[f_minor] CD318 and the Chickering
maryellen jensen
maryellenjensen28 at hotmail.com
Mon Jan 20 14:03:53 MST 2014
Thanks for that Elaine. I was going to add that GG's pianos are transported around a bit for special occasions while the maple leaf chair remains in its plexiglass box in the museum... perhaps it's easier to find the chait for that reason. I don't know.
"Among
design quirks that Chickering pianos had were smaller thickness hammer
shanks to decrease the woody sound of the hammer striking the string. Chickerings’ dampers ran about 6 notes higher than everyone else. In
the early part of the century they used several weird designs like the
Quarter Grand which had pin blocks in 4 sections and bolted from
underneath rather than screwed on form the top of the plate. These
design are conversation pieces for the piano tuners of today. Fortunately,
because the pianos live a long time there will be older Chickerings to
tune so that they may bring praise the House of Chickering. Baldwin now owns the Chickering name and currently (2008) has ceased production of all Chickering named pianos."
My favourite interview in "Genius Within" was that of "Faun", or "Fawn". I thought she was utterly brilliant.
Mary
> Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 17:32:03 -0800
> From: elaine19c at yahoo.ca
> To: f_minor at glenngould.org
> Subject: Re: [f_minor] CD318 and the Chickering
>
> Hi again guys,
>
> Oh dear, perhaps I made it sound worse than it was; the piano IS on a raised platform
> and there is a display on the wall beside it talking about GG and the piano
> and it is more or less protected by the cord barrier (thank goodness!) but I'd
> gone in expecting EVERYONE inside to have knowledge of this cherished instrument
> and its location within the building. It took me much wandering about asking folks
> where it was until one person headed me in the right direction! It is a rather confusing
> building with various levels connected by spiralling staircases. Needless to say,
> I got a workout that evening! (But not too much for an f_minorite...)
>
> The lovely old Chickering is of course at the CBC building downtown in the lobby
> of the GG Studio. There's a sign saying please don't touch it or rest your drinks
> on it but it also says this is GG's "childhood piano" which is certainly wrong as he
> "met" it through his girlfriend when he was in his late teens. I emailed them down
> there saying the wording on the sign was misleading but I don't think it has been changed.
>
> Oh well!!!
>
> I took a pic of it, if anyone wants to see the Chickering. (What a marvellous name,
> by the way, don't you think?)
>
> Elaine
>
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Sat, 1/18/14, maryellen jensen <maryellenjensen28 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Subject: Re: [f_minor] les chaises (the chairs)
> To: "f_minor at glenngould.org" <f_minor at glenngould.org>
> Received: Saturday, January 18, 2014, 8:35 PM
>
>
> The Chair has
> become more important than the piano: that's
> hagiography.
>
> Mary
>
>
> From: pzumst at bluewin.ch
> To: f_minor at glenngould.org
> Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 21:24:23 +0100
> Subject: Re: [f_minor] les chaises (the
> chairs)
>
>
> Er. ‘ang on there for a minit. 2012 was Annus
> Mirabilis with golden
> throats and lots of blahblah and while Elaine Parks tried to
> find The Chair in
> Ottawa it was basically hidden from view and she had to ask
> a worker where she
> could find it ? Eh, Canada, is that how you treat your
> National Treasures ? Ye
> Gods, how appauling....
>
>
>
>
> From: maryellen
> jensen
> Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 9:13 PM
> To: f_minor at glenngould.org
>
> Subject: Re: [f_minor] les chaises (the
> chairs)
>
>
> Happy New Year Elaine
>
> The little wooden chair with the maple
> leaf on its back has certainly become "The Chair"
> but as is now known there were
> others. Why people are so willing to become
> 'believers' in mythology or as some
> would say "hagiography" is beyond my ken.
>
> Showing my age here but yes
> indeed the leaf back chair is certainly one of a quartet -
> including a
> table - of a "bridge set"; showing my age here
> because I bought a fabulous
> "bridge set" second hand (for a few dollars) on
> the Upper West Side NYC way back
> in 1984, the colour scheme was green and black and the table
> too. Unbelievable
> as it might seem, I had to transport the entire set on the
> subway to where I was
> living. Ah but one had so much energy... I miss being able
> to find such
> things now.
>
> Dismaying to
> read of your experience in Ottawa.
> Eeek.
