Re: GG: GG as vocalist

[kimmoor@mindspring.com (Kristen Immoor)]

>   I'm sure there has been constant discussion in f_minor of GG's
>"singing "and I'd understand if it is rejected as a boring topic, but
>so far I've read only of the extraneous piano sounds.

        Listen here Eric, you have to stop asking such boring questions.
Our conversation is limited to discussions of small wooden chairs,
qualifiers for sainthood, Arrowroot cookies, the stock market, woolly
outergarments, and that is ALL. Any further talk of singing and/or piano
music and I will be forced to reject you. (Of course you must realize I'm
only joking - who died and made me Majordomo!? :-D )
        I personally love Glenn Gould's uncontrollable singing! (I'm
currently working on a theory that the singing actually gets louder and
more jubilant after Gould quits working with Kazdin, but it's still in the
early stages so I won't try it out here ;-) Gould's recordings would be
much less endearing and/or personal for me without this touch of genuine
spirit. The fact that Gould claims he couldn't really put his finger on how
the singing started or why it was so ceaseless makes it all the more
wonderful, IMO.
        Glenn's parents both sang, and I've read from GG and others what
seems like every theory on the origins of GG's outbursts, ie- how young
child Glenn's hands being too small to cover the expanse of the keyboard
needed for play led to his vocalization of the notes he couldn't strike, or
the role of humming in creating a psychological barrier between the artist
and the outside world that allows for the true interiority necessary for
creation, or that humming was simply a bad habit that through repetition
had made itself necessary for success, etc. but these theories always leave
me cold. Teachers, critics, and even Gould's parents requested that Gould
try to control himself when performing, but I say thank goodness he didn't.
Wasn't it in *GG: A Portrait* that Jessie tells a story about the Gould
family riding home in the car from a recital and young Glenn's parents
being very upset with him for having sung throughout his performance? When
you come right down to it, the humming and singing is a slice of
interiority made public, something that goes beyond the "convincing
performance" and becomes perceptible passion; the origin or motivation is
secondary to the act itself.
        Off the top of my head, some memorable vocal outbursts from Gould
occur in the Strauss sonata #5 adagio, the opening bars of the 1st mov.
Beethoven Sonata #5 Cmin, the Gigue from Bach Partita #5, (Wow, that's a
lot of 5's, isn't it?) Prelude #1 Bk1 WTC, and of course the 1st and 2nd
CBS Goldbergs. My absolute favorite, for the sheer beauty of it, are the
gorgeous "La-la" notes that Gould hits at 1'45" into the prelude from
Bach's english suite #5  Emin. (Another 5! Is it a clue?) I think that
without the singing, it's possible that Gould would not have affected me
so. Good topic, Eric.


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Elyse Mach: "But do you think that if Beethoven came back to life he'd go
along with these notions of motif and tempo?"
Glenn Gould: "I don't really know, nor do I very much care..."