# J.S. Bach and Angela Hewitt: a match made in heaven



## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

Bach has always been my very favorite composer...and I think Hewitt is taking the top spot in my pantheon of pianists.

I love this so much it almost hurts.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

I've often seen criticism of Angela Hewitt as "bland", and maybe I've said so before, but I wonder if that's unfair. Maybe she's just not eccentric enough like Gould. Tbh I haven't heard enough of her recordings to make an informed judgement.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I think she is bland in the sense of not showing strong feelings. But some people see this as a strength. Temperate, mild - they’re better words.


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## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

To each his own. I find her playing the exact opposite of bland. I find it exceedingly lovely.

Here's a nice review:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/arts/music/angela-hewitt-bach-review.html

and another:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/26/angela-hewitt-review-bach-beethoven-st-georges-bristol

Seems I'm in good company.


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## Skakner (Oct 8, 2020)

I have her performances on Well Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, Partitas, French and English Suites and I return to them from time to time.
Very good but I couldn't place them at the very top.
Of course, absolute top is a matter of personal taste


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

.............................................................


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

I have the 6 Partitas by Angela which I rate highly but 
a performer that always delivers for me is Rosalyn Tureck


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Her Art of Fugue is excellent imv.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

cybernaut said:


> To each his own. I find her playing the exact opposite of bland. I find it exceedingly lovely.
> 
> Here's a nice review:
> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/arts/music/angela-hewitt-bach-review.html
> ...


I've been to several of her concerts at the 92nd St. Y (see first review). Count me in. Not my favorite, but up there. And the Fazioli piano provides a unique sound.

Also at the Y I saw her share the stage with the novelist Ian McEwan to discuss music and literature. In his novel "Saturday" the protagonist chooses her recording of the Goldberg Variations over Gould's when performing surgery.


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## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

Dan Ante said:


> I have the 6 Partitas by Angela which I rate highly but
> a performer that always delivers for me is Rosalyn Tureck


I will have to hear Tureck. Thanks for the tip.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> I think she is bland in the sense of not showing strong feelings. But some people see this as a strength. Temperate, mild - they're better words.


I've referred to her as "bland", but perhaps "polite" is a better descriptor.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

jegreenwood said:


> In his novel "Saturday" the protagonist chooses her recording of the Goldberg Variations over Gould's when performing surgery.


If I were going under the surgeon's knife, I'd prefer he or she listen to Hewitt rather than Gould. I'd want him or her to take their time....


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

I love her W-TC and Couperin.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

wkasimer said:


> I've referred to her as "bland", but perhaps "polite" is a better descriptor.


For Bach I find her too smooth and mellifluous.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

So do I. It's beautifully even playing, but that bit *too* even for my taste.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Yes but at the level of piano playing, balancing left and right hand, executing ornaments, playing fluidly and gracefully, avoiding hammering and typing, executing legato, the sort of thing that piano teachers go on and on about, there are things to enjoy. She’s Bach for piano teachers.

Listening as I type this to her playing BWV 832 (which to my surprise doesn’t seem to be disputed!)


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I really like Hewitt after getting 3 Bach cd's (concertos, English & French suites) maybe a decade ago. Just some days ago I bought her new recording of the Partitas (2018) as a download. Another performer I like in Bach is Roger Woodward, whom is not talked so much about.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I really like Hewitt after getting 3 Bach cd's (concertos, English & French suites) maybe a decade ago. Just some days ago I bought her new recording of the Partitas (2018) as a download. Another performer I like in Bach is Roger Woodward, whom is not talked so much about.


I have Woodward's WTC set and a single disc of Bach pieces (both on Celestial Harmonies) - wonderful performances.

As for Hewitt, I have most of her Bach recordings. I'd say she is very good without ever reaching the top spot. Well, I have to take that back; her first Bach recording was on DG and had a stunning account of the Italian Concerto, especially the 2nd movement.

I do not consider her Bach to be bland - she's a class act of refinement and beauty.


