Glenn Gould on playing the harpsichord (1972)

"On the harpsichord, it's very easy to achieve the sort of secco, pointillistic détaché line that I've always tried to produce on the piano, with varying degrees of success.  On the other hand, having achieved it, you can't influence [the harpsichord] dynamically and you're left, so to speak, beholden to the generosity of the ear which is sometimes prepared to read dynamic implications into rhythmic alterations.  But this introduces another set of problems, because, on the harpsichord, you have a choice between rhythmic inexorability and its converse, which is infinite rubato, a kind of sound world which really never comes to rest on any bar-line.  I was determined to try and find a way around that problem.  And I thought, well, the best solution would be to pretend that I'm not playing the harpsichord at all."                                                                                

Glenn Gould (1972)

Columbia M 31512/glenn Gould/handel Suites For Harpsichord Nos. 1-4  (1972)

Eaton's Auditorium, Toronto, Canada (1972-03-26&1972-04-30&1972-).