Glenn Gould - Canadian writer, broadcaster, pianist and COMPOSER?

[Pellygirl <wagnerlove@YAHOO.CO.UK>]

Hi everyone :)

I also have a copy of Gould's piano pieces and
although I found them interesting as a piece of
juvenile Gouldiana (and as studies in
atonal/serialism)I didn't really rate them that much
as compositions.


pause to hear the cries of outrage



On the other hand, I think the String Quartet is
really something special and I know some of the string
players at my college (not Gould fans either) have
played it in the past.

The subject of Gould as composer seems to me a rather
tricky one. For a start he didn't really compose that
much and most good musicians tend to compose in a
dilatente manner anyway. The String Quartet rightfully
stands out as a great work, but as he himself
declared: " We must rid the world of opus.Ones...it's
opus TWO that counts!" ( or something to that effect.)

If Gould had applied himself to composing solely I
wonder what would have happened. My inkling is that he
was aware of the artistic distinctions between
composer/performer; the composer being the more likely
of the two to achieve longevity after death. By
intertwining the two roles, Gould carved out an unique
position in the music world: the Re-creator. I'm not
sure that if, by the age of 50 he still hadn't
composed his opus 2, that he would have by 70. But who
can say? He can't; so there's no point guessing.

I find his lack of compositional output baffling. He
had a great musical and analytical mind, with a love
for structure, integrity, controversy and
post-wagnerian chromaticism (what a combination!)and
proved with his Quartet that he had a distinct talent
for it. Why did he not compose more if he so
desperately wanted to have part of his creative
persona labelled as 'composer'?



Natalie



=====
" When one makes a recording...you are influencing not only many more people numerically than you could perhaps in a concert, but influencing them forever - not just for one moment, one evening, which they may or may not recall, but forever. "
              Glenn Herbert Gould

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