Remembering Glenn Gould

[Anne Smith <smithqa@NEXICOM.NET>]

On this, the 19th anniversary of Glenn Gould's death, I found myself
committed to doing a very un-Gouldian thing.  I was not only playing the
piano live, I was playing Chopin.  When I realised that the day I had
promised to do this was the date of GG's death, I decided to play some of
his compositions as well.  These were very well received.  Okay, *everybody*
had heard the Chopin pieces before and nobody had heard the Gould
compositions. I got the impression that people liked the Chopin better than
the Gould, but no one left while I was playing the Gould compositions.

I am telling you this because I would like to suggest that those of us on
this list who can play, might start playing GG's music in public.  Even as a
child, GG planned to be a composer.  In many interviews, he made remarks
that gave the impression that he thought being a composer was more important
than being a pianist.  Had he lived and been healthy, he would most likely
have left us with more music.  Most people say of Glenn Gould "Oh yeah, he's
the man who played Bach."   Why don't we let people know that he did much
more than play Bach.

Anne Smith