The good news in the summer of 1968 for classical listeners who always wanted to like
Glenn Gould but were put off by his incessant vocalizations was that producer
Andrew Kazdin had found a way to muzzle the great Canadian pianist. In this Columbia release of
Gould's 1966 and 1967 recordings of the first eight preludes and fugues from
Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, listeners were treated to almost humming-free performances. This absence left listeners free to contemplate
Gould's idiosyncratic interpretations without distractions.
And make no mistake, these interpretations are idiosyncratic.
Gould's virtuoso technique and propulsive tempos carried over
Bach's linear counterpoint with nary a stumble, but his tempos are often exceedingly fast, his articulation excessively staccato, his phrasing oddly askew, and his structures strangely out of balance. There's no question that the result reflects
Gould's intentions given his technique and his intellect. The question is, ultimately, why did he do it? And the only answer is because he could. Whether or not this works is up to the individual listener.