Up close and personal with Glenn Gould

A film has been made of the personal side of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould:

During his lifetime Gould was often portrayed less as a real person than a collection of tics — perhaps even more so in the many books and films about him that have been issued since his death. At times he has seemed like the Howard Hughes of classical music: a pill-popping hypochondriac who wore gloves, a scarf, overcoat and flat cap even at the height of summer, and who was so averse to physical contact that ordinarily he wouldn’t even shake hands.

“We wanted to break through that stereotype and find the real Glenn Gould,” Mr. Raymont said. “We wanted to find what he was really like. We wanted to try to see if we could get through to that inner life, that secret person that he and his friends hadn’t really been eager or even willing to share with the world.”

Larry Rohter, “Seeking the Ordinary in the Eccentric”, The New York Times, 1 September 2010.

Click here to view full article.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

Featured Content

The most powerful drugs
“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling, British author and poet. Quoted in The Times, 15 February 1923.
Beethoven’s letter
A letter written by composer Ludwig van Beethoven has emerged in Germany after being left in a will. In the six-page document of Beethoven’s scrawled corrections, he complains about his illness and a lack of money. Experts were already aware of the 1823 letter’s existence, but say it is of historic value. BBC News, 11 […]
Saint-Saens on Bach and Mozart
“What gives Sebastian Bach and Mozart a place apart is that these two great expressive composers never sacrificed form to expression. As high as their expression may soar, their musical form remains supreme and all-sufficient.” – Camille Saint-Saëns, from a letter to Camille Bellaigue, 1907 Cited in: Fisk, Josiah (ed.) (1997) Composers On Music: Eight […]
The importance of rejuvenation
"Human beings, by change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden." Johann Wolfgang Goethe, German writer, philosopher and scientist.
World order
“The world is not to be put in order; the world is order, incarnate. It is for us to harmonize with this order.” – Henry Miller, American writer and painter
It’s the page turner’s fault
Several years ago, Mr. Kalichstein hired a young music student who kept reaching across the score to turn pages from the bottom right corner, in the process obscuring several measures of the concerto. “Take it from the top!” the frustrated Mr. Kalichstein finally hissed; reflexively, the page turner flipped the score back to the beginning. […]
Pierrot Lunairre
A performance of Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire was given by Artur Schnabel (piano), Boris Kroyt (violin), Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), Paul Bose (flute), Marie Gutheil-Schoder (speaker), conducted by Fritz Stiedry. Gregor Piatigorsky was amused at the need for a conductor, given the size of the ensemble: The half-spoken, half-sung voice indicated in the score was partly filled […]
Du bist die Ruh (You are my Rest) (Schubert)
Title: Du bist die Ruh (You are my Rest) (Op. 59, No. 3) Composer: Franz Schubert Arranger: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Trombone and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Art is meant to be uplifting
“Art,” announces Pat Buchanan to Charlie Rose, “is meant to be uplifting.” What a relief!  After all these years I’d never realized that Art had a moral purpose.  No more need now to be upset by Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, Picasso and Goya, Stravinsky and Berg, Sophocles and Williams.  Pat has clarified the rules, set the […]
What we play
“What we play is life.” Louis Armstrong, Jazz musician Cited at: Satchmo, “Louis Armstrong Quotes and Tributes.” https://www.satchmo.com/louisarmstrong/quotes.html, accessed 6 September 2021.