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Re: GG: CBC questions



 
 
[snip]
> Why has GG been recognized not only as a 'great pianist" but also as an
> icon?
I've read no books on Glenn Gould, so what follows is my take, based on listening to him play, the tape of the Goldbergs and 32 Short Films. Gould seems to me a personality simply too neurotic and ill-equiped to function with ease around people: despite the obsessions with privacy, I think there was a great, loving heart in there, reaching out from small CBC studios, over the telephone, and, of course, through the music. Where another great pianist might have an intense relationship with a composer's music and we get to look in through a window, Gould gestures to us to enter and partake of the feast, the music, the delight in technique, the intense intelligence he poured into his work. Was it Nietzsche's Zarathustra who said something along the lines of, We learn more from the mistakes of great men, than the success of lesser men? Gould is a like a great general who evokes powerful loyalty: we follow him on his musical journey and are invariably rewarded with vistas and delights undreamt by lesser pianists.
Why do we "need" icons?
We don't. We need artists, and we need politicians who recognize that culture is not a minor appendage to the national budget, but the essence of what we're all about.
Why do people take part in f_minor?
Usually I don't. Last time I responed was to excoriate the notion of stripping GG's humming from the recordings. This time, well, because I like to share my joy and admiration. I can only hope it's worth another's reading.
[snip]
 
>
> Best,
> MJ