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[F_MINOR] Was Glenn Gould really a chain smoker?!?



Hi Folks,

 

I am teaching a class on sacred classical music at my local church. One of the items which has proven popular each week is sharing a few anecdotes and trivia about the composers. I am currently preparing for my class on Anton Bruckner. To make a long story short, I came across this website with trivia about famous musicians.

 

http://theclassicalstation.org/trivia/8.shtml

 

They list the following for our hero Glenn Gould:

 

GOULD, GLENN
There's some truth to the proverb that the only difference between someone who's weird and someone who's eccentric is talent and/or wealth - if you're not talented or rich, you're just weird. Prepare to meet one of the most eccentric performers ever to hit it big.

  • Gould was Canadian (he was born - and died - in Toronto).
  • Because of his precocious musical ability, he enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto when he was only 10 - and graduated 3 years later!
  • Early in his teens, he developed a playing posture which would horrify any parent: he would bring his head down almost to the level of the keys while he played. This would become a lifelong habit.
  • Wanna know why he recorded so much Bach? He recorded a lot of Bach because of linear compositional techniques, a hallmark of the Baroque era, and perfected by Bach.
  • He made his U.S. debut in Washington, DC on January 2, 1955 and was highly praised by critics and public alike.
  • If you were lucky enough to see Gould perform, you might have noticed one or all of the following: he sat in a chair only 14 inches high (which put his eyes at keyboard level); he kept a glass of distilled water on the floor near the chair; the piano itself rested on a rug (no matter what the setting).
  • Fear of injuring his hands (his way of making music and, therefore, money) led him to abandon the practice of shaking hands - even with the conductor after a performance!
  • Listen to Gould recordings for any length of time and you're likely to hear another instrument, in addition to the piano: his humming! He developed the habit of humming or singing along and made little attempt to stop it even when recording. This one trait alone serves as a wedge which divides piano music lovers into "love Gould" or "hate Gould" camps.
  • In 1962, at the age of 30 and arguably at the height of his popularity, Gould suddenly withdrew from the concert stage and limited himself to the recording studio for it was there, with editing and playback at his command, that he could make "perfect" recordings. (Again, his definition of perfection must have included humming.)
  • Perhaps not surprisingly, Gould never married and lived much of his life as a recluse, rarely granting interviews. He did, however, grant an interview to himself that served as liner notes to one of his releases. (For those of you who are familiar with the breakup of the Beatles, who also suddenly stopped public concerts in order to devote themselves to the recording studio, this self-interview foreshadows Paul McCartney's interview on his debut solo album!)
  • Gould developed an addiction to pain-killers and he was also a chain-smoker.
  • He died at the age of 50. His life, career and astonishing range of "eccentricities" were the subject of the motion picture 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould. The title itself was an inside joke - the 32 "films" were the individual sections of Bach's Goldberg Variations, a work which gained Gould early recording fame.

 

Was Glenn Gould really a chain smoker ?!? I never, ever remembered reading this anywhere. I know Leonard Bernstein was a serious smoker, but I am shocked to read this about Glenn Gould. Does anyone know if this is true or not?

 

Eric Cline
Reichhold

Sr. R & D Synthesis Chemist
P.O. Box 13582
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
USA
Office Phone:  +1 919 990 8116
Fax:               +1 919 767 8506
E-mail:           eric.cline@reichhold.com

-----Original Message-----
From: F_Minor [mailto:F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU] On Behalf Of Maurice lussier
Sent:
Sunday, October 23, 2005 7:47 AM
To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
Subject: [F_MINOR] Glen's low seat

 

Does anyone know od any evidence as to why Glen sat so low? I am most interested  in facts as opposed to opinions. thanks!

Maurice


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