Saturday 9 July 2011

Glenn Gould - slow trills, syncopated trills

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Glenn Gould seemed to phrase trills more than any other pianist I have encountered.

In the finale Gigue movement of Bach's French Suite number 4 in E-flat Major he uses slow trills.

(This is one of the most joyous pieces of music I have ever heard - especially the repeat of the first section):

7:09 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2OGhZ8fbAs

(BTW: it sounds even better on vinyl - as per usual.)

In the Prelude in G minor from Book 1 of Well Tempered Clavier Gould uses an accelerating trill in the high part (rather faint in this recording - it sounds like only one stereo channel) at the opening and repeated variously in other voices; which accelerates in a stepwise fashion and at one point is syncopated, in triplets - I have always loved the way he played it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qefBKP6M6CQ

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