Gene Gould’s 1955 and 1981 versions of ‘The Goldberg Variations’ are different in many ways. While his first recording held tension and emphasis on impressive speed, the later one was more relaxed and emotional. Recorded only a year before his death, the 1981 version almost holds nostalgia within it especially in the video of him playing the piece. It is easy to tell he was much more comfortable and at ease the second time around. It felt as if in 1955 he was playing just to record the music, and in 1981 he was playing to cherish and reconsider the piece. Gould himself had regrets about the first recording as it felt “too fast for comfort”. In the revisited version he brought back some of Bach’s repeats that he had completely cut out of the 1955 recording.  Overall the second performance felt more emotional, and natural while the first one sounded rushed, somewhat robotic and professional.