FW: Re: solitude

["Harding.Matthew" <Matthew.Harding@CIC.GC.CA>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Harding.Matthew 
Sent: July 8, 2002 8:20 AM
To: 'Kate Clunies-Ross'
Subject: RE: Re: solitude


I disagree. Have you ever seen the earlier photos of him conducting
away? He seems to me like the happiest person I've ever seen, in a
blissful state if you will... you can almost see the force of life
surging through his body and streaking forth out of his fingertips.

I think it's a little more than all this, though. GG was obviously a man
who had medical and psychological problems, that eventually took over
his life.

BUT.

And it's a very big "but". Who are we to judge him by our life, our
goals, our experiences? I think we are all entitled to our opinions and
can express them however we want, but ultimately we all have to judge
ourselves. And I think that GG was, ultimately, HAPPY. Why do I say
that? Because anyone who gets to do what they want, unencumbered by the
responsibilities of life that befall other people, can get closer to a
state of bliss than you might think.

I just spent the weekend re-reading Ostwald's book, and watching the
GG's Toronto video. In both of these I see a happy Glenn, who ultimately
got what he wanted out of life but had to fight bloody hard to get it.
Anyone who had such a "different" upbringing as he did couldn't hope to
be "conformist", (a much better word than normal). But everyone's
challenge in life is to do the most with what they can, to push
themselves to be the best person they can, to their children, to their
partner, to humanity, or, to their piano. But don't you see? Just
because GG was critical of himself doesn't mean we have to be. I see GG
as an enormous success, both living and dead, and to focus on the
negative incidents is to deny him his humanity. GG was a genius, but
that doesn't make him not human. He is entitled to his hopes and dreams,
successes and failures, silliness and seriousness just like we all are.
God forbid we should all be analyzed and dissected after our deaths by
snatches of conversation, friends' memories, and miscellaneous letters
found around our house. I think we would be all quite shocked at what
survives.

And every time my wife comes into the living room and sees me rolling
around on the floor laughing at GG singing Mahler to the elephants, she
rolls her eyes, says nothing, and shakes her head. But she understands.
She understands that this man's passion and obsession strikes a chord in
me, and for that, I am forever grateful.

Now, off to take Longfellow to the garage.

Cheers,
Matthew


-----Original Message-----
From: Kate Clunies-Ross [mailto:goldbergs@TALK21.COM] 
Sent: July 7, 2002 9:51 PM
To: F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
Subject: Re: solitude


Kate     .....

PS  It occurs to me to wonder how much our perception of Gould's
emotional states are influenced (maybe subconsciously)  by the many
photographic images we have of him ? So many portray him as alone, and
he looks pretty mournful in some!