[F_minor] GG Hereafter on CBC television

["Houpt, Fred" <fred.houpt@rbc.com>]

Hello all.  Imagine how surprised I was last night when I turned on the
old tv and caught the first few minutes of a new documentary:

http://www.ideale-audience.com/glenngould/

"Glenn Gould: Hereafter".  I cancelled my plans to watch one of my
videos and sat back.  All I can tell you is that if you have not seen
this, then as a Gouldian you owe it to yourself to seek it out.  Even
writing about it now just gives me goosebumps.  I can tell you that I
heard out of Gould's own mouth, describing as he was, why he chose to
play certain composers in a "perverse" way (his words) was so that it
would jolt people into hearing the piece for the first time.  Isn't this
what I've always said about him?  He went on at length shedding light
into why he hated concertizing.  He put it so plainly you could hardly
not arrive at the same conclusion.  He said, listen, playing the same
piece, night after night, in strange town and after strange town, can
really wear thin on you after a while.  That's about what he said and I
really understand.  There is so much insight into his creative process
in this documentary that I must buy a copy of it to savor it over time.

What was impressed upon my mind over and over again, was that Gould was
misunderstood by most critics and even other musicians because they
could not appreciate the depths that his intellect had achieved, nor
could they understand why he took such extreme positions towards
interpretation.  Given these many years now after his death, and so many
books written on him, I do hope that he is starting to be better
appreciated by non-Gouldians.  As a Gould fan, I'm certain I don't have
to sell the benefits of his creative genius.  As I age and I watch these
types of documentaries, my love and awe of his contribution just expands
and deepens.  In my view, Gould will most likely always be in a class by
himself.  Not because he was a freak, or because he was a failure (as
his most scathing critics most unkindly said of him) but because he
stood above all the others.  There have been many talented men and women
who have brought their gifts to the public.  So very few have had
anything new or penetrating to say about the music.  Either they did not
have any new insights or they were just satisfied to get the notes in
the air without making too many slips.  Gould would not think of
recording a piece without having thought deeply about it first, rarely,
it would seem, playing it.  His talents were such that he could study
the music in sheet form and walk with the ideas in his mind for long
periods of time, without the need to hammer the keys.  When he had spent
enough time thinking through his reactions to the form, he would then
start to actualize his ideas.

There was a moment, though, where he talked about how he would sometimes
show up at the studio with not 2 ways of playing the music in his mind,
but 17 (that's what he said).  He said he would play through all 17
different ways, take after take, sometimes going on for about 3 hours.
After this period was worked through, he would narrow down his choices
to maybe 1 or 2 versions and then when it came time to record, he would
fasten his mind to one and give it his all. I ask you, how many other
great musicians inhabit the work at such a profound level, embracing it
with mind and heart and soul, before even touching the piano? None come
to mind.  

All in all, my love has only deepened for this supremely gifted genius.
And again, my heart is conflicted: part filled with love, part filled
with such sadness that he has been taken from us.

Regards,

Fred Houpt
Toronto
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