GG: Mozart

[Robert Kunath <kunath@hilltop.ic.edu>]

Dear all,

	Alan's criticism of our "deification" of Gould may not be entirely
unjustified, but I'm not sure what else he expected to find on the GG
listserve.  We're here because we're fans and like to share our
enthusiasm, and there is room for critical commentary too.
	As an example of that, I'll say that I'm not as impressed as I
once was by Gould's immunity to what Mary Jo calls "great man" syndrome.
Doesn't there seem to be something a little compulsive about Gould's
iconoclasm?  Certainly it strikes me as characteristic of some of Gould's
less admirable qualities.  Gould was always able to poke fun at himself in
a very refreshing way, but I also sense in him a self-absorption and a
moral absolutism that can be disturbing, and which is pretty
characteristic of people who think they're "great."  I recall that though
Gould professed simply not to like a good deal of Mozart's music, he also
commented (in the GG interviews GG about GG, I think) that he had
criticized Mozart's compositions on moral criteria--as products of a
hedonistic lifestyle.  I also recall, though, that when Bruno Monsaigneon
(misspelled, I know) commented that he was "speechless" when Gould said he
would rather listen to Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words than the Great
G-Minor symphony, Gould replied that he was sure that it was his loss that
he could not hear in it what others heard.
	I'm sure Alan will be pleased to hear that Glenn didn't like much
Beethoven either!  I suspect I'm like a lot of f_minor subscribers when I
say that I don't let Gould's likes and dislikes stop me from being
thrilled by Beethoven's Fifth, but that I also find Gould a terrifically
interesting person and a great artist.

Robert