JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)

 

Goldberg Variations

 

Partita No. 5 in G Major, BWV 829

 

Recorded 4th October, 1954 in the CBC Studios, Montreal.

 

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Recorded 10th and 14th-16th June, 1955 in the Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York City

 

Glenn Gould (piano)

 

The Canadian pianist Glenn Gould burst onto the world’s musical stage in January 1955 when he made his United States recital début in Washington D.C. with Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

 

His 1955 recording of the work is one of the most important and influential piano discs of the second half of the twentieth century, leading not only to a wider appreciation of Bach’s keyboard works by the general public but to a fundamental re-appraisal of how Bach should be played.

 

When the recording was released the American Record Guide headed its review with “The Record Début of Glenn Gould, a Keyboard Genius.”

 

With its great attention to clarity and detail, little use of the sustaining pedal, and sometimes rapid or extreme tempos, this vital and exciting performance is the complete antithesis to the ‘sewing-machine’ style of Bach playing.

 

Naxos Historical 8111247