"How Glenn Gould Broke Classical Music" [BEN LAUDE]
IN A PREVIOUS SUBSTACK LIFE, I’d already written about the kerfuffle (or ‘controversy,’ if you prefer) wrought by the uniquely Gouldian interpretation of this famous Brahms piano concerto (formally known as the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15). It was played by Canadian pianist Glenn Gould with Leonard Bernstein at the podium leading the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The event was broadcast live on April 6, 1962.
Ah, the audacity of this young pianist from Canada to take exception to the standard interpretation!! Who does he think he is??
But did he, really? Was he such a rebel here, verging on the edge of intolerable narcissism in his preferred performance of the piece?
A contemporary pianist-critic takes another look at the whole affair, and reviews the circus surrounding that (in)famous night of music at Carnegie Hall.
In the end, I tend to agree with Ben Laude’s take (but note that I’m not among the piano or classical music cognoscenti at all!).
You don’t need to be a classical music expert to appreciate Ben Laude’s discussion below, though; you just need an interest in the mystery and dynamics of human expertise and creativity, showmanship, pride, genius, and “truth” — if there is such a thing in music — and how established opinion may not always be the best or wisest one above all else! (Oh, but did we not learn this last bit from the treachery of the “COVID” psy-op, dear friends who are today fully awake?)
THIS I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH: Gould’s performances of pretty much any piece grabs you by the ears and makes you listen to the music! He was, of course, best known for the sparkling clarity of the notes in his playing of Bach’s counterpoint that wove a brilliant tapestry of musical lines, powered by a driving momentum that never bores the listener. His studio recordings (which he would do exclusively at some point) all sound so fresh and alive, even if he fussed endlessly with splicing, repeats, and all to make them into perfect sound pieces.
To make this point, listen to this:
(Ignore his hunched-over position at the keyboard. And his beat-up piano-playing chair. It’s not even a piano bench, for goodness’ sake. Gould was so strongly inner-directed that he did things his way regardless of what it looked or sounded like to others. An “eccentric” is all he was—but a genius of an eccentric, and not just an amusing oddball. And what a legacy he has left to the world with his premature shuffling off this mortal coil, so that we still talk about him and his works today.)
I CHUCKLED at Ben Laude’s swipe at that iconic American musical colossus, Leonard Bernstein, whose quoted comment implied that he fancied himself as God’s messenger to the masses. Although his wry humor and good-sportiveness in the introduction to that “infamous” concert with Gould added to the evening’s amusements.
The performance in question, for those unfamiliar with the event:
(At least listen to Bernstein’s prefatory remarks!)
Here’s the full audio documentation of that evening.