Gould, Beethoven & Bernstein

[St-Laurent Gilles <gsl@nlo.nlc-bnc.ca>]

Re Gould's Beethoven cadenzas:
The National Library of Canada houses Glenn Gould's archives.  We have 
copies of Gould's cadenzas to the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1.  The Gould 
Estate is in the process of having all of Gould's compositions edited and 
published by Schott but these cadenzas are not available yet in the new 
edition.  I have spoken to the executor of the Glenn Gould estate today and 
received his permission in this case to furnish a photocopy to Mr. Tolwinski 
since he wishes to perform the music relatively soon.  The estate would 
appreciate knowing details about the eventual performance. Please reply to 
me at the address below, Mr. Tolwinski, giving me a snail mail address  to 
which the copies can be sent.

Re the Gould-Bernstein "controversy," I can point interested list 
subscribers to the collection of essays by and about Gould entitled "Glenn 
Gould Variations:  Glenn Gould by Himself and His Friends," edited by John 
McGreevy and published by MacMillan of Canada in 1983.  Bernstein 
contributed an article about the Brahms Concerto incident to this 
publication entitled "The Truth About a Legend."  In it he claims that there 
was never the least unhappiness on Glenn's part over the brief speech 
Bernstein gave before the concert.  He feels that the incident was 
misinterpreted and blown out of proportion by Harold Schonberg of the New 
York Times.  He says that his remarks were meant to prepare their listeners 
for what would be a surprisingly slow and lengthy version of the work lest 
there should be no-one left in the audience by the end of the performance. 
 One could deduce that this was a bit of revisionist history writing if the 
conductor's recorded remarks were more damning.  I've heard the commercial 
recording in question - it's been available since the early 1980s - and 
Bernstein's spoken comments could be interpreted either way:  completely 
neutral or a definite attempt to save his posterior.  It all depends on your 
viewpoint.

Hope this helps.  Happy New Year everyone!

Dr. S. Timothy Maloney        Tel:  (613) 995-3400
Director, Music Division Fax: (613) 952-2895
National Library of Canada    e-mail: timothy.maloney@nlc-bnc.ca