GG: Shuffling Diatribe

[Immoor@aol.com]

Hi folks, I've been out of the loop, and just wanted to catch up and put my
two cents in on a few of 10/28's topics (this is a long one, skip it if
you're so inclined):
 RE: Shuffling - Interesting line of thought, in light of GG's own studio
work. He probably wasn't cringing when _____ shuffled their Goldberg
Variations, and I'm sure he would have found _____'s mix tape of pianist
works a shining example of the listener-liberation that he advocated, and
would have thought the combinations very amusing in that condescending way he
regarded other people's good techy ideas. (Not that he had a superiority
complex, all I'm saying is that despite GG's outward claims of hatred for
competitions - evident in his distaste for piano competitions, his request
for 'moths in non-competitive employment' [my paraphrasing], and his
out-and-out removal of himself from anything that necessitated spontaneous
demonstration of skill before an audience - he was also said to have loved
riddles and games that highlighted his own wit and knowledge while pointing
out the weaknesses in that of his friends.)
 Back to the shuffling, I agree that GG definitely saw a 'progression of
moments' in musical works, and was loyal to the composer's chromatic and/or
stylistic intent... unless he decided not to be. (I think Gould liked to make
rules and declarations and then turn around and reverse them just when it
looked like he was beginning to be Pigeonholed.) So, even if you think the
Variations sound better with all of the odd and even numbers transposed, go
for it! Gould himself recorded and performed the Bach Two/Three part
Inventions in a key progression he thought was more appropriate rather than
the original intended progression; he edited together two fairly
uninteresting takes of the Bach Fugue in A minor (WTC B1) to create a third,
more exciting one, thus entirely destroying any progression of moments
(indeed, his entire philosophy of 'take two-ness' was seemingly anti-'natural
progression' in favor of a rigid quest for perfection) and Samuel Carter (2nd
Gberg producer) said of him, "He almost never lets the music happen to him -
he happens to it." He recorded the '55 Goldbergs at a breakneck speed that
shocked the critics, and re-recorded them in '81 at a snail's pace and
claimed he couldn't understand why the originals had ever been accepted or
listened to at all. 
 However, it would seem to me that the big difference between cd shuffling
and the re-arranging/compiling that Gould advocated was that GG always had a
deliberate musical basis for the changes or edits he made, which might, in
his mind, disqualify the thoughtless randomizing of a cd shuffle function.
Then again, he loved the quirky effects of the moog and what it did to the
classics, so who knows! I don't think Gould had very clear-cut rules
regarding anything, with the possible exception of one; 'Everything I say is
true, until I say it isn't.' GG definitely loved to speak his mind and seemed
to have rigid opinions on just about every topic - until he changed his mind,
that is. To me, everything he did was handled with a genuinely innocent sense
of experimentation and discovery, and an endearing dose of childish
arrogance. It is present in almost every photograph, every written work and
interview. Ironically, it seems to me that the only place the art of being GG
ever took a back seat was at the keyboard, where he seemed to (as many
writers have also noticed) leave the outside world behind, to reach a point
of interiority where it didn't matter who he was or what people thought about
him. It must have indeed been ecstasy.
 RE: Kazdin's long-lost tome - Man, Andy could be making a mint if that thing
was still in print. I personally have been languishing on a bookstore's
internet-search list for that title as well as the McGreevy-edited book, GG
By Himself and His Friends. I am reaching the point where I am about ready to
Xerox the entire book myself and get it over with. Still, hope springs
eternal that some old folks will clean out their garage, sell the book to a
used store, and I will be lucky enough to get the Wonkabar with the golden
ticket...
 RE: Estate vs. Carroll - It is, of course, all about the money. The estate
needs the cash for whatever it is they do in Glenn's name, Carroll's group
has a bunch of lovely photographs and sees the sale value, it had to happen.
I'm glad the book was published, I'm glad I own it, and I don't feel bad for
poor dead Glenn, though I do agree that he would be most embarrassed by the
book; the dialogues don't paint a very flattering portrait of him, they show
him as the 25 year-old boy he was, going on about his girlfriends in
different cities, the so-and-so critic 'who happens to be a good friend of
mine,' not very modest. 
 The estate's argument is somewhat similar to the criticism G. Payzant makes
of some of the 'first authorized release' material on the Sony edition cds.
Payzant claims that for Sony to release material that GG would blanch at (the
live Leningrad/Moscow recordings, the Hammerklavier 106, etc) is a violation.
Gould never let a product out unless he had ample chance to scrutinize and
perfect it, and to release these raw recordings to the public now that GG is
gone is a kind of voyeuristic invasion. At first I agreed, the discs are very
anti-Gould, and a real whorey attempt to make a buck if you think about it.
But upon further consideration I concluded that hey, GG wasn't always opposed
to the stage, he wasn't always opposed to spontaneity, and these discs are
the closest that we younger listeners will ever get to that early time in his
life. To hear him argue from beyond the grave that the listener doesn't
deserve to hear imperfect recordings is like hearing your parents say they
are forbidding you to see your 'diamond in the rough' date because he is not
good enough for you. Sometimes you just want to live a little! 

 What I would like is a collection of Don Hunstein's Gould photography. Who
the heck was Hunstein, and how did he manage to follow GG around for 25
years? Anyone out there know?