Glenn Gould and the Artof Fugue

GLENN GOULD AND THE ART OF FUGUE by Sean Malone Sean Malone is a doctoral student in > "Bach was forever writing fugues," Bach’s last days are the stuff of rarified music theory at the University of Oregon. Glenn Gould wrote, in his essay "Art of musical legend—a man consumed with A bassist and composer, he has performed the Fugue." "No pursuit was better fitted to completing the work that would sum up widely in North America and Europe, and his temperament, and there is none by not only his own musical life but ever y t h i n g has more than fifty recordings to his cred - which the development of his art can be so that could, should, or would need be said it—most recently Emergent, featuring Bill precisely evaluated." By merely substitut- of counterpoint: his colossal Die Kunst der Bruford and Steve Hackett. He has had ing two words in the first phrase— Fuge (The Art of Fugue). Something simi- two books published by the Hal Leonard "Gould" for "Bach," and "recording" for lar could be said of Gould: he abandoned C o r p o ration, the most recent featuring "writing"—we arrive at a rather succinct the stage, concentrated on recording, and transcriptions and analyses of perform - and accurate portrait of Glenn Gould the toward the end of his life revisited the ances by the late bassist Jaco Pastorius. pianist, who was known for, and judged seminal works that secured his fame— Malone has done Gould-related research b y, his highly stylized and analytical most notably the Goldberg Va r i a t i o n s , focussed on musical imagery, cognition, r e n d i t i o n s of Johann Sebastian Bach’s though according to Bruno Monsaingeon and Gould’s unique understanding of keyboard works. In fact, if we apply the he was apparently also considering Bach, and has presented some of this same approach to the sentences that follow r e r e c o r d i n g The Well-Tempered Clavier. It research at music-theory conferences in in that same 1972 essay, we arrive at an seems as if he discovered an even deeper the United States and Canada. He has eerily reflexi ve description (my substitutions "truth" about the music of Bach and taught a seminar at the University of are in brackets): "He has always been retreated further inward, both musically and Oregon entitled "Glenn Gould, the Last judged by his [Bach]. In his last years, still so c i a l l y , in order to pursue the musical ideal. Puritan," on the pianist’s life and work— [recording] [Bach] at a time when the A common image of Glenn Gould the the first such course ever offered in the avant-garde of his day was occupied with pianist is that of a well-trained musician U.S. His article "Much Ado about more [pianistic] endeavors …" and performer who, by intense study and Humming: The Gould Descant," based on It is well known that Bach turned his years of practice, rendered some of the a lecture delivered at the 1999 Glenn back on musical trends that were popular most virtuosic, informed, and stylized per- Gould Gathering, in Toronto, appeared in during the last years of his life; as Gould formances of Bach’s keyboard works. This our Spring 2000 issue. Malone’s personal put it, "fugues were out, and minuets were description is not incorrect, though in Web site is at www.seanmalone.net. in, I guess." Romantic speculations about Gould’s case it describes him only from the top down: listen to a recording and For a moment, simply take for granted and structure—certain "thou shalts" and hear a little humming, throw in some G o u l d ’s technique—agility, accuracy, "thou shalt nots"— there is no one pattern gl o ves, a few scarves, and a squeaky chair, clarity, and an ability to reveal inner voi c e s common to all fugues. Unlike such musical and there you have it—Glenn Gould for that few if any have equalled before or forms as binary, rondo, or sonata-allegro, people who dismiss Glenn Gould, even since—and consider the notion of musical the harmonic and melodic outlines of those who respect him as a pianist. imagery and embodiment, an inner world which are quite regular and predictable, How e ver , with this article I hope to offer a of structural perfection, where the score fugue is an organic musical process, in different description, to address those ele- exists for its own sake and the implications which the ultimate form of the piece is ments of Gould’s intellect, interests, and of its fugal complexity become a collection determined solely by the imperatives of its performance practices that contribute to of variables and equations whose solutions particular thematic material; as the theorist explain, if only in part, his ext r a o r d i n a r y found there way through Gould’s voice Heinrich Schenker put it, a fugue has a understanding of Bach, manifested in his and conducting. Now, add that to the "life force" through which it seeks out its "idiosyncratic" performances. This is not an aforementioned virtuosic technique, and "goal of directed motion." attempt to create some kind of formula, or we begin to see that something much more What follows is a metaphor that better otherwise compartmentalize or deconstruct than piano playing is occurring: Gould is illustrates the differences between form the brilliance of his playing; rather, it is an trying to expose and communicate those and process. If we were "dropped" into the attempt to bring to light and coalesce things that make the score "perfect" before middle of a sonata-allegro movement, we those elements, musical and non-musical, a single note is struck—an almost could glance at what came before and after that are components of the immensely voyeuristic glimpse into the sanctifi e d our point of arrival and know not only co m p l i c a t e d mosaic that is Gould’s ar t . design of musical and intellectual purity. where we "are" in the movement, but what Glenn Gould was a man of rare A third piece in the Gould puzzle is likely to come next, and when things i n t e l l i g e n c e, whose tremendous capacity comes in the form of his vo l u m i n o u s will all be over. Being dropped into the for thought found a home in the idealistic output as a broadcaster, including but not middle of a fugue, however, would be akin world of fugue, from where he sought to limited to his "contrapuntal radio docu- to eavesdropping midway into a conversa- understand and impart the structure of m e n t a r i e s ," and taking account of his tion among three or four people: they all music and the very nature of understanding p r o c l iv i t y for multi-tasking in his personal seem to be talking about the same thing, itself, his every corporeal conduit life. (According to Monsaingeon, as many though we cannot be quite sure of what r e l e n t l e s s l y seeking to communicate the as eighteen televisions could be found at that topic is, whether anyone has had any- u n fathomable dimension of Bach’s his studio in The Inn on the Park, where thing interesting to say so far, where the u n ive r s e through an instrument that, at s everal radios might also be tuned to conversation will lead, or when it might times, seemingly could not keep pace— s e p a r a t e stations.) Before we take a look end. Fugue, in other words, resists the the piano. In essence, to understand fugue at some examples and their metaphoric usual formal and temporal markers that so is to understand Gould, and in doing so we implications, it is necessary to have an ha n d i l y articulate binary, rondo, sonata- may come closer to understanding the understanding of the nature and structure allegro, and other such forms. We are left ma n y facets of his legac y as an interwoven , of fugue, the musical genre in which with a musical genre that seemingly has a contrapuntal tapestry. Gould felt most at home and whose life of its own, communicates a wide range In my previous article for l a n g u a g e he spoke fluently. of emotion and meaning, retains a recognizable Gl e n n G o u l d , "Much Ado about Humming: timeline, yet resists a single encompassing The Gould Descant," I suggested that definition. This sense of dichotomy was Gould’s singing while performing was an p r evalent in Bach’s day, embodied in expression of his internalized and idealized F u g u e c o n t e m p o r a r y philosophy and aesthetics, image of musical structure, supplementing and most certainly figured in the crafting the limitations of his chosen instrument. I of his contrapuntal masterpieces. T h e re has been demonstration supported this claim with transcriptions Every fugue is based on, and begins of the universal truth by fugue, that illustrated sung melodies not found in with, a melody referred to as the subject.

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