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How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

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Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#21

Post by redis_mlc »

Some factoids about Glenn Gould:

- he hosted a music show on CBC radio for decades. (I was fortunate to live in downtown Toronto and received 3 classical FM stations at any time on an audiophile receiver.)

- although idiosyncratic in style, if you don't like certain performances, you will find others absolutely stunning

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould

- the heir to Gould is Angela Hewitt, who is one of the greatest Bach players in history. She grew up nearby Toronto in London, Ontario. She mainly lives in Italy now, but visits her parents in San Jose perodically and does a performance when in the SF Bay Area:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Hewitt

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#22

Post by peterlk »

sudosteph wrote: post #18

I've only recently started to come around to liking the piano as an instrument and learning my around it a bit. This article touches on some the things that kept me away from it for so long - the mechanical nature of what is regarded as "good" playing, the focus on training up finger strength. But if I'm being honest, the number one thing that kept me away was that piano just seemed so... uncool. Watching youtube vid…

This is a topic about which I am particularly passionate. We teach music so wrong. Classical training is about militaristic precision - the ability to achieve perfect regurgitation of a piece that everyone has heard before.

But this is the least interesting version of music. Still interesting because it requires skill, but, at least for me, not awe inspiring.

Piano is one of the most versatile instruments (like the guitar) in that you can play lots of notes with it (and synthesizers make for a wide array of sounds). It is one of the more powerful tools for speaking the language of music. And that's what it's all about, communicating with the listener. Learning to improvise and compose is a much more rewarding approach to piano than learning to play Fur Elise.

If you'd like some inspiration, check out Jacob Collier, Haywyre, Anomalie, or basically any funk band with a keys player.

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#23

Post by mykowebhn »

v64 wrote: post #4

I play piano and watching videos of Gould playing is fascinating. He violates every rule your piano teacher tells you about performance, from his unusually low chair made to accommodate a back injury to his habit of singing along to tunes that was often picked up in his album recordings. I especially like this performance of Beethoven's 32 variations in C minor by him [1]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoWXRlw9…

I think it's also good to point out that Gould did not play the piano with curved fingers, as is mostly taught in the West. He played using a flat-fingered approach, taught to him by his teacher Alberto Guerrero. Interestingly, the tendency to keep one's fingers flat was also taught in the Russian school [1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eru9FDvUfz4

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#24

Post by Dumblydorr »

sudosteph wrote: post #18

I've only recently started to come around to liking the piano as an instrument and learning my around it a bit. This article touches on some the things that kept me away from it for so long - the mechanical nature of what is regarded as "good" playing, the focus on training up finger strength. But if I'm being honest, the number one thing that kept me away was that piano just seemed so... uncool. Watching youtube vid…

Have you seen Valentina Lisista on YT? She is incredible and may hook you into Classical piano being cool, her videos are very well made and her playing is beastly.

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#25

Post by Thorentis »

> It’s unfashionable these days to play Bach on the piano.

According to who? I've played Bach to all sorts of different people, and all have appreciated it and enjoyed it. Sure, they might not listen to it in the car on the way to work (like I might) but that doesn't mean it is "unfashionable" to treat somebody to a live performance of a technically challenging piece by a master composer.

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#26

Post by yomly »

v64 wrote: post #4

I play piano and watching videos of Gould playing is fascinating. He violates every rule your piano teacher tells you about performance, from his unusually low chair made to accommodate a back injury to his habit of singing along to tunes that was often picked up in his album recordings. I especially like this performance of Beethoven's 32 variations in C minor by him [1]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoWXRlw9…

When you reach mastery you will usually end up breaking most rules. For starters, rules are meant to be one size fits all, but every body is unique which leads to different biomechanics. I knew a pianist who played Grieg concerto at the BBC Proms but she could barely stretch an octave. How she could play all the Chopin etudes from age 9 blows my mind.

