Glenn Gould - Glenn Gould and Humphrey Burton on Strauss - Part 1 (OFFICIAL)

Glenn Gould once said he is addicted to the music of Strauss like he is to chocolate ice cream.
In this interview, which was originally broadcast on April 19, 1966, he talks with Humphrey Burton about his affection for the great composer and his songs.
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[@cheri238]

What an exhilarating conversation between Glenn Gould and Mr. Burton, the intelligence is so contagious between them both, along with Glenn's humorous expression on Strauss's "Morgan." Like a beat- nick playing a guitar, it is not my favorite, but I will play a little of it for you. This is priceless. 🙏♥️🌎🌿🕊🎵🎶🎵🎶✨️💫

[@johnsharp71]

Few comments about the great Humphrey Burton. What a wonderful man! Viewers outside the UK may not know that he was one of the great pioneers of arts broadcasting; not least, he 'adopted' Ken Russell and was responsible for commissioning many of his early documentaries. This programme demonstrates a great meeting of minds, of the type we rarely see on our screens these days. Thank you so much for the upload!

[@conforzo]

Whenever I sit down at the piano I just want to realize the great orchestral works of geniuses like Strauss, Mahler, Wagner etc. And Glenn Gould does it amazingly!!!

[@konstantinospapathomas2712]

One of the greatest geniuses the music world has ever seen!! Such depth in musical analytical thinking, such intellectualism!!

[@twangbarfly]

His English is excellent, but music is clearly his first language.... Wonderful video - thank you!

[@murasaki8074]

“Much of a muchness.” I adore him. He had a way with language which pursues what is expressed at the piano and vice versa. The choice of Humphrey Burton for this series is inspired too.

[@sajateacher]

The guy is just brilliant and these videos are so interesting.

[@donmcgibbon6575]

"A defiant old man... " GLENN!!!! You was a defiant man ALL YER LIFE!!!

[@marijane8665]

Second to listening/watching Gould play (albeit without sheet music), I love listening to him talk! Love the way his mind works...

[@westernkentucky5956]

0:06 so 'full of beans' apparently is a regional colloquialism that I've never heard. Gould always adds to my vocabulary.

[@MrMayAllDay]

14:41 "I don't think we have to agree with his course to admire his works." 🙌

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

wow!! i am a huge strauss fan and gould also and I nver heard him play that 4 last song before now. that was fucking gorgeous.... gould's love for strauss rivals perhaps only that of mine.

[@DanielKurganov]

I could listen to this forever

[@MrMichaelvier]

fantastic Time capsule..Brilliant Glenn Gould plays and explains the Genius Richard Strauss...what more can you ask for:-)) thx for posting this masterpiece of TV Gem:-))

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Dislikes Morgen, proceeds to play it more beautifully than anyone else!

[@zweiosterei]

Hey, I'm a Strauss fan now.

[@johntravena119]

This is the most complete video I’ve seen yet of this interview - one of his most interesting interviews, at least for me. Thanks for posting!

[@michaeleleftheriou9876]

GG singing the Ophelia Lieder to his own accompaniment!!!! From 23:00 on. Who needs Elizabeth Schwarzkopf?

[@brianhammer5107]

I do. Gould's voice was atrocious and his constant humming during recording was more irritating than having to listen to Nancy Pelosi ramble on and on.

[@brianhammer5107]

@SteppenWolff100 what's a Drump?

[@brianhammer5107]

@SteppenWolff100 what's a Drump?

[@samaritan29]

@@brianhammer5107 trump

[@galeritaelenora]

Gould's humming is joyful and inspired! I want to buy all the recordings with enhanced humming.