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## cheregi (Jul 16, 2020)

cybernaut said:


> To each his own. I find her playing the exact opposite of bland. I find it exceedingly lovely.


In criticism of Chinese traditional guqin music, describing a performance as 'bland' or 'colorless' is among the highest compliments, the most sought-after type of sound. I know that it's ultimately a semantics game, saying 'temperate', 'mild', or just 'lovely' to avoid the negative associations of 'bland', but I quite like the idea instead of turning around and defending blandness, point blank, instead.


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## Algonquin (Apr 10, 2021)

Got hooked on her renditions of the piano concertos. They were not what I was used to; Perahia and Schiff which I find more exciting but they have an elegance and charm that is soothing especially in the slow movements and I hear details that I now miss when I listen to P and S. Schiff's performance of no.1 is for me particularly thrilling, the way he boogys in the final movement.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Spot on about Schiff and that concerto. He daringly chose to play it in the final of the Leeds Competition many moons ago and I thought it should have won him the prize. As it happens he isn't always my favourite pianist but any Bach I hear him play always seems to hit the spot.


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## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

Mandryka said:


> She's Bach for piano teachers.


I love Hewitt, and all I can play on the piano is "Chopsticks".


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## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

cheregi said:


> In criticism of Chinese traditional guqin music, describing a performance as 'bland' or 'colorless' is among the highest compliments, the most sought-after type of sound. I know that it's ultimately a semantics game, saying 'temperate', 'mild', or just 'lovely' to avoid the negative associations of 'bland', but I quite like the idea instead of turning around and defending blandness, point blank, instead.


ahh. interesting.

I just found this:
"Antonyms for bland:
abrasive, caustic, coarse, hard, harsh, rough, scathing, stern, ungentle"

So, her playing is not abrasive, coarse, hard, rough, scathing or ungentle. That must be why I like it so much.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I fall in the bland camp. Her playing has never moved me and never shown me anything I didn't already know existed. I wish Dubravka Tomsic recorded more Bach ... or more anything.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Bulldog said:


> I do not consider her Bach to be bland - she's a class act of refinement and beauty.


I agree with this.

Thanks to the OP for posting the beautiful prelude and fugue, it sounded great to my ears.


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## advokat (Aug 16, 2020)

I have almost all her Bach albums (though only one of her WTC versions), as well as two Scarlatti discs and three Couperin discs. And I also have her Chabrier album. The last is instructive – what she can do when she moves out of Baroque period, into a relatively unvisited territory. For me, she is a performer who defies easy categorisations. I would agree with those who note that she is one of the select group who mastered rendition of Baroque harpsichord pieces on a modern grand, without condescending.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

As an aside, I think Hewitt bears a resemblance to the novelist Joyce Carol Oats in her younger days.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

cheregi said:


> In criticism of Chinese traditional guqin music, describing a performance as 'bland' or 'colorless' is among the highest compliments, the most sought-after type of sound. I know that it's ultimately a semantics game, saying 'temperate', 'mild', or just 'lovely' to avoid the negative associations of 'bland', but I quite like the idea instead of turning around and defending blandness, point blank, instead.


"The "good old" days are gone. In Mozart they sang themselves out: - how lucky we are that his rococo still speaks to us, that his "good society," his loving raptures, his childish delight in Chinese effects and curlicues, the civility in his heart, his desire for delicacy, lovers, dancers, those with blissful tears, his faith in the south can still appeal to some remnant in us! Alas, at some point it will be gone! - But who can doubt that the understanding of and taste for Beethoven will be gone even earlier! - He was, in fact, only the final chords of a stylistic transition, a break in style, and not, like Mozart, the final notes of a great centuries-long European taste." -Nietzsche


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## BeatriceB (May 3, 2021)

Love Angela Hewitt!


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## Wilhelm Theophilus (Aug 8, 2020)

cybernaut said:


> Bach has always been my very favorite composer...and I think Hewitt is taking the top spot in my pantheon of pianists.
> 
> I love this so much it almost hurts.


