Goldberg Variations

The Aria from the Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach (in the Kirkpatrick edition which writes out all the ornaments) has been a musical touchstone for me since discovering it as a keyboard major in conservatory back in the 70's, and CDs of the entire set are among the very few I come back to over and over.

In this post over on Sounds & Fury  A. C. Douglas compares the two recordings Glenn Gould made of them, one early and one late in his career. The writing about the music is as good as it gets. Agree or disagree, you know what he's saying and why he prefers one to the other.

This ties in to the previous posts on musicality in that both recordings by Gould are bursting with his amazing musicality, but the flavor of one suits some and the other suits others.