Johann Sebastian Bach
Glenn Gould: Invenzioni a due voci e sinfonie a tre voci

LA RECENSIONE

The fifteen two-voice inventions and the fifteen three-voice sinfonias are brief compositions that Bach wrote for educational purposes for his students (he seems to have been an extraordinary and, in some cases, revolutionary teacher: for example, he introduced the use of the thumb on the harpsichord keyboard—and thus on the keyboard in general!!!—which was previously played with only four fingers). But the fact that they were born for teaching does not make these pieces mere exercises in style, absolutely not: they are rather little masterpieces of expressiveness. And in the hands of Glenn Gould, they become exquisite pianistic miniatures. He plunges headlong into the voices of these aforementioned miniatures, rendering them with unparalleled clarity: breaking it down in detail, one can point out the extraordinary rhythmic incisiveness of the invention in E-flat major, the ecstatic and dreamy atmosphere in which the sinfonia in E-flat major is immersed (a key sister to the previous one), the forty-five (!!!) seconds of relentless momentum of the invention in A minor, and the almost four incredibly nostalgic and evocative minutes of the sinfonia in G minor, but these observations are absolutely subjective.

Each of the thirty compositions is a small treasure chest of secrets, which are revealed gradually, after dozens of listens: and it is a complete pleasure for the ears to discover them with the help of Mr. Gould, one of the great interpreters of 20th-century music, without a doubt.