How many times do I have to listen to this until I like it, does it normally take ages?


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

Wilhelm Theophilus said:


> How many times do I have to listen to this until I like it...


It's a very obscure number. You probably wouldn't have heard of it.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Chilham said:


> It's a very obscure number. You probably wouldn't have heard of it.


What music is it? The video is blocked in my country.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

premont said:


> What music is it? The video is blocked in my count
> Try it on YT, it was the only way I could watch it.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Dan Ante said:


> Try it on YT, it was the only way I could watch it.


Thanks, but there are lots of Bach played by Hewitt on YT. What was the specific music in the OP, which Theophilus didn't like?


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

premont said:


> Thanks, but there are lots of Bach played by Hewitt on YT. What was the specific music in the OP, which Theophilus didn't like?


The B major prelude and fugue from Book II of the WTC.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Chilham said:


> It's a very obscure number. You probably wouldn't have heard of it.





tdc said:


> The B major prelude and fugue from Book II of the WTC.


Thanks. I don't find the piece that obscure but agree, that it is less easily accessible than many of the other pieces in the WTC.


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## Wilhelm Theophilus (Aug 8, 2020)

premont said:


> Thanks. I don't find the piece that obscure but agree, that it is less easily accessible than many of the other pieces in the WTC.


I'm not familiar with the piece so since the person who posted it said they love it I thought Id listen. I must have listened to it 30 times now...just puzzled.


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## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

Wilhelm Theophilus said:


> I'm not familiar with the piece so since the person who posted it said they love it I thought Id listen. I must have listened to it 30 times now...just puzzled.


I think 30 more listens and you'll get it.


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## advokat (Aug 16, 2020)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I really like Hewitt after getting 3 Bach cd's (concertos, English & French suites) maybe a decade ago. Just some days ago I bought her new recording of the Partitas (2018) as a download. Another performer I like in Bach is Roger Woodward, whom is not talked so much about.


Another underappreciated Bach performer on grand is Bernard Roberts. And I hear the name of Edward Aldwell mentioned less and less frequently, with no re-issues. He was a distinctive and enjoyable performer.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

advokat said:


> Another underappreciated Bach performer on grand is Bernard Roberts. And I hear the name of Edward Aldwell mentioned less and less frequently, with no re-issues. He was a distinctive and enjoyable performer.


Both unfortunately and fortunately the field is extremely crowded, and consequently a lot of fine performers don't get a lot of attention.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

premont said:


> Thanks. I don't find the piece that obscure but agree, that it is less easily accessible than many of the other pieces in the WTC.


What do you think of Sokolov?






(Bad sound there, I've got a better transfer on my hard drive.)


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> What do you think of Sokolov?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Prelude: If he had had played with a bit more detached touch and refrained from the overdone dynamic effects and the stereotypical concluding ritardando, I might almost have said Gould because of the generally inflexible rhythm.

Fugue: on the romantic side with much legato touch and strong dynamic variations. Even here we get a stereotypical end ritardando.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

premont said:


> Prelude: If he had had played with a bit more detached touch and refrained from the overdone dynamic effects and the stereotypical concluding ritardando, I might almost have said Gould because of the generally inflexible rhythm.
> 
> Fugue: on the romantic side with much legato touch and strong dynamic variations. Even here we get a stereotypical end ritardando.


Glad to see you're on form.


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## Wilhelm Theophilus (Aug 8, 2020)

Wilhelm Theophilus said:


> I'm not familiar with the piece so since the person who posted it said they love it I thought Id listen. I must have listened to it 30 times now...just puzzled.


is the rest of the WTC the same as this or is it better?


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Wilhelm Theophilus said:


> is the rest of the WTC the same as this or is it better?


As I wrote above the accessibility of most of the rest is greater, but it is impossible to say if they will appeal to you all the same.


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## AvidListener (Apr 15, 2021)

consuono said:


> I've often seen criticism of Angela Hewitt as "bland", and maybe I've said so before, but I wonder if that's unfair. Maybe she's just not eccentric enough like Gould. Tbh I haven't heard enough of her recordings to make an informed judgement.


