more than merely hitting the right notes.
I love this performance. My favorite of this set of variations... but did the mic guy put a mic directly on Glenn's pedal?? lol... The pedal sounds are so freaking loud.
Funny how certain performers whether they be pop music or classical are plagued by an image problem in their day. For example The Beegees, John Denver, Abba or Queen and it effects the way people evaluate them, but In the years to come new generations give them their proper due because they are no longer in the spotlight and it becomes more about their actual work. I'm not saying those musical genres are similar, but the issue is the same. Glenn Gould is now getting his proper due.
I can understand putting an ad at the beginning of a video, and I can tolerate the ads that are placed at the end of some videos, but interrupting a performance like this with two ads? That's absurd.
Believe it or not, in the early days of TV, great things were expected of the medium. It was going to be a way to bring high culture into everyone's home. I remember amazing - and live - performances of Chekhov plays and new works written for TV by great writers like Paddy Chayevsky and Gore Vidal. But once the commercial potential was figured out by corporations, the days of high art were numbered.
I am so reminded of the last movement of LVB symphony #3 in these variations. Does anyone know if there is a correlation of the time of composition for both?
Well yes. These variations are called the Eroica variations and the Symphony no.3 is titled the Eroica Symphony. Both works are in the key of E-Flat major. The Symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte but Beethoven later tore up the dedication when he learned that Napoleon had invaded countries all over Europe. This so angered Beethoven that he decided to give his Symphony a new title in the spirit of freedom. He called it his Eroica Symphony. Eroica loosely translated in English means heroic. The main theme of the first movement of the Symphony is the material that Beethoven utilizes in his set of variations and fugue for solo piano.
The theme is from his only ballet, Creatures Of Prometheus. Only the overture gets played nowadays, but fortunately this theme was rescued to make these variations first, then the Eroica Symphony shortly thereafter. Maybe we should call it the Prometheus Symphony? 🤔
There has later, but the same official channel, been up loaded a 7-minute introductory clip pertaining to this broadcast, wherein Gould explains how the theme was a derivative form the symphonic work in itself. It is my opinion that it would do the performance much justice, if the channel opted to upload the broadcast completely without abridgment or division.
You could definitely dance to Gould's playing!! BEAUTIFUL CLARITY WITH SUBTLE RUBATO. He really enjoys what he practises and performs. THIS PERFORMANCE IS WORTH LISTENING TO ON MANY OCCASIONS
You're right!! It does sound like ragtime. If I'm not mistaken, Gould was a fan of Jazz. I can imagine during his long car trips he would flip on the radio and indulge in the riches of jazz improvisation....
I am more impressed with his slow movements, the way he can control the lines like in Bach. He had incredible technique. The story is that Glenn didn't know the Grieg concerto and got the orchestra score. A friend said he took it to the piano and sightread the score, orchestra parts and solo, even singing lines. He went through the whole concerto flawlessly, finished and said, 'I don't like it'. I think though he did record something of Grieg.
No, this video is part of a playlist with the other parts of the Variations in different videos: ua-cam.com/play/PLfDJsIxawPH4KzL39lSxy_UIzy2ZYv8s7.html
@fish and banana et al hanew is correct BUT it really is worth buying the 10 dvd set "Glenn Gould on Television: The Complete CBC Broadcasts 1954 - 1977". It is not expensive and most of what you see/hear on youtube (and much, much more) is in that set - with better sound and image and NO part 1,2,3 etc.
@@marichristian1072 Exactly. With repeats, "The Goldberg Variations" would become tedious and endless. The success of Gould's recording, I believe, is at least partly due to the omission of the repeats.
Gould was the greatest exponent of Bach that ever lived. However, his Beethoven is nowhere near many other pianists. Listen to some others playing thid piece and you will see what I mean.
You're entitled to your opinion, though it's not clear what it's based on since you don't mention the other pianists in question whom you believe superior, so I'll mention three conductors who considered Gould a truly great Beethoven pianist: Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, and Joseph Krips. Whose opinion just might be a little bit more authoritative than yours.
@@afritimm He became controversial due to his opinions on Mozart, and many people think he's an idiot. However, I do believe that 'hating' him is extreme.
Amongst G.G.'s amazing skills is his unique ability to maintain the tension/intensity even in the slowest of tempi. If anyone else were to try that we'd be bored to death!
I’ve never seen a resting place for music on the top of any piano he plays. He must memorize his music the first time he plays it. His brain must be full of a ton of piano music. It blows my mind, his talent.🥰
We can see why Beethoven was considered such a great pianist from this
I love Glenn's hair flips. He looks so cool.
I always thought that not only his fantastic talent but his demeanor is so beautiful . (What in a heck he has in the Jackie’s ?)
This is some of the most amazing pianism you'll ever see. Blown away!
