GG:ST info

[Mary Jo Watts <mwatts@rci.rutgers.edu>]

The Solitude Trilogy is a set of three radio "docudramas" that Gould
produced. The first, The Idea of North, is about the role of the Canadian
north both as a political entity and as a metaphor for solitude. It's from
1967 and is in monoaural sound. The second, The Latecomers, is from 1969 and
is in stereo. It's about life in Newfoundland-- with much the same thematic
matter. The third, The Quiet in the Land, from 1977 is about community
isolation among Canadian Mennonites.  It's by far the most structurally
complicated of the three dramas.  For example, in one scene Janis Joplin
sings "Mercedes Benz" in one ear while a sermon plays in another.  A Bach
cello sonata chimes in while a mixture of voices fade in and out--
it's HIGHLY contrapuntal and proabably the most thematically dense
piece of the trio.  

The price (of 13$???) is c-h-e-a-p.  I paid 45$ for the 3 CD set two
years ago.  It's certainly worth the price if you're even remotely
interested in Gould the composer.  He did consider the pieces musical
compositions. Payzant talks about them some in _GG Music and Mind_ and
the written liner notes from the LP releases appear in the _GG
Reader_. 

There's quite a bit of discussion of the pieces in the list archives--
which are at this point unfortunately not searchable. [Happily, the
archives are extensive-- I never dreamed of a day when there would be
205 people from about 20 countries interested in reading each other's 
thoughts about Glenn Gould!]

You can access KB's archives from:
http://erebus.rutgers.edu/~mwatts/glenn/fminor.html

Best,
Mary Jo