“It is hard to
grapple with an

existing social
order, but it is
harder still to

posit one that
does not exist.”

I like to imagine the young Glenn Gould
reading these words of Hugo von
Hofmannsthal, the Austrian playwright, and
then setting out to accomplish both. This
little fantasy of mine is , of course, just the
sort of Romantic-individual-idealizing to
which Gould was so firmly opposed.
However, Gould did grapple with the
“existing social order,” and he did propose
another to posit in its place. And Gould was
a great individual about whom legends
revolve, and apocrypha accumulates. There
is a paradox to Glenn Gould: that of the
great individual whose greatest desire is to
downplay and eliminate the elevated status
of the individual in our culture. Getting to
know Gould is attempting to resolve this
paradox.

In many ways Gould is a Thoreauvian
character. He wanted to be “in the world
without being of the world.” Consequently
many of Gould’s critics focus on his
seemingly idiosyncratic behavior. There
seems to be more interest applied to the
clothes he wore, his diet, his gait, his sleeping
habits (“‘was he a monk?” etc.) than there is
interest in his thought. To those who spend
the time to investigate his thought, Gould
can appear extremely disturbing. He was,
like most poets, an idealist. He believed in
the perfectibility of man. He, like the
Canadian theologian and philisopher Jean
LeMoyne, who he very much respected,
believed in the charity of the machine, and

planet of the arts vol 3 noi

As a pianist Gould made his New York
debut in 1955, at the age of 23. The following
day he signed an exclusive recording contract
with Columbia Records. Later that year he
recorded J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
The album’s release was greeted with
universal acclaim, and in 33 years it has
never been out of print. The recording served
to establish Gould as one of the preeminent
musicians of his day. Gould’s second
recording was, in my opinion, even more of
a landmark in his career. The second album
consisted of Beethoven’s three last sonatas.
Of this recording, the critic Harold Schonberg
(one of Gould’s most ridiculous detractors, a
Pulitzer-prize-winning Rona Barret of the
music world) writes that the interpretations
“all but started lynching parties among
musicians, so mannered and outré were
they.” That Gould had managed to rethink
these pieces and imbue them with a feeling
that was uniquely his own amounted to
nothing less than iconoclasm. The album
was as widely panned as it was praised. It
seemed that what Gould failed to display
was an intrepid flirtation with the genius of
the Great Composer. In many ways
Beethoven was to become a haunting figure
in Gould’s repertoire. An undeniable
attraction to the man’s music seemed to
struggle in Gould’s mind with an aversion to
the composer’s enormous stature in Western
Culture. Beethoven, after all, provides one

but by the time he left he had become,
ironically, a legend. Stories of Gould’s
performances are passed on from teacher to
student onwards. Harold Schonberg, in his
inimitable People Magazine style, reports on
this Russian fascination in “The Great
Pianists”:
“Just as Bobby Fischer was a chess legend
after he conquered Boris Spassky in
Reykjavik in 1972, so Gould has remained
a legend among those who never even
heard him play. To his generation he still
represents revolt against authority,
contempt for the Establishment. This is
especially true in Russia, where Gould is
revered. Any pianist or piano specialist
who visits the Soviet Union is besieged
by Russian pianists wanting to know
everything about Glenn Gould. They
have as many of his records as can be
purchased, borrowed, stolen, copied or
pirated. They have copies of his television
appearances. They imitate his physical
mannerisms and model their Bach |
interpretations after his, and they believe
him to be the most stimulating musician
of his time.”

Perhaps the highlight of Gould’s Russian
tour was a lecture recital he gave at the
Moscow Conservatory on the Second
Viennese School of Ccomposers (Schonberg,
Berg, Webern, and in the second
generation, Krenek). This music was

ng
Zot

a

various theories regardin
of new-kid-on-the-block
perceived music as havit
to the technology of reps
like Zarathustra descend
mountain, he proclaime
new art and a new artist-
could construct his musi
afforded by and with the
of the recording studio.
proclaimed that forthwit
individual in music will
to the degree of anonym
artist by his removal fro:
a corollary of this situati
vehicle of musical comr
forced into extinction bj
infeasibility, and by the
displeasure with the inh
and limitations to which
take-two-ness” of the cc
the hysteria and tension
sober reflection upon th
musical performance at
Gould perceived that
further developments th
music and technology b
strange-bed-fellows. Th
the music created by ne
as the computer-synthes
away from trying to mit
acoustic instruments an
their own world of soun
one which is distinctly <
thinking considering th
average listener, was th
would be provided with
computer oriented) whi
to splice, filter, and wit
other subjective choice:
performer’s reading of ;
Thereby the initial perf
would become gradual]
importance. By elimina

y eliminating the high-relief in which the individual
artist is set, by infringing on his artistic estate, the type
of hero-worship which has become the backbone of

which the individual art
on his artistic estate, the
which has become the t

the potential benificience of the technological
age. At times I feel that these ideas hang
around like a modernist hangover. What

Gould does though, and it remains the
undying criterion for great works of art, is,
in the words of Jean LeMoyne, to “set up a
cosmos with a sense of sin and a sense of
redemption in order to have created a sense
of value in his artwork.” Gould once said
“McLuhan is the message and I am the
medium.” His life was acted out like a
training lesson that creates a plea for us to
stand up as adults and accept our
responsibility to guide ourselves into the
future, rather that being whisked into it by
forces beyond our control.

our culture can gradually be eliminated.

of the ultimate paradigms of the great
individual. The figure of Beethoven served
to encapsulate in a single person the very
elements of Western Culture to which Gould
felt morally opposed, and into which he was
inextricably drawn. Beethoven in Gould’s
own words was “‘the supreme historical
example of the composer on an ego trip.”

