[F_minor] re: worldwide popularity polls

["Sam Cronk" <Sam.Cronk@civilisations.ca>]

Just a few facts to think about, based on my ongoing experience with the
Glenn Gould exhibition in Ottawa/Gatineau:  fewer than 50% of
museum-going Canadians (who are otherwise literate and thoughtful souls)
know who Glenn Gould is or was. For visitors from French Canada, that
number is much lower. 

We've had visitors from Berlin, Vienna, Tokyo, and Dublin who know
almost every album, every nuance of Gould's performance style, who
couldn't wait until the exhibit opened.  But from across Canada and the
US, there is just not an overwhelming sense of recognition or
intellectual/emotional/aesthetic investment.  Even among local and
regional music departments, there is a mixed response not to the exhibit
but to "the idea of Gould".  Perhaps that's simply a reaction against
hagiography.

Granted, "museum audiences" don't necessarily know about art music and
Canadians are notorious for forgetting or undercutting our own icons,
but really: neither the face or soundscape are familiar for the majority
outside the academies.  Visitors are generally interested enough to find
out more, to walk into the exhibit and see what's the fuss is all about
--- but name recognition is simply not very high.  

Now, whether that is important to this group or to the legacy of Glenn
Gould is another matter, but it is an interesting thought for your
consideration. 

Thanks, 

Sam Cronk
Curator of Canadian Music
Canadian Museum of Civilization



 
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