Hearig things this awesome doesn’t blow me away and demotivate me and make me quit (I’m a pianist) I’m just encouraged to learn whatever inspires me.
Gould's technical capacity often gets brushed under the rug in favor of his articulation/phrasing/eccentricities, but he was certainly no slouch when it came to technique too!
@@jackcurley1591 best technique ever
forever Glenn Gould, love his music all the times.........
....it doesn’t change a thing, no matter how often I listen to GG and how eloquently he himself describes what he was doing, GG and his world of music remains a miracle.
Mi piace moltissimo
Gould = Best Beethoven and Bach interpretations ever!!
His beethoven playing is better than my beethoven imagination.
From 0.44 to 1.10 the technique is unbelievable: hands desappear and reappear while crossing over the keyboard, creating a dance visual effect. In the following variation (1.11) as Piero Rattalino said, Gould becomes illusionist, playing the left hand in the air, over a virtual keyboard. Something related to jazz. No other interpretation reachs such effect (you can see here Richter, Kissin, etc), appreciated could be or not.
Finalmente Beethoven suonato come si deve non soffro più mi viene il cuore
A treasure .....
fantastic unbelievable perfect❤
No other pianist, to my knowledge, has such vast knowledge of music of every genre as Glenn Gould. And every composition he discusses he can play (and sometimes sing) instantly and perfectly without the printed music.
Even as a child prodigy he had an extra level of genius.
It's the singing that adds an extra level of perfection.
@@phoebelinden9602 It does. He is better than Pavarotti. :)
@@Opoczynski better than caruso in my opinion
I played the piano and had to work very hard. Still, I was no where near this level and never could be. Glenn Gould was amazing and as you said, it did it from memory.
LOVE this man!
Magnificent!
Sublime! Bellísimo! Gloria Eterna a Beethoven y Glenn Gould.
Щ
I love Beethoven
THIS ------ IS -------- FOR ----- ETERNITY
Well, thank you, Fritz.
This man is so terrific!!!!
A beautiful gift ♥️
Glorious!!!
That theme is an earworm and it's played magnificently.
i am speechless - which I'm not very often.
Common man; hum along!
fall in love with GG EVERYDAY
Fantástico
Como se pode ser tão virtuoso!
E depois a característica especial de tocar com a cadeira mais baixa.
Outra característica, toca sempre sem pauta!
Even when the song is over Glen keeps going!
Fantastic
One of the things that make these three videos so compelling, besides of course Gould's playing, are the camera angles which allow us to see how fast his fingers move. The great performance by Kissin, on the other hand, doesn't do this so the playing doesn't look as exciting as Gould's although it sounds as exciting.
It is interesting that I hear a lot of Beethoven’s piano concerto and sonatas as well as his symphonies in this variation.
I can play this. The video I mean.
hahaha!
❤️
That's easy. I can play it twice as fast!
Oh darn! I thought you meant the actual piece.
Legend. Click away
Amazing...!!!
Браво Глен, как жаль что ты так рано ушёл от нас.
The chromatic scale in variation no.1 makes my heart beat faster.
Que puedo hacer? A mi edad totalmente enamorada de Gould-Beethoven , imposible no caer en extasis , únicos .... únicos ... rayos de luz , en las sombras de esta oscura vida
Il più geniale di tutti
A los fanáticos de Gould les hablo; se han fijado que siempre está en extasis? En el Nivana? En el Eter ? Dios , es maravilloso y se siente la felicidad , la bondad , el amor puro?
Diria que esto es INTERPRETAR al autor y su concepcion de la obra....
Grandes...Beethoven y Gould....!!!!!!
People don't play piano like this anymore. Back in the day, musicians had limited access to recordings, and so a lot of the time you learned a piece entirely from the page and not by "copy and pasting" what you hear another musician do in a recording. The connection to the composer is quite intimate through the page. And so there weren't as many diluted "hand-me-downs" of interpretation. This video is an excellent example of that...
Eh, I still learn from the page don’t really want to get inspired.
Yeah but this is also Glenn Gould, the patron Saint of interpretation. Even in his day he was a cut above
@@pianosbloxworld4460 "Don't really want to get inspired", wtf are you talking about?
First of all, GG was just a very good pianist and still would be if born in the modern era. Second, having access to many different interpretations via recording allows us to see many perspectives, which only grows our understanding of music in general. GG was an outspoken champion of recording technology. People still learn from the sheets anyway, and craft their own version just as they always have. You couldn't be more wrong.
@@InvigoratedSewerRat I don’t want to “dilute” someone else’s interpretations. What fun is that? Glenn Gould himself said “If I won’t play it differently there’s no point in recording it”. If I play a piece I would want to have my own ideas, not someone elses.
He is my hero when comes to the piano playing (Maybe more)
I find it funny that number 32 follows him around. Goldberg variation, this Beethoven, his birthday1932, even the house number where he grew up. I went to Toronto to visit his grave and other place that Gould touched in his life. But his famous chair was in Ottawa.
