Enraptured visions! | Consort of Musicke by William Byrd & Orlando Gibbons; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D (The...

Wonderful but bad track | Consort of Musicke by William Byrd & Orlando Gibbons; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D (The Glenn Gould Edition) | Glenn Gould, William Byrd, ...

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	• Consort of Musicke by William Byrd & Orlando Gibbons; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D (The Glenn Gould Edition) Glenn Gould, William Byrd, ... Sony, 1993 average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Brilliant

I echo the Spotlight review of J. Anderson, above, who has written eloquently. This music is a transporting experience.

Enraptured visions!

The interpretative art of Glenn Gould reached sidereal dimensions in this occasion playing the British virginalists. Gould made the complete journey and ellaborated a fine and fascinating portrait about the moods, mesmerizing approach, creating a spelling atmsophere around every single piece of this treasured album.

For all those who admire and still remaind his genius, this album is among his multiple golden recordings a special value.
Inspiered and fine recordings that will reward even the most exigenet listener.

A must-buy.

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Wonderful but bad track

Gould is wonderful in this domain. My only complaint is that the Sweelinck sound quality is especially poor. At times it sounds as if he's playing underwater.

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Glenn Gould's strange genius, Sony's parsimony

Glenn Gould was a master of slow tempos, holding long melodic and contrapuntal lines together without using the damper pedal or any obvious pianistic tricks, and his extraordinary way with simple keyboard pieces shines through on this disc.

And even though these compositions are light stuff compared to the towering Bach masterpieces he recorded, there is plenty to enjoy here. And don't feel bad that Byrd and Gibbons are not played on a virginal. Nearly an hour of twanging away at these intimate, charming and modest pieces might drive an earnest modern listener crazy. Feel good about the heft and color of the modern Steinway. Gould brings body and warmth to what might otherwise be very minor pieces.

The "bonus" Sweelinck piece is further evidence of Gould's genius, but the sound quality is absolutely atrocious--taken from Canadian television in 1964 it sounds like something from a basement behind the Iron Curtain in the darkest, most technologically challenged days of Stalin's Cold War.

These are fine recordings that owe everything to Gould's eccentric and pure musical vision, but it must be stated that Sony Classical has hardly been generous with these reissues. The liner notes to this disc archly refer to "Columbia" in quotes, as if the record company that defined an entire era in classical music, comprehensively recording Bruno Walter, Leonard Bernstein, George Szell, Igor Stravinsky, and Glenn Gould, among countless other icons of the era, were a fictional bygone relic that modern day corporate record executives somehow have to refer to "in quotes."

One can hardly imagine that a perfectionist and technophile like Gould would allow such a poorly reproduced cut to be tacked on to one of the records he so lovingly produced.

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Gould has never played so sublimely.....Sweelinck is amazing!

These recordings are absolute gems. In fact I daresay nothing like these performances has come before nor will come again. Gould is a genius, and the music he performs is timeless as well as historical. One can listen to this music and be transported to the 16th century, such is the power, beauty and effectiveness of Gould's interpretations. I cannot say enough of Gibbons and Sweelink, these masters are terribly underrated and unheard. Gould's touch is magical, technical virtuosity meets a true anachronistic artist. To the naysayers I say they have ears to ear yet do not hear, or in one ear and out the other. Anyone sensitive to true art will appreciate this music. Gould's performances and the composed music transcends banal quibbles like "he plays it too fast", or "it should be played on a virginal". Long live Byrd, Gibbons, Sweelinck and Gould!

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Tracks
Pavan & Galliard, for keyboard in A minor, No. 1, MB 14 | Fantasia a 3, No.6, for viols, MB12 | Alman on the 8th tone, for keyboard, MB37 | Hugh Aston's Ground, for keyboard, MB 20 | Pavan ('Canon 2 in 1'), for keyboard in G major No. 6, MB 74 | Lord Salisbury's pavan and galliard, for keyboard, MB18/19 | Fantasia (Voluntary for my Lady Neville), for keyboard in G major, MB 61 | Sellinger's Round, variations for keyboard, MB 84 | Fantasia for keyboard No. 2 in D minor

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