EO

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REE:

Jing music was a sort
ck technology. Gould
ving become wedded
>production. Rather
nding from the

ned that there was a
st—an artist who

isic with the privacy
the more fail-safe tools
>. He further

vith the cult of the

ill decline in proportion
jmity accorded the

rom the public eye. As
ation, the concert as a
nmunication will be

by financial

he audience’s

nherent anachronisms
ch it is tied: the “non-
concert performance,
yn which prevents

the actual nature of the
at hand.

at there would be two
that would arise from
becoming not-so-

The first of these is that
new technologies, such
iesizer, would move
nimic the sound of

and begin to create

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y acase of wishful

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that the home listener
ith certain kits (perhaps
hich would enable him
vith any number of

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yf a piece of music.
rformer’s interpretation
ally diminished in its
nating the high-relief in
artist is set, by infringing
the type of hero-worship
e back-bone of our

be eliminated. The cult
least in music—will

it technology is further
“music in that it is
cally literate listener.
sion, and a stereo
ehold, with music being
ones and into elevators,
1opping malls, with
never previously
| environment, there is
3 of people who are
lichés of musical
w listener is educated in
- of according value to
qusic will have to

will warrant as much
modern man as atonal
ic will be as familiar a
ital music. This plurality
v is right now upon us,
r any clearly avant-garde
isic world.
_ will eventually change
accord value to a work
longer consider a work
accordance to its
arest upheaval in
yuld’s Artwork-Out-Of-
y Theory. It means,
of art is only valuable
of its continuing ability
spect of humanity that
Jur outdated manner of

T

planet of the arts vol 3 no 1

k n o W

according a piece of art its value is lampooned

in what Gould called the van Meegeren

syndrome:
“Hans van Meegeren was a forger and an
artisan who for a long time has been high
on my list of private heroes. Indeed, I
would go so far as to say that the
magnificent morality play which was his
trial perfectly epitomizes the confrontation
between those values of identity and of
personal responsibility-for-authorship

judgements are largely based upon the
degree to which we can assure ourselves
that a particular artist participated in or,
better yet, anticipated the nearest
upheaval. Confusing evolution with
accomplishment we became blind to
those values not explicit in an anology
with stylistic metamorphosis.”

And in a rather humorous example of just

how fallible our system of according value
to art really is, Gould writes of Richard

a work of art is only valuable under
the condition Of its continuing ability to

illuminate some aspect of humanity that

bears illumination.

which post-Renaissance art has until
recently accepted, and those pluralistic
values which electronic forms assert. In
the 1930’s van Meegeren decided to
apply himself to a study of Vermeer’s
techniques and—for reasons undoubtedly
having more to co with an enhancement
of his ego than with greed for guilders—
distributed the works thus achieved as
geruine, if long-lost, masterpieces. His
pre-war success was so encouraging that
during the German occupation he
continued apace with sales destined for
private collectors in the Third Reich.
With the coming of V.E. Day, he was
charged with collaboration as well as
with responsibility for the liquidation of
national treasures. In his defense van
Meegeren confessed that these treasures
were but his own invention and, by the
values this world applies, quite
worthless—an admission which so
enraged the critics and historians who had
authenticated his collection in the first
place that he was re-arraigned on charges
of forgery, and some while later passed
away in prison.”
Gould encapsulates his perception of what
is wrong with our art historical value system:
“Our sense of history is captive of an
analytical method which seeks out isolated
moments of stylistic upheaval — pivot
points of idiomatic evolution — our value

Strauss’ particular relationship with the art
historians of his.time: Most of them think
that, having made himself for twenty-five
years a bulwark of the avant garde, Strauss
lapsed into a draught of inspiration which
was terminated only by death.”

In 1967 Gould began work on three radio
documentaries which collectively would be
called The Solitude Trilogy. He spent nearly
ten years of his very productive life working
on these documents, and they must be
considered his most serious contribution to
the history of art and ideas. His approach to
radio was both innovative and original.
Aldous Huxley once said that the novelist’s
job is more difficult than that of the
philosopher, because he must tackle the
problem of applying philosophies to the
lives of individual persons rather than dealing
with people in the abstract. Gould added a
unique twist to this proposition with his
documentaries. He took interviews with
various people related to a central theme,
and then, by literally thousands of splices,
and by placing these conversational bits and
pieces against a continuum of sounds which
are metaphorically related to his subject, he
created tapestries of ideas which are as
complex as literature and as euphonious as
music. Many people find these
documentaries disconcerting. The reason
being that much of the conversation Gould
collected and edited, he overlapped and

Further Reading: This is only a small introduction to Gould’s thought and ideas. Most
of the published writings of Glenn Gould are collected in the Glenn Gould Reader,
published by Lester & Orpen Dennys Ltd. c 1984. Geoffrey Payzant, a musician and
philosopher, has written a book called Glenn Gould, Music and Mind; it offers a
comprehensive analysis of Gould’s work up until the late 1970’s. It is published by
Van Nostrand Reinhold Ltd., c 1978. An interesting collection of interviews by Jonathan
Cott, for Rolling Stone magazine, have been brought together in Conversations with
Glenn Gould, published by Little Brown and Co., c 1984. A collection of memorial
tributes to Gould can be found in Glenn Gould: Variations, published by Doubleday
and Co., c 1983. B.W. Powe has included a fascinating look at Gould in his newly
published book, The Solitary Outlaw. The few quotations I have taken from Harold
Schonberg are from his extended gossip column, The Great Pianists. In December the
CBC will begin a 23 part series entitled Glenn Gould Plays. They are collected by the

