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The chess grandmaster chose Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”) – you can learn all about the background of this piece and hear it performed by Daniel Barenboim conducting the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in this YouTube video.
The NYT host chose Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations, played by Glenn Gould. You can learn all about it in this YouTube video.
Each discussion partner had listened to the pieces suggested by the other, and started a fairly in-depth conversation, of which we bring you a few excerpts:
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Grandmaster: The “Goldbergs” are not just one piece! It’s like an encyclopedia of music.
Host: I like that. There is that sense of trying out a problem according to different possibilities. I picked Bach for you, with all his fugues, because I think of chess as having similar qualities. The elegance of algorithms and the beauty that comes out of processes that actually obey very strict rules.
GM: For me it was a new experience. I don’t listen to much music before Mozart. It was quite a discovery to understand that Bach introduced many future themes. From the chess or computer world, I would use the term founding father. I am amazed by people who are ahead of their time.
Host: Listening to the “Goldbergs” I was struck by what I see as parallels with the way pieces move in chess. Even in the opening Aria, there is this very methodical movement in the left hand, while the right hand has much more freedom.
GM: I’m not sure. I see the Aria as something godly, heavenly — but then it goes back to earth. It’s this combination.
Host: What do you make of the fugues in strict counterpoint? These lines that interlock in a way that is both a beautiful mechanism and has this creative freedom to it.
GM: Well, it’s about variety. The first ten variations, Bach is basically demonstrating his power as a composer. But then he shifts to something that is more interesting. In many of the variations we can hear the herald of new music. I have one favorite: Variation 25 [watch it here]. It’s Chopin! It’s the first Ballade. And I love Chopin.
Host: What is it that attracts you to that? I hear a lot of melancholy in that variation.
GM: It’s not sadness. It’s a kind of realism. The world is as it is, and we have to accept it. It makes me feel comfortable. I also like Variation 13. It draws you into this water of music. And for energy and style I would pick number 16. In Variations 14 and 29, Bach is a virtuoso à la Liszt. Thank you for forcing me to listen to the “Goldberg” Variations. Now I have a greater appreciation of Bach. I was very surprised by how modern it feels.
It's a long and interesting conversation, where our GM reveals his family background and his personal involvement in classical music.
Your task, dear readers, is to guess who the grandmaster guest was. I will reveal the answer here in a couple of days, here in this article. Then you can read the whole NYT interview. Please do not post it in our feedback section below – I know it is fairly easy to use the accursed Google service to solve such riddles. Just think about it for a while – and listen to the music I have linked to above – before you start googling for the solution.
The "relatively well-known chess grandmaster" was Garry Kasparov, and the musical exchange and interview were featured on this page of the New York Times. Did you guess right? Read the full interview for the background of Garry's musical interests.
You can listen to the music pieces that Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim and Garry Kasparov exchanged in this Spotify channel. Start the first piece and all will be played in the background – a highly enjoyably experience.