Grande !Big man. Thanks !
astounding
Gould's career began with Beethoven recordings, I believe he recorded complete Beethoven sonatas before going to Bach afte the 1st Goldberg. Back in the day the records only had 2 sonatas, maybe 3. The WTC was recorded like P and F 1-8 one record and 9-15 the next. You had to wait at the store for the next shipment of recordings to come in, or you could have them call you when the next Gould recording came in and have them hold it for you. We are so spoiled now, everything is instant.
Ashkenazy said that Glenn Gould had the best technique. What more needs to be said?
天才。聞いていて心地よい。
曲を理解するというレベルを超えていると思います。手で弾いているというよりも、魂で弾いている感じがします…。ベートーヴェンも、聴いたら喜ぶんじゃないかと思います。……ていうか、ベートーヴェンが、この人に憑依している感じがする。
grazie
🔝🎹🔝
grazie di nuovo
Es genial
This has got to be one of the most difficult piano pieces that Beethoven wrote. Am I correct? I know the hammerklavier is usually regarded as the hardest.
I think so. If you play the Eroica Variations like this with the mindboggeling tempo, then they are very difficult. However there are other pieces from Beethoven, which I think are more difficult like the Hammerklavier Sonata which you already named, his last Sonata No. 32 Op. 111 or the Diabelli-Variations (Although the Audio Quality is very poor I love the version of Friedrich Gulda the most).
An original mind. But above all an amazing technical facility. The kind of motor control where practice is a bit irrelevant. So much more than merely hitting the right notes.
Excelso
Ну почему хочется слушать всё время? Потому что гений.
I love this performance. My favorite of this set of variations... but did the mic guy put a mic directly on Glenn's pedal?? lol... The pedal sounds are so freaking loud.
Is it possibly his chair squeak that you're hearing?
4:15
Funny how certain performers whether they be pop music or classical are plagued by an image problem in their day. For example The Beegees, John Denver, Abba or Queen and it effects the way people evaluate them, but In the years to come new generations give them their proper due because they are no longer in the spotlight and it becomes more about their actual work. I'm not saying those musical genres are similar, but the issue is the same. Glenn Gould is now getting his proper due.
Гениально. Жаль, что запись не с самого начала.
Есть и начало. Надо поискать.
Romeo ❤️
I can understand putting an ad at the beginning of a video, and I can tolerate the ads that are placed at the end of some videos, but interrupting a performance like this with two ads? That's absurd.
It is my biggest objection to UA-cam. I agree entirely and It's why I will never pay for this service.
An interesting comparison for the Eroica Variations is Richter.
I much prefer Glenn Gould's dynamic performance to Richter's- which is perfect but rather wooden.
And to the great Richter I would add Friedrich Gulda -- he has a sensational live performance here on youtube and an equally great studio recording.
@@yusufu9 Achum Gelber ...
Oh please! As if Richter could understand a thing about anything heroic. Ha.
I mean.. this was the kind of program they put on tv
Nowadays, stupid drama shows that is displayed. No need such high skill to do such thing. I'm kinda so sad....
Believe it or not, in the early days of TV, great things were expected of the medium. It was going to be a way to bring high culture into everyone's home. I remember amazing - and live - performances of Chekhov plays and new works written for TV by great writers like Paddy Chayevsky and Gore Vidal. But once the commercial potential was figured out by corporations, the days of high art were numbered.
Did Glenn perform this on a record album? If so, I want to buy it.
He did, Marilyn. It's a fantastic album!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
❤
I am so reminded of the last movement of LVB symphony #3 in these variations.
Does anyone know if there is a correlation of the time of composition for both?
They were composed before the third symphony,and he carried the theme over,I believe.
Well yes. These variations are called the Eroica variations and the Symphony no.3 is titled the Eroica Symphony. Both works are in the key of E-Flat major. The Symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte but Beethoven later tore up the dedication when he learned that Napoleon had invaded countries all over Europe. This so angered Beethoven that he decided to give his Symphony a new title in the spirit of freedom. He called it his Eroica Symphony. Eroica loosely translated in English means heroic. The main theme of the first movement of the Symphony is the material that Beethoven utilizes in his set of variations and fugue for solo piano.
The theme is from his only ballet, Creatures Of Prometheus. Only the overture gets played nowadays, but fortunately this theme was rescued to make these variations first, then the Eroica Symphony shortly thereafter.
Maybe we should call it the Prometheus Symphony? 🤔
@@Gorboduc Well Beethoven gave his third the name "Eroica" himself so that makes no sense to call it Prometheus Symphony.