[@7HPDH]

I love how he takes the time to wipe off some keys

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

What Gould says about Strauss's ecstasy proclivity is incredibly astute. I allways felt that but I couldnt say it like Gould

[@normangensler7380]

When Glenn plays the bass line at 18:36, one can hear the wonderful single tones of this gorgeous piano. What a beautiful sound. I wonder how often he changed strings, if ever? The Chickering he had when he was young, surprisingly, still possesses a full, rich sound. It sounded bad in the videos of him playing it at his cottage in Uptergrove. Technicians, later, must have worked some magic on it. (Could it have been V. Edquist?) Hopefully the CBC's staff hasn't allowed it to be destroyed, yet. (I played it in 1994, it was marvelous!)

[@larsfrandsen2501]

These conversations are absolutely brilliant! Thanks so much for posting them! (Heimlich, by the way, means secretly, but I am sure many English speaking listeners to these broadcasts already know that.)

[@bteehee]

Thank you thank you for this!!! This channel is a rare gem.

[@wallacechoi7610]

Thank you

[@elisabethsange5216]

Genius!

[@flonzaley6092]

'Heimliche Aufforderung' is 'Confidential' or 'Secret' 'Proposition'. He asks his beloved to give him a confidential beckoning gesture and slip out from the banquet, and they'll meet outside in the moonlight, as they often have before...

[@OmarTorrez]

“ Promiscuously expressive” I love how Glenn bares his puritanical tendencies for all to see. Hilarious!

[@matthewquan1529]

Gould is one of the best singers of his time I'm afraid, and an​ OK pianist.

[@mishasawangwan6652]

Matthew Quan best comment on this entire channel.. thank you

[@davidst.george6308]

And you shoulda seen him tap dance.

[@matthewquan1529]

@@davidst.george6308 Nope, Bruce Lee was the best tap dancer in the 70s.

[@davidst.george6308]

@@matthewquan1529 Well, you may be right about that. But he used too much pedal in Bach.

[@oucutie1]

Normally would believe anything Gould would say but not this time. Morgen his least favorite? His playing of this piece with “utmost conviction” belies his criticism! No. Morgen is lovely and I want to believe that Gould thought so too!!!

[@paulstrickler5684]

And he stopped playing Morgan by inserting his own [Gould's] final tonic chord, which had he played the next chord, and the few that follow till the end of the song, as Strauss wrote them - oh, I’m so frustrated because I lack the musical language to describe what to me is so heartbreaking about the ding and about those final chords. What an awful sentence, but I had to get off my chest the indignity of that final not-Strauss final tonic chord.

[@paulstrickler5684]

[ding = song]

[@AlexAlguacil]

I find contradictory that Gould supports so much Strauss in terms of keeping his musical language through his entire life - and not bending into the new music techniques such as 12tone music - but when he is asked about his piano music he quickly dismisses it saying "he didn't write any piece of real consequence". Isn't he telling us to appreciate Strauss for his art and not for the evolution of his language? In fact his piano piece An einsamer quelle op 9 Nº 2 could completely fit in the category of those three pieces he is showig us: violin sonata-heldenleben and Im abendrot -only in Aflat instead of Eflat-. It is amazing indeed that Strauss at age 16 was doing things he would do when he was 80. Too bad his piano music is so overlooked. Luckily Gould did record op. 3 and op. 5 but left out op. 9.

[@gouldian5343]

I’m pretty sure Gould supports Strauss keeping his musical language more because it demonstrates non-conformity. It’s the same reason why he supports Schoenberg. Besides, appreciating Strauss’s consistency does not mean he has to suspend judgments on individual pieces. As far as I’m aware, he may have felt those pieces weren’t particularly important or compelling.

[@gopalkambo5885]

Thank you so much for releasing these. Will the interview on Schoenberg be uploaded in the near future?

[@j.p.westwater2334]

it's up now if you haven't seen it yet

[@trollingwarrobots4176]

13:12 I thought his hands were a bit larger lol

[@wallacechoi7610]

16:32

[@wallacechoi7610]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/roq8fJV-qKl8opY

[@tonirose6776]

Since there are several of knowledgeable Gould commenters here, does anyone know the names of pieces at the end of the documentary Genius within:The Inner Life of Glenn Gould ? The second to last piece is in a romantic style (it occurred to me it was a Strauss )and the final was four voices in canon. Incredibly the doc doesn't include them in the credits! As a massive Gould (and Struass) fan, I'm going mad.

