Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould :: Bach: Partita No. 5 in G major; Partita No. 6 in E minor

Bach's Last Toccata...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 03/30/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

".

The apogee of this recording is the e-minor Toccata (first movement of the Partita S. 830).



Bach's "toccatas" are multisectional works containing three to five episodes generally following this formula: i) toccata; ii) adagio or arietta; iii) fugue.



Bach's great e-minor Toccata consists of i) toccata [introduction]; ii) fugue; iii) toccata [conclusion].



Gould was at heart an ardent Romanticist; on the surface, a sleek Modernist.

In this piece, he infuses an ardently subjective Romanticism with an hard-edged Modernism, turning this antiquated Baroque piece inside out: he makes the upward rushing thrust of the Toccata into a pain-filled cry, and the fugue into a studied glacier.

With his uncanny timing, GG stretches out this incredible piece to nearly :10mins duration.

As David says of Goliath's sword, 'There is none like it; give it me' (1 Sam. 21:9c).



The ending (when the fugal theme returns to conjoin the toccata recapitulation)--with Gould's exquisite durée and incredible digital technique--is absolutely breathtaking, giving a diaphanous glimpse into the mystery of Being.

.

Gould rarely re-recorded any piece once set to record.

In this issue we have fugues from the WTC2 taken at quite different tempi from the later 1960s issue: fascinating comparison.

.

('Da-sein') Being and Time: A Translation of Sein and Zeit (SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy)

('Diaphaneitè') The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (Oxford World's Classics)

.

Bach: Preludes & Fugues Nos. 1-8 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2

Bach: Preludes and Fugues Nos. 9-16 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2

Bach: Preludes & Fugues Nos. 17-24 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2

."