In 1957 Gould became the first North
American pianist to make a tour of the
U.S.S.R.. He arrived in virtual anonymity,

officially proscribed at the time, and
supposedly symbolic of Western Decadence.
In a wonderful twist of fate, a recording of
this lecture-recital has recently been released
on the Russian Melodia label.

By the time Gould returned to North
America he was firmly ensconced as one of
the most sought after performers on the
world’s stages. Seven years later, only nine
years after his concert career began, Gould
left the concert stages never to return. The

music world’s reaction to Gould’s decision
was anger, shock, and, in retrospect, a degree
of dismay.

This brings us to a second aspect of
Gould’s career, that of the music theorist. I
should define what I mean by that term. I am
not referring to the scores of lucid analyses
he applied to everything from Bach fugues
to the pop songs of Petula Clark. What I am
referring to are his theories regarding the
role of music in our lives and the lives of
future generations. At the center of his

culture can gradually bs
of the individual—at le
eventually disappear.
Gould believed that t
altering the course of m
creating a more musica
With a radio, a televisic
system in every househ
piped through telephon
waiting-rooms and sho}
man now living in a ne’
conceived of musical ei
bound to arise a mass 0
educated in the vast cli
history. Once the new |
this manner, our way 0
individual styles of mu
change. Tonal music w
right to speak to the mc
music; aleatoric music
concept as contrapunta
which Gould foresaw i
and there is no longer a
group leading the musi
This new situation wv
the way in which we ac
of art. We would no lo
of music valuable in ac
relationship to the near
society. I call this Gou
Historical-Continuity 1
simply, that a work of
under the condition of
to illuminate some aspi
bears illumination. Ou

“Tt is hard to
grapple with an
existing social
order, but it is
harder still to

posit one that
does not exist.”

ike to imagine the young Glenn Gould
reading these words of Hugo von
Hofmannsthal, the Austrian playwright, and
then setting out to accomplish both. This
litle Fantasy of mine is , of course, just the
sort of Romantic-individual-idealizing to
‘which Gould was so firmly opposed.
However, Gould did grapple withthe
“existing social order,” and he did propose
‘another to postin its place. And Gould was
‘a great individual about whom legends
revolve, and apocrypha accumulates. There
is a paradox to Glenn Gould: that ofthe
great individual whose greatest desire is to
downplay and eliminate the elevated status
of the individual in our culture. Getting to
know Gould is attempting to resolve this
paradox.

In many ways Gould is a Thoreauvian
character. He wanted to be “in the world
without being ofthe world.” Consequently
‘many of Gould’s critics focus on his
seemingly idiosyncratic behavior. Thet
seem to be more interest applied to the
clothes he wore, his diet, his gait, his sleeping
habits (“was he a monk?” etc.) than there is
interest in his thought. To those who spend
the time o investigate his thought, Gould
‘ean appear extremely disturbing. He was,
like most poets, an idealist. He believed in
the perfectbility of man. He, like the
‘Canadian theologian and philisopher Jean
LeMoyne, who he very much respected,
believed inthe charity of the machine, and
the potential benificience ofthe technological
‘age. At times I feel that these ideas hang,
‘around like a modernist hangover. What
‘Gould does though, and it remains the
undying criterion for great works of at, is,
in the words of Jean LeMoyne, to “set up a
cosmos witha sense of sin and a sense of
redemption in order to have created a sense
of value in his anwork.” Gould once said
“MeLuhan is the message and I am the
medium.” His life was acted out like a
‘raining lesson that creates a plea for us to
stand up as adults and accept our
responsibility to guide ourselves into the
future, rather that being whisked into it by
forces beyond our contro.

