“The justification of artwork is the inner combustion it ignites within the hearts of guys and now not its shallow, externalized, public manifestations. The aim of artwork isn’t the discharge of a temporary ejection of adrenaline however is, somewhat, the sluggish, lifelong development of a state of marvel and serenity.” – Glenn Gould
One of the most largest classical pianists of the 20 th century, Glenn Gould, stunned the arena at age thirty-one when he introduced his everlasting retirement from public efficiency. Denouncing the live performance corridor as a relative of the Roman Colosseum and audiences as a “drive of evil”, for the sake of his inventive integrity and private sanity he dedicated the remainder of his musical existence to recording within the studio.
Gould’s good and every so often provocative performances of classical masterworks are widely known, particularly his unequaled recordings of Bach. However he was once additionally a prolific, articulate, and no much less provocative critic. In essays like “The Potentialities of Recording”, he laid out his philosophy of efficiency, of the relation between era and tune.
He described his personal experimentation with unconventional recording ways, and made daring and incessantly correct predictions about how recording era would trade how the common particular person would relate to tune. And he outright rejected lots of the stagnant conventions of recent classical efficiency.
On this episode, Thomas discusses Gould’s attention-grabbing (and incessantly entertaining) perspectives on tune and era, and performs a lot of his recordings. In case you’ve by no means heard Gould play, you are lacking out. When you’ve got, you can in finding this episode all of the extra fascinating.
Items performed on this episode (all carried out by means of Glenn Gould):
J. S. Bach, Neatly-Tempered Clavier, E book I: Prelude and Fugue no. 3 in C-sharp primary, Fugue no. 20 in A significant, Prelude no. 21 in B-flat primary
Bach, Two- and 3-Phase Innovations: Invention no. 12 in A significant, Sinfonia no. 5 in E-flat primary, Sinfonia no. 9 in F minor
Brahms, Intermezzo No. 2 in A significant, op. 118
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, IV. Allegro, piano transcription by means of Franz Liszt
Thomas Mirus’s 2011 essay “Glenn Gould within the Studio” https://thomasmirus.com/2013/05/20/glenn-gould-in-the-studio
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