# Glenn Gould CDs



## merlinus

Looking for recommendations. I have both Goldberg variations, Bach volumes 1 and 2, LvB concerti and sonatas 5-10, 12-14, 24, 29-32.

Definitely not interested in Mozart.

Thanks!


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## Blancrocher

I love the album with Gould, Laredo, and Rose playing the sonatas for violin and viola da gamba--in addition to all the other Bach albums he recorded!

http://www.amazon.com/Plays-Bach-So...F8&qid=1398447031&sr=1-14&keywords=gould+bach

I also enjoy his Hindemith recordings, many of which can be sampled on youtube.


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## peteAllen

Blancrocher said:


> I love the album with Gould, Laredo, and Rose playing the sonatas for violin and viola da gamba


Agreed.

I also really like his set of Beethoven sonatas. Not necessarily my favourite, but fascinating and bold interpretations as always, and very insightful.

Also recommend this one:


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## peteAllen

Oh, and his recording of the Art of the Fugue


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## Varick

I stay away from anything that Gould did outside the Baroque era. ANYTHING he did on Bach is worth getting. I'm not sure what's in "Bach Vol's 1 & 2" but I have everything he ever recorded from Bach (Golberg, AoF, English & French Suites, Overture in French Style, Partitas, Preludes & Fugues, WTC, Toccatas, Inventions, Violin Sonatas with Jaime Laredo, & Viola de Gamba Sonatas. I also have Hindemith Sonatas 1-3.

His Chopin is awful, I think his Beethoven and everything else I've heard from the Classical and Romantic era is a train wreck. I haven't heard anything else of his besides the aformentioned Hindemith on 20th Century music. IMO I believe the man was an idiot savant. Savant only in the Baroque era. And when it comes to that, he has no equal.

V


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## Vaneyes

JS Bach, Haydn, LvB, Sibelius, Hindemith, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Krenek, Brahms, Vogner, CPE Bach, D. Scarlatti, Sweelinck. :tiphat:


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## JCarmel

This is a Go-To cd set for me...I go to it when I want cheering-up...& it usually works!


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## bigshot

Get the DVD series of his specials for Canadian TV. They are amazing.


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## Svelte Silhouette

I find Glen Gould a bit of an acquired taste I've not completely acquired but liked the TV specials.


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## Deontologist

Oh, it's too bad you're not open-minded to Gould's Mozart, for there's much to learn therein.

Why not start with GG's Beethoven Sonatas?


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## Bulldog

merlinus said:


> Looking for recommendations. I have both Goldberg variations, Bach volumes 1 and 2, LvB concerti and sonatas 5-10, 12-14, 24, 29-32.
> 
> Definitely not interested in Mozart.
> 
> Thanks!


There are three Gould Goldbergs on Sony and another one on CBC.


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## msvadi

merlinus said:


> Bach volumes 1 and 2 Thanks!


I'm not sure what you mean by Bach volumes 1 & 2, since there are quite a few different volumes 1 and 2 of Bach's music.

Anyway, my favourite Gould is Well-Tempered Clavier (especially Book 1) and Bach's Keyboard Concertos (Concerto #1 in D minor will blow your mind).


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## DavidA

Deontologist said:


> Oh, it's too bad you're not open-minded to Gould's Mozart, for there's much to learn therein.
> /QUOTE]
> 
> Such as how not to play Mozart! I am a Glenn Gould fan but he's playing of Mozart is perverse. He had made up his mind that Mozarts was a bad composer and appeared to want to convince everybody else of it. Why on earth he recorded all the sonatas is quite beyond me as they do no credit to his playing. Maybe he was mad after all?


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## DavidA

Anything by Bach played by GG is marvellously challenging, even if you don't agree with all his choices. Of course he would play the pieces many different ways in the recording studio then choose the performances which were to be on the disc. They were his choices at the time!
The Beethoven sonatas are similarly worth a listen as they have some tremendous insights. But avoid the Appassionata as it is terribly perverse. 
The Beethoven concertos are among the most marvellous set of these recorded with tons of revelations.
And don't forget his wonderful set of Elizabethan music - Gibbons et al.
And his Haydn.


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## merlinus

Bulldog said:


> There are three Gould Goldbergs on Sony and another one on CBC.


I have the 1955 and 1981 versions. Both are wonderful, but I prefer the more introspective interpretation of the later one. Listening to them motivated me to work on a number of the variations, although it is not even a pale shadow of Glenn!


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## satoru

Hi,

If you like Second Vienna School (or maybe even you don't), I'd like to recommend following album:

http://www.amazon.com/Glenn-Gould-E...TF8&qid=1401653485&sr=8-1&keywords=gould+berg

I realized the beauty of their music after I run into this album. Hope you enjoy!

Best,


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## science

DavidA said:


> Such as how not to play Mozart! I am a Glenn Gould fan but he's playing of Mozart is perverse. He had made up his mind that Mozarts was a bad composer and appeared to want to convince everybody else of it. Why on earth he recorded all the sonatas is quite beyond me as they do no credit to his playing. Maybe he was mad after all?


Posts like this make me want to hear the music. If your strategy was to get me to hear Gould's Mozart, congratulations!


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## Vaneyes

science said:


> Posts like this make me want to hear the music. If your strategy was to get me to hear Gould's Mozart, congratulations!


GG WAM Vol. 1/Early Sonatas, I quite like. Vol. 2 is another matter, though I'd fall short of a perversity description. :tiphat:


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## csolomonholmes

Wagner/Gould: Piano Transcriptions of Wagner Orchestral Showpieces - is my recommendation.


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## Ravndal

If you want to hear what's out there, about all of his recording is on spotify.


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## Bulldog

I rather like Gould's Mozart (a lot); my only objection would be that he gets a little bass-heavy at times. Gould's Haydn is top of the line along with Brendel.


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