Speaking of Chopin his first teacher wasn't much of a pianist and realised Chopin's ceiling was far greater than his own so left him to his own devices wrt technique. Chopin ended up unlocking new techniques on the keyboard which he crystallised in the etudes. He essentially wrote them for himself.

You will see rule breaking common amongst masters of a skill. In fight sports some of the best boxers have all kinds of bad habits - Inoue Naoya doing massive wind ups and Muhammad Ali dropping his hands. The rules are there to help us reach mastery but they shouldn't shackle you either.

To quote Bruce Lee

"Man is constantly growing, and when he is bound by a set pattern of ideas or ‘Way’ of doing things, that’s when he stops growing."

On the subject of Gould his touch is very fussy (although characteristic) and his humming can be frustrating at times. I prefer Perahia's Bach

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#27

Post by eigenvector »

jancsika wrote: post #16

> After a bizarre incident at Steinway’s in New York in 1959, when one of the senior technicians (whom Gould disliked because of disagreements over piano regulation) greeted him with a rather too hard clap on the shoulder, Gould claimed major physical injury, cancelled all his engagements for six months and (unsuccessfully) sued Steinway’s for $300,000. Hm... Horowitz's tuner Franz Mohr wrote a book where IIRC he cla…

No, the tech in the infamous Steinway 'assault' incident was William Hupfer. Here's contemporary coverage of it in the New York Times: http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/12/07/9997...

Besides being a genius, Gould was also a notorious hypochondriac.

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#28

Post by maroonblazer »

peterlk wrote: post #22
sudosteph wrote: post #18

I've only recently started to come around to liking the piano as an instrument and learning my around it a bit. This article touches on some the things that kept me away from it for so long - the mechanical nature of what is regarded as "good" playing, the focus on training up finger strength. But if I'm being honest, the number one thing that kept me away was that piano just seemed so... uncool. Watching youtube vid…

This is a topic about which I am particularly passionate. We teach music so wrong. Classical training is about militaristic precision - the ability to achieve perfect regurgitation of a piece that everyone has heard before. But this is the least interesting version of music. Still interesting because it requires skill, but, at least for me, not awe inspiring. Piano is one of the most versatile instruments (like the g…

I was classically trained on the piano as a child and detested every second of it. I later discovered blues and jazz and it renewed my interest in piano. Even later I dated a woman who played and loved classical piano and I discovered a universe of beautiful music I'd previously dismissed.

So, I'm not so sure it has to do with how we teach music. But rather when we teach what kinds of music.

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#29

Post by libraryofbabel »

Thorentis wrote: post #25

> It’s unfashionable these days to play Bach on the piano. According to who? I've played Bach to all sorts of different people, and all have appreciated it and enjoyed it. Sure, they might not listen to it in the car on the way to work (like I might) but that doesn't mean it is "unfashionable" to treat somebody to a live performance of a technically challenging piece by a master composer.

I think what’s meant is that playing Bach on an “authentic” period instrument (harpsichord, organ, etc.) is more the fashion. Bach didn’t write for the modern piano, although his music sounds pretty good on it.

Re: How to play the piano: On Glenn Gould

#30

Post by antognini »

Thorentis wrote: post #25

> It’s unfashionable these days to play Bach on the piano. According to who? I've played Bach to all sorts of different people, and all have appreciated it and enjoyed it. Sure, they might not listen to it in the car on the way to work (like I might) but that doesn't mean it is "unfashionable" to treat somebody to a live performance of a technically challenging piece by a master composer.

I think the point the author is not that "It's unfashionable these days to play Bach". They are saying that "It's unfashionable these days to play Bach on the piano."

The modern fashion is to play Bach on a period-appropriate instrument like a harpsichord or clavichord. The piano wasn't invented until much later so it is anachronistic to play Bach on a piano. But the disadvantage of Bach on period-appropriate instruments is that the modern piano is really quite an incredible instrument with a much better ability to produce subtle changes in dynamics. So what you gain in historical authenticity you may lose in emotional expression.

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