Glenn Gould - Part 1 – An introduction and an overview.

This is the first episode of 'Classical For Everyone' devoted to just one musician so I better have some good reasons… apart from just a personal affection for his recordings. In the English speaking world, the Canadian Glenn Gould was amongst the most recognised and popular pianists in the second half of the 20^th Century. In fact, even today, over forty years after his death at the age of 50 in 1982 there are not many pianists of similar stature. Ok, so he has enduring popularity. But why is that? At the heart of it is sheer technical skill. Which of course many pianists had and have… but Gould had a quite specific dexterity… a way of playing that articulated each note with a very precise individuality that could be applied at the same time, when required, at extraordinary speed. And in particular he applied this to the, then relatively unknown, keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach… a number of which will be featured in the episode along with music from Beethoven, Byrd, Brahms and Scarlatti.