The Gould Variations: The Best of Glenn Gould's Bach [Enhanced]

Editorial Reviews
From ClassicsToday.com
If you've never heard Glenn Gould's Bach, this well planned

compilation might just be your ticket to ride, as well as a great gift

idea. Disc one begins and ends with the Aria from the Goldberg

Variations (Gould's theme song, sort of). Among familiar Gouldian fare

are the Fifth Partita, selected inventions, plus the C major and D

major Preludes and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier. Some less

obvious choices also prove compelling examples of Gould's x-ray Bach

style: the A minor Italian Variations, the Gigue from the B minor

French overture, and the Chromatic Fantasy minus its fugue (Gould

hated the fugue, and never recorded it!). Disc two contains Gould's

sole organ recording, devoted to the first nine movements of The Art

of Fugue. If you insert this disc in your computer CD-ROM drive, you

can access a nifty interactive program. It includes full scores, liner

notes, logs from the recording session, and marvelous video footage of

Gould playing selections from Bach's valedictory opus at the

piano. You'll be spellbound as Gould launches with soft, concentrated

deliberation into the final section of the great unfinished fugue

(where Bach's name is spelled out in musical notes). At the very

moment Bach's manuscript breaks off, Gould's hunched-over image

freezes in midair. I get goose bumps every time I see it.

Tracks:

Aria
Invention No.1 In C Major, BWV 772
Invention No.3 In D Major, BWV 774
Invention No.8 In F Major, BWV 779
I. Praeambulum
II. Allemande
III. Courante
IV. Sarabande
V. Tempo Di Minuetto
VI. Passepied
VII. Gigue
'Aria Variata Alla Maniera Italiana' In A Minor, BWV 989
Prelude
Fugue
Prelude
Fugue
Praeambulum In C Major, BWV 924
Praeambulum In F Major, BWV 927
Praeludium In D Minor, BWV 926
Praeludium In D Major, BWV 925
Praeludium In F Major, BWV 928
Praeambulum In G Minor, BWV 930
First Movement
I. Allemande
IV. Gavotte
VII. Gigue
Praeludium In C Major, BWV 933 From 6 Little Preludes, BWV 933-938
Chromatic Fantasy In D Minor, BWV 903a
I. Sinfonia
X. Gigue
I. ( )
II. Adagio
III. Presto
Variation 5 A 1 Ovvero 2 Clav.
Variation 30 A 1 Clav. Quodlibet
Aria Da Capo

Tracks:

Contrapunctus I
Contrapunctus II
Contrapunctus III
Contrapunctus IV
Contrapunctus V
Contrapunctus VI (A 4, Im Stile Francese)
Contrapunctus VII (A 4, Per Augmentationem Et Diminutionem)
Contrapunctus VIII (A 3)
Contrapunctus IX (A 4, Alla Duodecima)

Customer Reviews:

Gould selections for music newcomers!.......2006-02-21

As you know the excel passion of Gould for Bach 's music accompanied him along his lifetime. He not only rediscovered a new approach around Bach 's playing but besides he notably contributed to spread the taste for the Academic music all over the world. He represented the irreverent musician per excellence but his absolute domain of the musical socre, his absolute control and senes of every little bar made of him a must reference at the moment to establish fundamental parameters. He broke paradigms and gave back the music a renovated splendor.

Since his awful vanishing in 1982, a whole generation of new listeners, his name has become as cult pattern. So that is the mainreason to acquire this album, becuase it contains the minimum facets in the intrepretative art of the musician of musicians: Johann Sebastian Bach.

A Great CD..........2004-06-10

If you like Bach and Gould, this is a great CD to start out on, it covers a large variety of recordings by Glenn Gould, and is a great introduction to Bach. Overall this CD is a wonderful sampler, it'll make you want to go out and buy all of his Bach CD's. You wont regret buying this CD, it's something to cherish for years.

An odd assortment of Gould's "best" Bach.......2001-08-07

The "best of Glenn Gould's Bach" is a strange subtitle for a strange sampler. Coming several years after the Sony re-issues of remastered Gould recordings, this collection seems either belated or superfluous. Arguably, the selections don't even represent highlights from the corpi Gould tackled over the years. A disproportionate amount of space is given to relative obscurities, e.g. Aria Variata for keyboard ("in the Italian style"). Surely a legitimate "best of" would include a few more preludes/fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier? Also, the pace of the music over the length of the first disc is almost relentlessly brisk, like a treasury of vintage Dixieland piano rolls. The second disc is interesting as it includes 1 entire LP - Gould's performance on organ of 9 fugues from The Art of Fugue - plus videos of Gould performing fugues on piano. Consequently, while this set is not truly a "best of," it's a valuable collection of oddities and rarities and a worthwhile investment.

a gould sampling.......2000-12-03

this collection is a sampling of glenn gould's bach recordings, relying heavily on his 1955 edition of the goldberg variations and keeping in total the art of the fugue which gould recorded on organ. i would recommend the complete editions of each recording sampled here, but for an introduction to mr. gould and for a nice selection of bach piano, this album suffices.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Black and White Town [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]

Great Verdi Arias

El Pueblo del Sol [Soundtrack]

Blue Tres

Groove-A-Delic [Import]

Inspirations: Harmony [Enhanced]

Gold Collection [Import]

Hits

Hard Times for Dreamers [Import]

Fantasies, Ayres and Dances - Elizabethan and Jacobean Consort Music

Jazz Music: 1, 2, 3, etc.

El Norteño Enamorado

Doble Filo [Import]

Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1

The Goonies