Re: Glenn Gould's Sense of Humor...and Misconceptions

[Kate Clunies-Ross <goldbergs@TALK21.COM>]

Anne Marble wrote

> What do you think about Glenn Gould's sense of humor? I know
> a lot of people don't appreciate the jokes, particularly the
> (bad) accents. And yet, I happen to _like_ them. (I feel
> like I'm a member of GG Joke Admirers Anonymous. "I'm Anne
> Marble, and I like Glenn Gould's sense of humor.")

Well, "I'm Kate, and I like GG's sense of humour too", even if it doesnt
always  quite "work". It shows him having fun and being relaxed, taking a
delight in matters more trivial than his usual concerns. Not the standard
intense and even rather uptight Glenn we see in many photos.
The trouble is that his jokes are not always as funny to us as he obviously
found them himself! And the "voices" ... well, he was no mimic. Speaking as
a Brit, his "Sir Nigel" , and the actor "Sir John" from  the Tim Page
interview about the Goldbergs, are pretty terrible. Embarrasssingly so, in
fact (sorry, Glenn!) ... And his Scottish accent sounds as if he had been
taking some strange substances.  (GG  taking driugs? My , what a shocking
idea!!!  Well ...  recreational ones, anyway!)  Its a good thing he didnt
take it into his head to try acting. he'd have been awful.... a real ham.

But his humour does demonstrate that child-like quality about him that I
personally find delightful. It is such a contrast to the way he usually uses
words, which is intense and precise, to say nothing of convoluted at times!
A few days ago I visited the tiny Glenn Gould Park in Toronto, which has no
connection with him other than that it is only a couple of hundred yards or
so from his  St. Clair  apartment. There is no Gould memorial there, but
there   _is_  a statue of  Barrie's Peter Pan, which I found curiously
appropriate; not only does the effect Gould have on his audience seem pretty
close to magical at times, but the man himself seems to have retained all
his life a childlike sense of pure enthusiasm and  curiosity, as if part of
him never fully grew up. This is meant as a compliment, by the way; I guess
this type of immaturity  is a quality shared by other creative people of
genius, maybe even it is  an essential quality.

I have not yet seen  him singing to the elephants, although I would really
like to see this. The Toronto documentary seems unavailable, both in Toronto
itself and  certainly here in Britain (which sometimes seems a bit of a
Gouldian desert) ... so, fellow F-Minors,  HELP please; can anyone suggest
where I could get hold of a copy of this video ?

>Sure, he played wonderful
> music, but he wasn't afraid to make jokes, even bad ones.
> He wasn't always being serious with us.

How serious was he being when he played the Moonlight Sonata? When I heard
that  recently it took my breath away. And not in a pleasant manner, either.
Surely that track must  rank as one of Gould's Bad Jokes.
>
> Besides, GG often used humor to illuminate points that were
> important to him. For example, look at the way he gave many of his views
during the Jubilee Album.

The troublewith the Jubilee album is that he goes on for too long. Much  as
I like GG's humour, he really was far too self indulgent at times... I guess
people suggested to him  from time to time that shorter might have been
better, but how could anyone control a control freak like Gould?
>
> What is your favorite bit of GG humor? Also, are there any
> examples of humor by Glenn Gould that you think are often
> misinterpreted?

Maybe some of his remarks about Mozart?

Anne also comments in another email that many people seem to view Gould from
a single (blinkered) viewpoint; for example , they concentrate on his
perceived eccentricities. I  too think this true, and that it is a great
pity;  even apart from the music  (Heavens! However could I think of typing
"apart from the music" in relation to  Glenn Gould?) he was such a complex
and fascinating man that I feel lucky to have encountered him, even if it is
only through the media of words and recordings. Indeed,  I would guess that
many of us think of him as much  more than 'just' a musician. It  makes me a
bit sad when people say "Ah yes, the eccentric guy".....Why is he thought of
like this? How many of us also have lifestyles that perhaps are not
standard, but which suit us, yet nobody writes about us or analyses us to
death because we are not famous and newsworthy?

And like Anne I also hjave encountered someone working in a record store who
asked "Glenn who?"   Yeah. Honest.  Her next question , after I replied
"Gould" as clearly as I could, was actually "How do you spell that?"
I am not sure how many  reasonable spelling  variations of  the name Glenn
Gould there are, but sometimes I despair of the human race .....  ;-)

Kate