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GG Animated GIF
Hi folks,
In one of my great feats of insomnia, I have managed to create to my
knowledge the first GG animated GIF on the Internet.
The Steinway CD318 piano was Gould's prize possession and he used it
to make all his recordings through the 1970's. This animated gif
records the moment when the piano was dropped by movers cracking the
casted frame holding the strings. Although an attempt was made to
repair it, Gould complained that his piano never sounded the same
again. The Steinway CD318 eventually passed to the National library in
Ottawa. The first photograph ("not his piano, not his chair") is by
Walter Curtin for the Rolling Stone magazine interview and is used
without permission. My gif file is entitled The Ecstasy and Agony
of Glenn Gould.
So, for a good time look at
http://www.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/ggpiano.gif
or on my page generally
http://www.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/gould.html
Speaking of the CD318, I was by the National Library today, and the
security guard said that the action had been taken out of the piano
recently and refurbished. With his permission I tried out the key
travel and found it to be about 3/8 of an inch, normal for a piano.
Gould, according to Vern Edquist his tuner and technician, insisted on
a very shallow touch, about half that. So whatever special feel Gould
had set up for the piano is lost forever although I suspect that happened
long before this refurbishment.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Have a nice weekend.
Michael