IMHO Yes, such a label would be unfair:


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## christo131 (Jun 24, 2021)

Am listening to Hewitt's recording of the Italian Concerto right now. Glad you alerted me to it.


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## PeterAccettola (Jun 5, 2021)

Gould is still the best Bach for me, though I just bought Angela Hewitt's set of The Well Tempered Clavier, and am still feeling my way into it.
I like the way she plays, but since I have listened to and enjoyed Gould's playing for so long, I am just not sure. His phrasing is so full of energy and movement, I just love what he does.
I also got the set of Partitas by Charles Owen, who does a rather "even" portrayal, but still, it is good.
I would be glad to hear other peoples thoughts.
I


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Agree about Charles Owen. It's good to have a complete traversal of all six, but there are individual performances elsewhere in my collection (Lipatti in no.1, Argerich in no.2) which I enjoy more.

As far as Angela Hewitt is concerned, I prefer her in other music (cf.videos above - also heard her live once in Beethoven's 2nd concerto and enjoyed that). I'd describe her Bach in much the same terms as you use for Charles Owen's.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

I downloaded her box set from Hyperion the other day for £45. That seemed pretty good value (for 15 CDs' worth of music), especially as I already had her earlier WTC and this box included the later recording. I'm working my way slowly through it, and enjoying it a lot.

I really like her style with Bach because I treat phrases like "self-effacing" as compliments, and I don't get the sense that she wants her performances to be "about her". Pretty much the worst criticism of a performance is "self-indulgent" (or "Glenn Gould" - which I think is how self-indulgent translates into US English). I did listen to some Gould the other day which I thought was pretty good. It was Bach's Keyboard Concerto Number 1. I guess that the need to work with an orchestra meant he had to rein in his overweening narcissism, and as a result produce a good performance.

I like the later Schiff WTC a lot too.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

I'm not Gould's biggest fan myself (while I wish I had one ten thousandth of his technique, I'd make very different use of it if I did) but I don't actually agree that his approach was self-indulgent. I'd lay odds that Gould's intention was as much to be true to the music as Angela Hewitt's clearly is. They happen to bring polar opposite selves to the table which are then reflected in their respective music-making. The question of which approach one prefers will necessarily be equally personal to each listener and my preference would not be for either one. It's possible to include elements of both without taking either to the same extremes - cf.the recordings of Partitas 1 and 2 from Lipatti and Argerich referred to above.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Animal the Drummer said:


> I'm not Gould's biggest fan myself (while I wish I had one ten thousandth of his technique, I'd make very different use of it if I did) but I don't actually agree that his approach was self-indulgent. I'd lay odds that Gould's intention was as much to be true to the music as Angela Hewitt's clearly is. They happen to bring polar opposite selves to the table which are then reflected in their respective music-making. The question of which approach one prefers will necessarily be equally personal to each listener and my preference would not be for either one. It's possible to include elements of both without taking either to the same extremes - cf.the recordings of Partitas 1 and 2 from Lipatti and Argerich referred to above.


What's interesting about this is the way you quantify the extent to which these musicians are "true to the music" and then order them with respect to that.

We could break down the music into its elements and ask how Lipatti, Argerich, Gould and Hewitt are true to them. Pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres, durations, articulations, registers etc.


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## Eclectic Al (Apr 23, 2020)

Gould is not true to the music at all, because the pieces do not include an extra line for "hum".

On the other hand, if Gould was not humming deliberately, but couldn't help it, then that is a failure of technique (because it is not a big ask of piano technique that it should require the pianist to have sufficient breath control not to hum loudly, just as a flautist's technique should include the ability to play the flute without stamping loudly on the ground at the same time, for instance).

On the question of self-indulgence, no other performance I've heard seems to think that Bach's Prelude Number 1 from Book 1 of the WTC should be performed with jarring staccato effects and random vocalisations. I can't help but think that his whole shtick in a performance like that is about saying "forget the music; look at me".


