Re: comment on competition

[neil@thump.org (Neil)]

On Fri, 9 Jul 1999 12:57:42 +0200 (MET DST), you wrote:

>my case:
>in a discussion about "challenge", "competition" in relation to mr gould,
>noone mentions his saying that competition is the root of all evil.
>
This is a funny one which i think Dr Ostwald delved into. Gould seemed to loathe
competition yet would get jealous of rivals, sulk if he lost a game of crocket
(I think it was that) and was a show off in his fast cars and boats !!  I'm
tempted to suggest that we can dismiss most of Gould's views on competition as
personal quirks or phobias. 

But then as Jeremy Siepman so craftily suggested in his BBC Radio 3 essay
"Gould's life was full of contradictions and paradoxes" (I think I quote him
accurately). What are we to make of the anti-piano compeition statements, his
views on the nature of the big romantic concertos etc. ?

The Brahms with Bernstein was an enriching experience and an important
contribution to musical thought I'd argue. And within his theories of concerto,
there's omnipresent an element of the baroque, "democracy in action" I think GG
callled it. We should be very grateful to him for reminding critics and
audiences of how Bach concerti should be played with orchestra, and ditto I
think the Beethoven's and Mozarts. He was very proud of getting Karajan and the
Philharmonia to sit around his piano when they played the Beethoven 2nd and
Bach.

I've only commented on a little corner of the big competition arena ! But I hope
this helps.

Neil
----------------------------------
Neil 
ICQ  11875525 - AOL IM "imheifetz"