French film-maker Bruno Monsaingeon. -

Kelvin Holland is a Vancouver based writer and painter. He studied for two years at
U.B.C., and spent two years at E.C.C.A.D. in the painting department. And he listens

to music a lot.

by
kelvin

holland

interwove in a manner which he called
“contrapuntal radio.” The most famous of
these documentaries, and possibly the only
one to receive any recognition is The Idea of
North. It is also the most easily understood
as it is more lineal than the two that followed.
All of the documentaries deal with the theme
of man in isolation, and the nature and
meaning of community. Gould once said
that these documentaries are the closest
thing we will ever get to a biography of
himself. In The Idea of North Wally McLean,
a land surveyor interviewed and subsequently
spliced by Gould, says: “In detaching, and
in reflecting and listening, I suppose I am
able to synthesize, to have these different
rails meet in the infinity that is our constant
hope. . .”. The documentaries are, quite
simply his magnum opus, and any attempt to
understand Gould will of course eventually
rest on them. Ironically the last of the trilogy,
The Quiet in the Land, which belongs to the
CBC, has never been released, and is only
infrequently aired.
Glenn Gould died on Oct. 4th, 1982 at the
age of fifty. An exerpt from Gould’s writing,
“An Argument for Richard Strauss”, could
well stand as an epitaph to his own career:
“He presents to us an example of the man
who makes richer his own time by not
being of it; who speaks for all generations
by being of none. It is the ultimate
argument of individuality — an argument
that man can create his own syntheses of
time without being bound by the
conformities that time imposes. . .”
Perhaps no more poignant tribute has been
paid to Gould than that of violinist Yehudi
Menuhin who wrote:
“No supreme pianist has ever given of his
heart and mind so overwhelmingly while
showing himself so sparingly. This great
phenomenon that was Glenn, a jewel
produced by geological eons, presented a
great rift in the continuity of the expected
and the ordinary. Yet these similies are
purely figurative, for his was an ephemeral
presence and only the recorded echoes of
his thoughts and passions remain forever
to enlighten and inspire us.” @

oe

ig music was a sort

ck technology. Gould
ing become wedded

roduction. Rather

nding from the

ged that there was a

st—an atist who

sic with the privacy

he more fail-safe tools

He further

ith the cult of the

Il decline in proportion

mmity accorded the

rom the public eye. As
ton, the concert as @

nmunication will be

by financial

ne audience's

sherent anachronism

ch itis tied: the “"non-

concert performance,

yn which prevents

the actual nature ofthe

at hand.

at there would be two

that would arise from

“becoming not-so-

The first of these is that

new technologies, such

sizer, would move
mic the sound of

und begin to create

und. A second theory

y acase of wishful

he limitations of the

that the home listener

th certain kits (perhaps

hich would enable him

vith any number of

alter the initial

fa piece of music.

rformer’s interpretation

ally diminished in its

nating the high-relief in

tists set, by infringing

he type of hero-worship

e back-bone of our

be eliminated. The cult

least in music—will

«technology is further
‘music in that itis

cally literate listener.
sion, and a stereo
chold, with music being
ones and into elevators,
opping malls, with
never previously
‘environment, there is
of people who are
lichés of musical

v listener is educated in
-of according value to
nusie will have to

‘will warrant as much
modern man as atonal
i will be as familiar a
tal music. This plurality
vis right now upon us,
rany clearly avant-garde
sic world,

will eventually change
accord value to a work
longer consider a work
accordance 0 its

rest upheaval in

yuld’s Artwork-Out-OF.
) Theory. It means,
fart is only valuable
Fits continuing ability
pect of humanity that.
Jur outdated manner of

keene W

according apiece of atits value is lampooned

{in what Gould called the van Meegeren.

ere ea erases eeeeter earn
artisan who for along time has been high
‘on my list of private heroes. Indeed, T
would go so far as to say thatthe
magnificent morality play which was his

trial perfectly epitomizes the confrontation

the arts vol

judgements are largely based upon the
degree to which we can assure ourselves
that a particular artist participated in or,
better yet, anticipated the nearest
‘upheaval. Confusing evolution with
accomplishment we became blind to
those values not explicit in an anology
with stylistic metamorphosis.”

