This is the one that gave me the idea for this post. I saw it while looking for my man Vlad (Feltsman) and at first I was like "what the heck is that". But it's actually a really brilliant choice! See how the leaves are all divided into two distinct halves? So are the Goldbergs. See how the leaf in the front is further split into quarters, and then eighths, and so on? So are the Goldbergs. These leaves have fractal properties, and so does the music. Somebody put some thought into this album cover, and I like that. My man Vlad probably doesn't:
Vlad wants to know which side is his good side. (It's his right side, obvs). I can't be too critical though; look at that hair! This image is the image in my mind for the Goldberg Variations, for better or for worse. But it could have been:
He is... semi undressed and making a very suggestive face. And he chose this photo for the album. Glenn, you scamp. And he titled the album! It's two recordings of the variations, nothing more, but he felt like he had license to add his own title to it - to make it about him. From what I've read, that's mostly how critics responded to the recordings themselves, too. He did it his own way, and classical music aficionados (especially Bach fans) care about fidelity. But Mr. Gould is easily the most famous of the Goldberg performers, at least in the US. More than half of the first 10 google results were of him:
And they all feature him prominently.
I prefer the artistic album covers; I think this one is particularly nice:
OK, it's a little dreary maybe, but I would hang that on my wall! Not in my bedroom, maybe. Or:
I'm not a fan of that one, but at least it's not a sweaty Glenn Gould!
How about these ladies:
They look fun! And their recorder quintet is named the Seldom Sene! I find this hilarious, mostly because there's a bluegrass band called the Seldom Scene, and 1) that pun is way better, and 2) they did it first. But it's a recorder quintet, which is amazing, and look at that big honkin' one in the middle (the recorder, not the lady). I guess that must be a contrabass recorder, which I've never seen before but now I kind of want one.
That guy thinks he's fun.
That guy thinks he's hot shit.
This guy is screaming authenticity, with a page from the original manuscript above his name. I bet it's a subpar recording, and I have no good reason to think that.
And here's the ultimate minimalist album cover. This one is notable to me mostly for who the artist is -- Keith Jarrett, to me, is that guy who moans while he plays freeform jazz. But apparently he's also the guy who moans while playing extremely rigid harpsichord music. Who knew!
OK, that concludes our brief tour through Goldberg Variations album covers. There are a lot more out there, but they're mostly Glenn Gould.
Good morning, Richard. I enjoyed your album cover post and wanted to comment on the leaf one. Those are gingko leaves, a pretty tree with bright uniformly green leaves in summer and bright uniformly yellow leaves in the fall. They turn all T the same time and fall at the same time leaving a bright gold ring around their trunk. Hello to Rosie!
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