Re: GG listeners (yet another)

[Bradley P Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

On Sat, 30 Jan 1999, Anne M. Marble wrote:

> It's possible that nonmusicians are more responsive to -- or should that
> be susceptible to ;-> -- unorthodox performances. After all, we haven't
> been exposed to teachers telling us that a piece should be played "this"
> way or that a particular composer should always sound like this. Most of
> us haven't already heard several dozen orthodox (orthodoze?) versions of
> a piece. Many people with musical training are going to listen to Glenn
> Gould, or other iconoclasts, and protest that it shouldn't be done
> "that" way. (To be fair, this is true of all fields. I have often read
> novels in my fields of expertise and said, "No! It shouldn't be done
> that way...")

Who was it who in his writing advocated interviewing people about topics
that were *not* their specialty?  Why, it was Glenn Gould himself!

He definitely knew what he was doing.

One hazard of musical training is that when I listen to Glenn Gould's
music-making, I invariably find myself focusing on his intriguing
contributions rather than on the underlying piece.  I don't necessarily
argue in all cases that it shouldn't be done GG's way.  But GG's playing,
even when arguably "orthodox," really calls attention to *itself* more
than most other musicians' playing does.  I always hear it as "this is
GG's interpretation of X" rather than "this is X."  That's not necessarily
bad, either.  It's always interesting.

It's like being familiar with the Mona Lisa before seeing Marcel Duchamp's
version ("L.H.O.O.Q.") where she has a mustache and goatee.  The element
that draws the attention is what is different on a familiar background.
Somebody viewing L.H.O.O.Q. without ever having heard of Leonardo da Vinci
would still find this work memorable and intriguing, perhaps also
whimsical.  It's not da Vinci anymore.  Or is it?  Was Duchamp being
serious here, or not?  He was certainly a serious artist.
http://www.boijmans.rotterdam.nl/onderw/thema/imitatio/imi6b.htm

Bradley Lehman ~ Harrisonburg VA, USA ~ 38.45716N+78.94565W
bpl@umich.edu ~ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/