>

planet oft

[As pianist Gould made his New York
‘debutin 1955, atthe age of 23. The following
day he signed an exclusive recording contract
with Columbia Records. Later that year he
recorded J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations.
“The album's release was greeted with
‘universal acclaim, and in 33 yeas it has
never been out of print. The recording served
to establish Gould as one of the preeminent
musicians of his day. Gould's second
recording was, in my opinion, even more of
‘landmark in is career. The second album
consisted of Beethoven's thre lst sonatas.
Of this recording, the cic Harold Schonberg
(one of Gould's most ridiculous detractors, a
Politzee-prize-winning Rona Barret ofthe
music world) writes thatthe interpretations

all but started lynching parties among
‘musicians, so mannered and outré were

ey." That Gould had managed to rethink
these pieces and imbue them with a feeling
‘hat was uniquely his own amounted 9
nothing less than iconoclasm. The album
was as widely panned sit was praised. It
seemed that what Gould failed to display
was an intrepid liation wit the genius of
the Great Composer. In many ways
Beethoven was to become a haunting figure
in Gould's reper. An undeniable
attraction tothe man’s music seemed to
struggle in Gould's mind with an aversion to
the composer's enormous stature in Western
Culture: Beethoven afterall, provides one

but by the time he let he had become,
ironically, a legend. Stories of Gould's
performances are passed on from teacher to
student onwards. Harold Schonberg, in his
inimitable People Magazine styl, reports on
this Russian fascination in “The Great
Pianists”

“Just as Bobby Fischer was a chess legend
after he conquered Boris Spassky in

Reykjavik in 1972, so Gould has remained

a legend among those who never even

heard him play. To his generation he still

represents revolt against authority,

‘contempt forthe Establishment. Th

especially true in Russia, where Gould is

revered. Any pianist or piano specialist

‘who visits the Soviet Union is besieged

by Russian pianists wanting to know

everything about Glenn Gould. They
have as many of his records as ean be
purchased, borrowed, stolen, copied or
pirated. They have copies of his television
appearances. They imitate his physical

‘mannerisms and model their Bach

interpretations after his, and they believe

him to be the most stimulating musician
of his time,

Perhaps the highlight of Gould’s Russian
tour was a lecture recital he gave at the
Moscow Conservatory on the Second
Viennese School of Ccomposers (Schonberg,
Berg, Webern, and inthe second.
generation, Krenek). This music was

y eliminating the high-relief in which the individual
artist is set, by infringing on his artistic estate, the type
of hero-worship which has become the backbone of
our culture can gradually be eliminated.

of the ultimate paradigms ofthe great
individual. The figure of Beethoven served
toencapsulate in a single person the very
‘elements of Western Culture to which Gould
felt morally opposed, and into which he was
inextricably drawn. Beethoven in Gould’s
‘own words was “the supreme historical
‘example of the composer on an ego tip.”

In 1957 Gould became the first North
American pianist to make a tour of the
U.S.S.R... He arrived in virtual anonymity,

offically proscribed atthe time, and
supposedly symbolic of Western Decadence.
In a wonderful twist of fate, a recording of
this lectre-recital has recently been released
‘on the Russian Melodia label.

By the time Gould returned to North
America he was firmly ensconced as one of.
the most sought after performers on the
‘world’s stages. Seven years later, only ni
‘years after his concert career began, Gould
left the concert stages never to return, The

‘music world’s reaction to Gould's decision
‘was anger, shock, and, in retrospect, a degree
of dismay.

‘This brings us to a second aspect of
Gould's career, that of the music theorist. 1
should define what I mean by that term. [am
not referring tothe scores of lucid analyses
hie applied to everything from Bach fugues
to the pop songs of Petula Clark. What lam
referring to are his theories regarding the
role of music in our lives and the lives of
future generations. At the center of his

Dna
got

various theories regardin
‘of new-kid-on-the-block
perceived music as havi
to the technology of reps
like Zarathustra descend
‘mountain, he proclaime:
new art and a new artist:
could construct his musi
afforded by and with the
of the recording studi
proclaimed that forthwit
dividual in music will
to the degree of anonym
artist by his removal fro
a corollary of this situa
vehicle of musical comr
forced into extinction by
infeasibility, and by the
displeasure with the inh
‘and limitations to which
take-two-ness” of the ec
the hysteria and tension
sober reflection upon th
‘musical performance at
Gould perceived that
further developments th
music and technology b
strange-bed-fellows. Th
the musie created by ne
as the computer-synthe
away from trying to mi
acoustic instruments an
their own world of sour
‘one whieh is distinety
thinking considering th
average listener, was th
would be provided with
‘computer oriented) whi
tosplice, filter, and wit
other subjective choices
performer's reading of
‘Thereby the initial perf
‘would become graduall
importance. By elimin
‘which the individual at
on his artistic estate, the
which has become thet
culture can gradually b
‘of the individual —at le
‘eventual disappear.
‘Gould believed that
altering the course of n
creating a more musica
With a radio, a televisi
system in every househ
piped through telephon
\aiting-rooms and sho
‘man now living ina ne
‘conceived of musical e
bound to arise a mass o
educated in the vast eli
history. Once the new
this manner, our way 0
individual styles of mu
change. Tonal music »
Fight to speak to the me
music; aleatoric music
coneept as contrapunta
which Gould foresaw i
is no longer
group leading the musi
This new situation
the way in which we a
of art, We would no lo
cof music valuable in ac
relationship to the near
society. [call this Gou
Historical-Continuty
simply, that a work of
under the condition of
toilluminate some asp
bears illumination. Ou

6