Beschreibung:

Glenn Gould's extensively annotated copy of Bach's Goldberg Variations ("Klavierübung IV.Teil Aria Mit verschiedenen Veränderungen 'Goldberg-Variationen'," A HOLY GRAIL OF GLENN GOULD MANUSCRIPTS: A GOULD-ANNOTATED SCORE FOR HIS RECORDING FOR THE SECOND "GOLDBERG VARIATIONS," ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT AND WELL-KNOWN INTERPRETATION IN CLASSICAL MUSIC. Pianist Glenn Gould rocketed to stardom in 1955 with his recording of his crisp and inventive interpretation of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Comprising 30 contrapuntal variations, beginning and ending with an aria, the piece had long been considered, when considered at all, as too esoteric and demanding to be part of the standard piano repertoire, with very few pianists even attempting it. Gould's performance changed all of that. In 1964, at the pinnacle of his performing career, Gould retired from performing at the tender age of 30. Mellowed by time and age, he revisited the piece in a 1981 recording before his untimely death in 1982. The two recordings form the bookends of his life and career, indeed the first three lines of the aria are carved in his tombstone by way of an epitaph. Perhaps never in the history of music, has a performer been so thoroughly identified with an interpretation of music they didn't compose, eliciting a new name, the "Gouldberg Variations." Working on a non-descript C.F. Peters score, Gould here records his notes, sometimes indecipherably, on the numerous takes that went into the album and the contemporaneous film of the recording. These pages offer an important window into Gould's famous final recording, as he notes in minutiae the timings of various takes and levels, while sometimes emphasizing pauses, microphone placements, etc. The four additional manuscript pages likewise contain notes on the recordings, referencing the score and providing additional commentary and instruction, such as at Var. XVII: "↓ at Bar 5 could be just a wee shade less"; or "Var 20 ... Bar 8; look once again for another last beat, 9 as we know tends to rush"; or simply "Var XVIII Perf-" [Perfect]. Gould the pianist had lived closely with this piece of music for 25 years and was unlikely to need notes for playing—the present manuscript contains minute detail of his assembly of the recording. Perhaps more than any other classical performer, Gould understood and realized the power of the recording, famously illustrated in his controversial 1966 essay "The Prospects of Recording" (High Fidelity Magazine, vol 16, no 4, April 1966, pp 46-63), which begins, "IN AN UNGUARDED MOMENT some months ago, I predicted that the public concert as we know it today would no longer exist a century hence, that its functions would have been entirely taken over by electronic media." Not only was Gould a furiously talented musician, but in an almost 21st-century fashion he understood the intricacies and importance of the sound of the production in a way that few of his contemporaries would. Gould's second recording of the Goldberg Variations has been described by friend and scholar Tim Page as "one of Gould's most personal and contemplative statements—the summing up of an extraordinary life." The 1955 "Gouldberg" launched him to stardom, and his 1981 recording acts as a coda to the remarkable career of one of the most important pianists of the 20th-century. This annotated complete score and accompanying notes offer profound insight into the landmark recording. Gould manuscripts are very rare in the marketplace, with no substantial Gould manuscript ever having been sold at auction. With our profuse thanks to Tim Page, whose insights and knowledge of the subject have been invaluable in bringing this manuscript to auction. A 1997 Pulitzer Prize recipient, Tim became instant friends with Glenn Gould in 1980. He became a trusted confident of the Glenn Gould Estate after Glenn Gould's premature death and became an important contributor in sharing and promoting Glenn Gould's legacy. After his radio interv