[@Anna32.]

I don't know if I can still be of help to you. The pieces in the last minutes of the documentary are: Wagner's Siegfried Idyll for 13 instruments conducted by Gould himself , and Wagner's Siegfried Idyll in the piano transcription by Glenn Gould.

[@marichristian1072]

I love Gould's generic Mozart.

[@stevenxia2944]

I would think Mozart behaves like that too, Similar idiosyncrasies some geniuses possess.

[@hugobodiam4065]

I wonder how Gould responded to Strauss's comment that he(Strauss) would have given all his operas to have written just one bar of Don Giovanni.

[@0poison014]

20:23 "sounds like" what!?!?!??! i can't understand i speak spanish pls help D: i think i heard "Re...non" but'm i'm not sure

[@0poison014]

@@adrianflamme4967 indeed , thanks you !!

[@gopalkambo5885]

Rameau, not Ravel.

[@babakml]

What is the song at 11:45?

[@user-su6qf9kb7l]

it's from Strauss's Burleske's in D Minor. Worth listening to in its entirety

[@wallacechoi7610]

​@@user-su6qf9kb7lThank you very much.

[@juliahatch3743]

What was the last example he plays in Eb in the beginning?

[@lilsap308]

Vier letzte Lieder - Im Abendrot

[@juliahatch3743]

lilsap308 thank you

[@chickenhearts141]

Anybody pls tell me what piece is it 4:00

[@estel5335]

Im Abendrot played fortissimo

[@chickenhearts141]

​@@estel5335i felt like he rearranged it instead of just simply play it fortissimo, maybe it's because I'm not familiar with the piece but thanks anyway😂

[@carlemilstormthoft598]

What is GG playing at 2.00?

[@derby2510]

Im Abendrot from the 4 Letzte Lieder.

[@elias7748]

@@derby2510thank you!

[@pfsonprayforson9348]

16:32 What's song name?

[@Santosificationable]

Morgen.

[@wallacechoi7610]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/roq8fJV-qKl8opY

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

There's NO way that Gould could ever dig Schoenberg as much as R. Strauss.... I mean, it is so obvious that Gould's senses are more tickled by Strauss... I'm super late to Schoenberg and it is kind of okay, thought provoking, but absolutely not satisfying like Strauss...

[@paulp9132]

With much respect, as I was reading this comment, it seemed to me like you were conflating your opinion with his. There's no doubt Gould loved Schoenberg - the way he talked about his music, the way it made him play, move and sing, his influence over his own (neglected) compositions, and so on. (As a personal opinion, Gould playing Schoenberg conveys an instant musicality that is so much more than some sort of thought-provoking mind game, which is not what that music is ultimately about) I don't know how one could think otherwise, with Gould openly lauding his work on many occasions. Of course, it's equally obvious that he loved Strauss and I'm certainly not trying to have two great composers thrown in a futile competition here. What I don't find as obvious as you, though, is the idea that Strauss "tickles his senses" more... I don't see it. I don't see it tickling him any less either - I only see different sorts of music he seems to play with equal passion. After all, Gould is very much known to speak his mind so there really can be no ambiguity as to what he dislikes (late Mozart, early Romantics for instance) and what he cherishes.

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

@@paulp9132 I have to admit. I was skiing yesterday and I wanted to hear peirrot lunaire.. and that is new to me.. to crave Schoenberg... so as I confessed being late to the Schoenberg game, my understanding and appreciation is evolving, even week to week. Thank you for your commentary. It has helped me to see that I don't need to make public assumptions based on my limited overall view. I am enthusiastic I guess and I just have these opinions hahhah. Cheers!

