CD 318 and 174

[Jim Morrison <jim_morrison@sprynet.com>]

Good morning Fminor,

I've really got to get a paper together on Gould's pianos.

Check out the first half of Joseph Roddy's article "Appollonian" found in
the book Glenn Gould by himself and his friends.

In that essays Roddy's mentions that in January 1955 Gould discovered the
piano of his dreams in the basement of the Steinway building.  Old One
Seventy-Four.   That's right.  174.  A model D made in 1928, with a
supposedly wider keyboard than the regular Ds.  3/8's of an inch wider.
Gould toured and recorded with this piano until March 1957, when, get this,
the piano was dropped on its way back from Cleveland!!  That's exactly what
happened to CD 318!!  My god, Gould must have cursed Cleveland.  This piano
too was repaired, but was in too  bad of a shape to record on.  Gould
himself said "The Chickering's sick, and One Seventy-Four is gone.  I guess
in a few years I'll retire, too."

My guess is that this piano is the one used on the 55 Goldbergs and the late
Beethoven Sonata's, but not the fifth and sixth partitas because they were
recorded in late July of 57, after the drop.  The article even mentions that
during the recording of the fifth Partita Gould had 178 in the studio as
something to play in-between the recording sessions.

Poor Glenn, always having his pianos dropped.

Bye


Jim