>
> Cheers (or
> chairs),
> Mary
>
>
> Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2014
> 17:27:10 -0800
>
> > From: elaine19c at yahoo.ca
> > To:
> f_minor at glenngould.org
> >
> Subject: Re: [f_minor] les chaises (the chairs)
> >
> > Hi
> everyone,
> >
> > I read
> somewhere or it was in one of the docs that
> the chairs were typical bridge set chairs
> > which means they were probably
> bought in a set of four. If Lorne has or had one, that would
> leave
> > 2
> others out there somewhere, if not trashed at some point!!!
> Wouldn't it be fun
> to find them in a
> > second-hand shop??!!
> (I always keep an eye out for
> them here in Ontario!!!)
> >
> > I visited CD318 in Ottawa last year,
> cordoned off in a corner of the National Arts Centre,
> looking
> > a bit sad.
> It took me a half hour to find it, only one worker knew what
> I was talking
> about.
> >
> > Cheers,
> (or 'chairs")
> >
> > Elaine
> >
> --------------------------------------------
> > On Fri, 1/17/14, maryellen
> jensen <maryellenjensen28 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Subject:
> Re: [f_minor] les chaises (the chairs)
> >
> To: "f_minor at glenngould.org"
> <f_minor at glenngould.org>
> >
> Received: Friday, January 17, 2014, 9:30
> PM
>
> > The two chairs
> >
> "constructed" by 'Bert', GG's
> father,
> >
> were not built by Bert - they were adapted for Glenn
> > Gould's needs. Bert
> Gould didn't invent the chairs -
> > he
> adapted already existing chairs for
> his son.
> >
> > The
> other 'aluminum'
> > chair which
> was made
> specifically for Glenn Gould was
> >
> ordered by Walter Homburger for Glenn
> Gould. The reason why
> > was breakage of
> the wooden chair and the weight of
> the
> > wooden chair on airline trips. All
> that was when Glenn Gould
> >
> was touring - which of course he quit doing in the early
> >
> 1960's...
> >
> >
> Mary
> >
> > From:
> kjb at sympatico.ca
> > To:
> f_minor at glenngould.org
> > Date: Thu, 16
>
> >
> To
> the best of my knowledge, his father had
> > made only 2.
> >
>
> >
> > Why 2 though, one as a spare?
> >
>
> >
> >
> > When someone constructs something like
> that out
> of wood, you
> > do not usually construct a
> spare (as a just in
> case).
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm relatively
> certain that the
> chair being only 14
> > inches off the
> floor, was not made for anyone other
> than
> > Glenn!
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
>
> >
> >
> > Karl
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> > From: pzumst at bluewin.ch
> > To:
> >
> f_minor at glenngould.org
> > Date: Thu, 16
> Jan
> > 2014 18:55:55
> +0100
> > Subject: Re: [f_minor]
> > 109
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Speaking of chairs,
> is it true or false that
> his dad
> > made more than one ? I seem to
> have read that
> >
> somewhere...there seems to be a lot of urban myth and
> > hagiography around
> that chair....
> >
> >
>
> >
> >
> > From:
> maryellen
> > jensen
> >
> Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 6:45
> PM
> > To: f h ; f_minor at glenngould.org
> >
> > Subject: Re:
> [f_minor] 109
> >
> >
>
> > "and did you notice that he
> put
> > something on the chair? I'd
> never seen that
> >
> before."
> >
> >
> Haha Fred,
> > that's the stuffing of
> the chair
> tumbling out and when
> > all that stuffing
> was finally gone GG sat on just
> the T-bar
> > of the chair... not so great
> for his coccyx.
> >
> >
> Mary
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2014
> 07:01:56 -0800
> > From:
> > boyboy_8 at yahoo.com
> >
> To:
>
> >
> > Sounds like it was
> done in mono.
> Too bad we
> > can't hear this done by
> him in stereo, or did he do
> one
> > in that form? The technique is of
> course amazing. I
> like
> > the way his body swirled around in
> circles and did you
> >
> notice that he put something on the chair? I'd
> never
> > seen that
> before.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On
> Saturday,
> > January 11, 2014 3:50:25 PM,
> michael macelletti
> >
> <mmacelletti at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> >
> > just listened to
> gould's beethoven sonata no. 30 on
> >
> vol 4 , so you want to write a fugue, of the old vhs
> glenn
> > gould
> complete 16 vol collection. ( still out of print
> > ???)
> absolutely hair-raising type of exciting. those
> > sixths in the
> variations, wow !! sure wish someone could
> > find that
> performance somewhere on the net so everyone could
> > give it a
> listen. i simply have no idea how to do it.
> >
> >
> >
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
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