[@paulp9132]

​@@ExxylcrothEagle Well if you hadn't expressed that assumption publicly, I couldn't have "helped" you as you say I have, so it's much to my pleasure and that's what sharing thoughts is about ! As a footnote, I might add that while the Pierrot is certainly one of his great achievements, it might not be where you'd want to start if you're new to Schoenberg, considering the novelty of the work compared to the likes of many of his contemporaries. Obviously, people can do as they like and there are some who appreciate pieces like the Pierrot instinctively without understanding where it comes from, which is of course absolutely fine. But if you're looking to "get it" and don't as of yet - well, since you seem to like Strauss's music for example, it might be best to go about it in a chronological way of some sorts, and expand from there (you may already have, but I'm making the assumption for the sake of the argument). For example, his op.4 and 5 - the Verklärte Nacht sextet and his Pelleas und Melisande symphonic poem - are fine examples of what was happening at the apex of expressionistic post-Romanticism. His first quartets, his first chamber symphony, the Gurre-Lieder and so on... Friede auf Erden (here, continous modulation at the brink of atonality) if you're into choral works... You'll notice the expanding chromaticism in his music, up to a point where it simply has to burst into something else (according to him, anyway) - it'll also be easier to seize what Schoenberg kept from tradition (in the expressivity, motivic and contrapuntal structures, phrase constructions, dynamics, etc.) in his later works, once he'd "taken the leap", so to say. When discussing Schoenberg, it often revolves around landmark (and historically important) pieces like the Pierrot, but it's a disservice to those same pieces when people "in the know", facing others (who may or may not feel curious about it), focus so much on Schoenberg's innovations that they fail to sufficiently mention how they came to be, which I believe would allow far more people to better appreciate his work. In truth, Schoenberg never thought himself as some kind of revolutionary and has actually written some of the most consistent pedagogical works concerning tonal harmony, introduction to counterpoint, etc. To my mind, he was already a great composer in his early years, much before he went towards a "lingual" transformation in his music. Anyway... Some may still dislike Schoenberg's aesthetic views after having fully understood the process, it ultimately comes down to a matter of taste and I'm not trying to convert anyone, simply to put a light on the matter that may help some in enjoying his music, which, at the very least, I found to be rewarding. Good day to you in any case !

[@ExxylcrothEagle]

@@paulp9132 yes exactly! Thank you!

[@Hist_da_Musica]

Frustrated singer Glenn Gould sure has some remarkable things to say about defiant old man Richard Strauss

[@brianhammer5107]

Probably lost or destroyed by now - but I'm curious how much of this was scripted - some tv appearances were 100% so. Which was not completely honest - one might think all this commentary was spontaneous but was Gould actually putting you on.

[@charlotterose6724]

These were not scripted exactly, but all Humphrey's questions were prepared beforehand.

[@tester5709]

I sent an email to Sir Humphrey Burton last month or so, actually, asking specifically about this. "Glenn and I had met two years previously at the Vancouver Festival, where he was so the artist in residence and I was hired by CBC to be a sort of roving reporter. We had broadcast several interviews and I had a hunch we could make an interesting series. We spent a week together in Toronto picking topics and hammerinng out a sort of structure- which musical works would be highlighted, and so on. Our guiding principle was to aim for what we called rehearsed Spontaneity. There was no script. I thought the shows worked quite well.They were shown on the firstBBC network in the UK and Canada. You can still buy them on DVD."

[@tonirose6776]

@@charlotterose6724 I wouldn't say 'all'. He is responding to what Gould is saying and playing, and interrupting him to do so. That can't be scripted, no?

[@charlotterose6724]

@@tonirose6776 Yes, I would say you're right, it is a more naturally flowing conversation than all prepared Q and A's.

[@Twentythousandlps]

This interview happened before Gould's regrettable period of fake interviews actually scripted by him.

[@jonathansu5723]

He definitely sings better.

[@itamarbar9580]

Benedict Cumberbatch could play glenn gould.