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Bulldog said:


> As for Hewitt, I have most of her Bach recordings. I'd say she is very good without ever reaching the top spot. Well, I have to take that back; her first Bach recording was on DG and had a stunning account of the Italian Concerto, especially the 2nd movement.
> 
> I do not consider her Bach to be bland - she's a class act of refinement and beauty.


This pretty much sums up my opinion. Regarding the clip of her playing Prelude & Fugue No. 23 in B major BWV 893 | WTC Book II - I found it enjoyable and well-done according to my taste.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Eclectic Al said:


> Gould is not true to the music at all, because the pieces do not include an extra line for "hum".
> 
> On the other hand, if Gould was not humming deliberately, but couldn't help it, then that is a failure of technique (because it is not a big ask of piano technique that it should require the pianist to have sufficient breath control not to hum loudly, just as a flautist's technique should include the ability to play the flute without stamping loudly on the ground at the same time, for instance).
> 
> On the question of self-indulgence, no other performance I've heard seems to think that Bach's Prelude Number 1 from Book 1 of the WTC should be performed with jarring staccato effects and random vocalisations. I can't help but think that his whole shtick in a performance like that is about saying "forget the music; look at me".


I respect the above of course, but we'll have to agree to differ. I wasn't saying Gould was being true to the music - I was saying, and I still say, that he thought he was, and that what he did was done in that spirit, not in order to be perverse or showy. On the contrary, he seems to me always to have been both unaware of and indifferent to the effect on others of what he did, whether musically or otherwise.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Animal the Drummer said:


> I respect the above of course, but we'll have to agree to differ. I wasn't saying Gould was being true to the music - I was saying, and I still say, that he thought he was, and that what he did was done in that spirit, not in order to be perverse or showy. On the contrary, he seems to me always to have been both unaware of and indifferent to the effect on others of what he did, whether musically or otherwise.


You must admit that Gould was an eccentric, and that came across from the chair he chose, to his refusal to perform live, as well with his humming and odd interpretations for many of the works he recorded (I'm thinking here of his Mozart and Beethoven).

I enjoy his performances of Bach and the Second Viennese School, but little else.

Bottom-line: he is not for everyone.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Oh, Gould was certainly eccentric. Those things to which you rightly draw attention are the kind of things which convince me that what characterised him was lack of social communication skills as opposed to simply being a show-off.


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## Martin70 (Jun 13, 2018)

I enjoy the way Angela Hewitt interprets Bach; soothing and well-tempered come to mind. Other times I prefer Gould, Schiff, Gulda, Barenboim and this could become a very long list. I often find myself selecting the piece of Bach want to listen to, then considering which performance suites my mood. I wonder what Bach would have made with the different interpretations?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Eclectic Al said:


> On the question of self-indulgence, no other performance I've heard seems to think that Bach's Prelude Number 1 from Book 1 of the WTC should be performed with jarring staccato effects and random vocalisations. I can't help but think that his whole shtick in a performance like that is about saying "forget the music; look at me".


I find Gould's Prelude no. 1 highly enjoyable and appreciate the staccato he offers - something different but effective.

I do wonder why no. 1 gets so much attention; there are other preludes from the set that are much more compelling.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Bulldog said:


> I find Gould's Prelude no. 1 highly enjoyable and appreciate the staccato he offers - something different but effective.


I find Gould's staccato in the C-major prelude completely unmusical.

1) The changing harmonies are best defined by playing each broken chord legato.
2) The staccato prevents the perception of the implied polyphony of the chords.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

premont said:


> I find Gould's staccato in the C-major prelude completely unmusical.


You're not the only one, but I don't hear it that way.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Bulldog said:


> I do wonder why no. 1 gets so much attention; there are other preludes from the set that are much more compelling.


Probably two reasons.

1) It's the first thing that people hear when they start listening at the beginning of the WTC.
2) It may be related to the fact that much older listeners may have heard it first as Gounod's Ave Maria.


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