‘And in a rather humorous example of just

between those values of identity and of —_how fallible our system of according value
personal responsibility-for-authorship __to at really is, Gould writes of Richard

A work of art is only valuable under
the condition of its continuing ability to
illuminate some aspect of humanity that

bears illumination.

which post-Renaissance art has until
recently accepted, and those pluralistic
values which electronic forms assert. In
the 1930's van Meegeren decided to
apply himself to a study of Vermeer’s
techniques and—for reasons undoubtedly
having more to ¢o with an enhancement
of his ego than with greed for guilders —
discributed the works thus achieved as
‘geruine, iflong-lost, masterpieces. His
Dre-war success was so encouraging that
Guting the German occupation be
continued apace with sales destined for
private collectors in the Third Reich,
‘With the coming of V.E. Day, he was
charged wit collaboration as well as
with responsibility forthe liquidation of
national treasures. In his defense van
Meegeren confessed that these treasures
‘were but his own invention and, by th
values this world applies, qui
‘worthless—an admission which so
enraged the critics and historians who had
authenticated his collection in the first
place that he was re-arraigned on charges
Of forgery, and some while later passed
away in prison.”
Gould encapsulates his perception of what
is wrong with our art historical value system:
“Our sense of history is captive of an
analytical method which seeks out isolated
sti upheaval — pivot
ic evolution — our value

Strauss" particular relationship withthe art
historians of his ime: Most of them think
that, having made himself for twenty-five
years bulwark ofthe avant garde, Strauss
lapsed into a draught of inspiration which
was terminated only by death.”

In 1967 Gould began work on three radio
documentaries which collectively would be
called The Solitude Trilogy. He spent nearly
ten years of his very productive life working
‘on these documents, and they must be
considered his most serious contribution to
the history of art and ideas. His approach to
radio was both innovative and original
Aldous Huxley once said thatthe novelis’s
{job is more difficult than that ofthe
philosopher, because he must tackle the
problem of applying philosophies to the
lives of individual persons rather than dealing
with people in the abstract. Gould added a
"unique twist to this proposition with his
documentaries. He took interviews with
various people related to a central theme,
and then, by literally thousands of splices,
and by placing these conversational bits and
pieces against a continuum of sounds which
‘are metaphorically related to his subject, he
created tapestries of ideas which are as
complex as literature and as euphonious as
‘music. Many people find these
documentaries disconcerting, The reason
boeing that much of the conversation Gould
collected and edited, he overlapped and

Further Reading: This is only a small introduction to Gould’s thought and ideas. Most

‘of the published writings of Glenn Gould are collected in the Gle

Gould Reader

published by Lester & Orpen Dennys Lid. ¢ 1984. Geoffrey Payzant, a musician and
philosopher, has written a book called Glenn Gould, Music and Mind: it offers a

‘comprel

jive analysis of Gould's work up

til the late 1970's. Ivis published by

‘Van Nostrand Reinhold Lid.,¢ 1978. An interesting collection of interviewsby Jonathan

Cott, for Rolling S

tone magazine, have been brought together in Conversations with

Glenn Gould, published by Little Brown and Co... ¢ 1984. A collection of memorial
tributes to Gould can be found in Glenn Gould: Variations, published by Doubleday
and Co.,.¢ 1983. B.W, Powe has included a fascinating look at Gould in his newly
published book, The Solitary Outlaw. The few quotations [have taken from Harold
Schonberg are from his extended gossip column, The Great Pianists. In December the
CBC will begin a 23 part series entitled Glenn Gould Plays. They are collected by the
French film-maker Bruno Monsaingeon,

Kelvin Holland is a Vancouver based writer and painter. He studied for two years at
U.B.C. and spent two years at E.C.C.A.D. in the painting department. And he listens
to musica lot

by
kelvin
holland

interwove in a manner which he called
“contrapuntal radio.” The most famous of
these documentaries, and possibly the only
‘one to receive any recognition is The Idea of
North. Wis also the most easily understood
ast is more lineal than the two that followed,
All of the documentaries deal with the theme
‘of man in isolation, and the nature and
‘meaning of community. Gould once said
that these documentaries are the closest
thing we will ever get toa biography of
himself In The Idea of North Wally McLean,
land surveyor interviewed and subsequently
spliced by Gould, says: “In detaching, and
ineflecting and listening, I suppose Tam
able to synthesize, to have these different
nity that is our constant
hhope. ..". The documentaries are, quite
simply his magnum opus, and any attempt to
ntually
reston them. Ironically the last of the trilogy,
The Quiet in the Land, which belongs to the
CBC, has never been feleased, and is only
infrequently aired,
Glenn Gould died on Oct. 4th, 1982 atthe
age of fifty. An exerpt from Gould’ writing,
“An Argument for Richard Strauss”, could
‘well stand as an epitaph to his own career:
“He presents to us an example of the man
who makes richer his own time by not

‘being of it; who speaks forall genera

by being of none, Itis the ultimate

argument of individuality —an argument

that man can create his own syntheses of
time without being bound by the

‘conformities that time imposes.

Perhaps no more poignant tribute has been
paid to Gould than that of violinist Yehudi
Menuhin who weote

“No supreme pianist has ever given of his

heart and mind so overwhelmingly while

1g himself so sparingly. This great

nenon that was Glenn, a jewel
produced by geological eons, presented a
great rift in the continuity ofthe expected
‘and the ordinary. Yet these similies are
purely figurative, forhis wasan ephemeral
presence and only the recorded echoes of
his thoughts and passions remain forever
toenlighten and inspire us.” ml