Re: GG: Let me introduce myself

[Alun Severn <alun@ukiah.demon.co.uk>]

Arin said:

>To discover that Gould is as comfortable with language as he is
>with music thrills me.  [....]

Welcome. Reading Friedrich's GG: A LIFE & VARIATIONS I was amazed to find
this, written when GG was, I guess, 12 or 13:

"In one of those standard assignments on 'my plans for the school year'
[Friedrich writes] Gould defiantly wrote: 'I am something of a disadvantage
in writing on this subject, for my adventures in the halls of learning are
curtailed at the close of the fourth period each morning. The remainder of
my day is spent in music, with the exclusion of an hour or so each evening
which I rather grudgingly bequeath to Macbeth, the Treaty of Ghent and the
subjunctive mood....My plans for this season include a number of solo
recitals and appearances with the Hamilton and Toronto Symphony Orchestras.
Although very little of this is relevant to the title, I think it will be
sufficient to show why I have not a moment to spend on extra-curricular
activities at school. My plans for the school year, therefore, are
nonexistent.' To this bitter observation, the teacher wrote in the margin,
'That cannot be.' At the end this same teacher wrote, 'Clever,' and graded
the paper B-minus."

Superb. Arrogant. Precocious. Gould.

Best,  Alun

______________________________________________________________________________

Alun Severn   1 Chestnut Road, Oldbury, West Midlands B68 0AX  England
voice: 0121 422 9509    email: alun@ukiah.demon.co.uk
______________________________________________________________________________

Well, I have my beautiful de Kooning / to aspire to. I think it has an orange
bed in it, more than the ear can hold.      - Frank O'Hara
______________________________________________________________________________