Re: FW: Much Ado About Humming - Glenn Gould's Imaginary Orchestra

[Bradley Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

At 11:33 AM 4/18/01 -0700, Jim Morrison wrote:
> To link a couple of threads going on at the moment, anyone out there with a
> good enough ear to know just what notes Gould hums at the end of
> Contrapunctus one?  Is he adding a different note to the music than the one
> he's playing at the keyboard?

I followed along through the entire Cp1 with open score (each part on a
separate staff).  His humming is NOT an independent part.  He's simply
doubling the soprano or tenor lines most of the time (but an octave or two
lower), and when he's not on those he's on the alto line.  Sometimes he
jumps from part to part or doubles the bass line for a few notes.  But
overall I find it pretty distracting because this grumbly-mumbly *&#%@^#
humming of his is often below the register of the bass line, and it inverts
the harmony.

At least he manages not to start humming until about measure 17, which is
the beginning of the piece's first episode, in this case a modulating
sequence.  That is, it's the first place where the subject is absent.

Anyway, I think his humming (at least in this case) simply indicates which
voice of the texture he's paying most attention to, and he hits the notes
in whatever range is most comfortable.

Ever hear of the technique "basso seguente" from the 17th century?  That is
an accompanying instrument going along with an ensemble piece playing
whatever happens to be the lowest note at any moment, even if that's not
always the bass part.  The technique comes up most notably in polychoral
works: a keyboard player and maybe a few others playing a composite bass
line to hold all the groups together.  Well, Gould's humming is sort of
like that, except that *real* basso seguente doesn't invert the harmony!

Maybe in Gould's psyche it was either hum along or tap-dance "Me and My
Shadow."  Gouldo seguente.  Just as there exist some string players (and
keyboard players!) who cannot start an offbeat phrase without an audible
sharp sniff on the rest, there exists Gouldo seguente.  It seems to be a
force of nature, like the way it's hard to produce light without either
heat or noise.



Bradley Lehman, Dayton VA
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