Comments on On An Overgrown Path: "The best damn record we've ever made"

placed alongside one another i have a slight prefe...

2006-07-14T22:18:00.000+01:00

placed alongside one another i have a slight preference for the salzburg recording.it's not so determined,dancing along in the central section.
With the exception of pointless/petulant recordings of music he didn't like (Mozart sonatas)i think Gould was tremendously imaginative in his choices of repertoire.

Scott, it is quite possible they were the same pie...

2006-06-25T14:02:00.000+01:00

Scott, it is quite possible they were the same piece, a two minute variation was nothing for Gould. His 1955 Goldberg recording takes 38 minutes 26 seconds, his 1981 version takes 51 minutes 14 seconds!

Seriusly though, the piece is identified as Sweelinck's Fantasia in D Minor for Organ (arr. for piano).

Ah ... I should have been a bit clearer, perhaps. ...

2006-06-25T13:34:00.000+01:00

Ah ... I should have been a bit clearer, perhaps. I'm aware that the two aren't the same performance (they could hardly be that when one is almost 2 minites longer). I was checking whether it's the same piece of music, "Fantasia in D" being a fairly generic title.

Scott, the Sweelinck Fantasia is not the Salzburg ...

2006-06-22T23:52:00.000+01:00

Scott, the Sweelinck Fantasia is not the Salzburg recital. It is actually a mono version taken from a CBC Television broadcast in 1964. The CD issue is actually the first authorised release. The quality is more than acceptable and the mono sound is not a problem. (Obviously the rest of the CD is stereo).

A lovely post ... thanks."Gould described the cons...

2006-06-22T21:35:00.000+01:00

A lovely post ... thanks.

"Gould described the consorte music recording as "the best damn record we've ever made" and placed it alongside his Prokofiev and Scriabin album. I can only agree, this is one truly gorgeous disc ..."

Indeed. One of my favourite recordings, although it's not that easy to explain why. Somehow, Gould captures the spirit of the music in a way that I find completely convincing.

I notice that the Sweelinck "Fantasia in D" is a studio recording from 1964. Do you know if that's the same "Fantasia in D" as on the 1959 Salzburg recital? If so, I may have to satisfy my curiosity and buy the "Tudor" CD to replace my LP - the earlier live "Fantasia in D" is almost 2 minutes slower than the later studio Fantasia (9'14" vs. 7'20"). And the slower one seems fairly hair-raising in spots already. If it's the same piece, maybe repeats are omitted from the later version ...

The ever entertaining Topix.net news feed in the U...

2006-06-22T19:06:00.000+01:00

The ever entertaining Topix.net news feed in the US has decided to use my image of Mary Tudor as the thumbnail with this story.

The "The best damn record we've ever made" your Majesty?

And talking of early music on the piano Rameau's N...

2006-06-22T15:52:00.000+01:00

And talking of early music on the piano Rameau's Nouvelles Suites played by Alexandre Tharaud is another gorgeous disc.