Re: Gouldian moments in recent film

[Arin Murphy <la_murph@alcor.concordia.ca>]

You bet I noticed Hana was Canadian, Veronica! That, however, comes of
being a Montrealer and having thoroughly enjoyed The English Patient when
it originally came out in book form. And I'm sure the history major who
was with me wondered why I tensed up, relaxed and sighed when Hana started
playing, yes, Bach. He's everywhere! (And huzzah, say I. Didn't we have a
discussion a while past about Bach-listening whilst working? I seem to
remember adding eating, playing and sleeping to the list, as well as
practicing (that GG vacuum phenomenon again). There can never be too much
Bach, in my opinion. But I digress.) 

Just finished the Ostwald. I liked it a lot. (Go ahead, rant on about how
it was nothing new! I just liked the style.) 

Question: Is any of the stuff in Conversations With Glenn GOuld reprinted
in any form in the Reader?

After much internal struggle on whether or not to join the Mozart thread,
here I go. Must admit, there are times when I do like Mozart a lot - esp.
his string quartets. Yes, he's a genius, yes, he's brilliant, yes, his
orchestrations are wonderful, and I love his operas to bits - Don Giovanni
is my all-time fave - but, quite frankly, he bores me. It's, well, too
perfect. And cutsey way too often. I'd like to find more sturm-und-drang
Mozart. Help me out, people. Not that I'm asking to be converted - I
already like him! It's just that at any given moment I'm more likely to
choose to listen to Schubert or Beethoven or, well, Bach. Mozart kind of
fills the gap between Bach and Beethoven; he was the necessary step. But
again, I rarely choose to listen to his stuff.

As to Gould's dislike of Mozart, Ostwald postulates that it has some root
in the Gould family's determination not to treat Glenn like a child
prodigy or a genius. `Mozart' was hence a dirty word in the household.
Apparently Glenn played Chopin and Mozart a lot as a child. Tastes change.
(Heck, I loved Tchaikovsky with a passion in high school. Now I find him
overdone, sort of like how I find Mozart superficial too often. Tastes, as
I say, change.)

And again, I add my wholehearted recommendation of the Naxos recordings.
The only one I was disappointed by was a recording of (ha!) The Goldbergs.
But then, I'm spoiled, aren't I. Like any other label, however, there are
good recordings and bad recordings. There just happen to be a lot more
good recordings on the Naxos label than others I've met!

Cheers to you all, and my sympathies to those who are back in the academic
swing of things too. (Sort of feels good in a guilty way too, though,
doesn't it?) 


Arin Murphy
Student, Savoyard,
Bookseller, Cellist-By-Night

	--------------

"It really isn't difficult if you give your whole mind to it."
				-Lady Angela, Act 1
				   Gilbert & Sullivan's `Patience'