There has later, but the same official channel, been up loaded a 7-minute introductory clip pertaining to this broadcast, wherein Gould explains how the theme was a derivative form the symphonic work in itself. It is my opinion that it would do the performance much justice, if the channel opted to upload the broadcast completely without abridgment or division.
Es kann nicht möglich sein daß das Video unvollständig ist.
굴드쨩 지리노...
Right!?
This is not the whole theme and variations. Why did you cut it? To make space for advertising?
Back in the day, 7 years ago, lol, youtube had a time limit for videos, I think. So it is cut in 2.
Dum dee dee dee dum du dee doo, thank you, Glenn ☮️
Why is this split into three videos?
Me too!
😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍👌
Does anyone else think the first variation sounds like ragtime?
You could definitely dance to Gould's playing!! BEAUTIFUL CLARITY WITH SUBTLE RUBATO. He really enjoys what he practises and performs. THIS PERFORMANCE IS WORTH LISTENING TO ON MANY OCCASIONS
ragtime sounds like it, rather. somewhat.
You're right!! It does sound like ragtime. If I'm not mistaken, Gould was a fan of Jazz. I can imagine during his long car trips he would flip on the radio and indulge in the riches of jazz improvisation....
Many Beethoven compositions can sound jazzy by how the performer plays it. Example are the 28th and 32nd sonatas
@@louisvalencia5244 You're right . The Arietta variations in the 32nd sonata are amazingly syncopated and jazzy.
Just think to have him next door
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
!
Boss-mode shizzle. Fanks, Glenn. We wuv woo. Big up Bach n Beethoven. Plus Chopin. Satie too.
I am more impressed with his slow movements, the way he can control the lines like in Bach. He had incredible technique.
The story is that Glenn didn't know the Grieg concerto and got the orchestra score. A friend said he took it to the piano and sightread the score, orchestra parts and solo, even singing lines. He went through the whole concerto flawlessly, finished and said, 'I don't like it'. I think though he did record something of Grieg.
Indeed he did, he recorded the E Minor Sonata (ua-cam.com/video/Vk_XrlYp9q8/v-deo.html)
He said, rather: “It’s not for me.”
Fugue is missing
No, this video is part of a playlist with the other parts of the Variations in different videos: ua-cam.com/play/PLfDJsIxawPH4KzL39lSxy_UIzy2ZYv8s7.html
@fish and banana et al hanew is correct BUT it really is worth buying the 10 dvd set "Glenn Gould on Television: The Complete CBC Broadcasts 1954 - 1977". It is not expensive and most of what you see/hear on youtube (and much, much more) is in that set - with better sound and image and NO part 1,2,3 etc.
twolegsnotail, you just convinced me!
It's a shame but it's chopped into pieces. Even the initial Eroica theme is on a separate video.
Magnificent playing but why does he leave out so many repeats?
Gould thought that repeats were a waste of time because they didn't say anything new.
My guess is that Gould feels repeats belong to the 18th and 19th centuries. Personally, I dislike most repeats.
I agree with you. Repeats can become tedious- especially to innovators like Gould.
@@marichristian1072 Exactly. With repeats, "The Goldberg Variations" would become tedious and endless. The success of Gould's recording, I believe, is at least partly due to the omission of the repeats.
@@davidwright640 I stick with my opinion. You stick with yours. Thank you.
Gould eccelle in Bach e Beethoven, autori che non suono
Alien is here....
Yes, but can he jump rope?
♪師のPには、ペダルが多い～通常の3に対して4．カメラ・アングルの右端が多い。そのペダルは「テンポ用」でして・・・ご辛抱を！ 皆様、良い一年をば・・・。
神
Looks like a Bat-signal.
h
Gould was the greatest exponent of Bach that ever lived. However, his Beethoven is nowhere near many other pianists.
Listen to some others playing thid piece and you will see what I mean.
why does he have to perform it like them?
What are you talking about? Gould is a master in his playing Beethoven.
I think Glenn Gould’s Beethoven is the most unique one. It’s all about one special layer of Beethoven. His technique is also impeccable
Yes, he is the best!
You're entitled to your opinion, though it's not clear what it's based on since you don't mention the other pianists in question whom you believe superior, so I'll mention three conductors who considered Gould a truly great Beethoven pianist: Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, and Joseph Krips. Whose opinion just might be a little bit more authoritative than yours.
Am a big fan BUT his penchant for self indulgence got the better off him here. Erratic fragmented. A mess
Variations are by their nature "fragmented".
I hate Glenn Gould, but this is well done.
spiritussanctusband
Hate? Quite a strong sentiment towards a musician.
@@afritimm He became controversial due to his opinions on Mozart, and many people think he's an idiot. However, I do believe that 'hating' him is extreme.
I hate you
@@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven are you the same Beethoven guy who's always speaking with Daniel Fahmini? And likes mathematics and physics?
@@ignacioclerici5341 Yes... how do you keep finding me lol
grazie
❤