Re: GG: Humming: why is it so provocative?

["Anne M. Marble" <amarble@abs.net>]

> How many of us don't notice GG's humming because we are, ourselves,
humming, or
> making some equally ugly, perhaps less inhibited utterance while
listening to
> him.

Guilty as charged. Especially when my mother and I are listening to
her favorite GG recording -- the Alla Turca of Mozart's K. 331.
Sometimes, I'm surprised I don't hear a baritone voice from the stereo
say, "Shhh! I'm trying to play here."

> p.s. I don't know why I am contributing to this, round X of the
humming saga:
> Next question for discussion. Why is the humming issue the most
controversial
> and repeated issue in this list? Why is it so provocative?

Maybe because it's something that even people who know nothing about
music can talk about. (Talk could include some of the music critics,
certainly the critics in Toronto during GG's youth.) I've mentioned
the humming to my coworkers when trying to describe Glenn Gould. (It's
not easy!) Reactions have ranged from, "He HUMMED during his
recordings?! Wow, he must've been nuts." to "What's wrong with that?
It's a sign that he loved his music."

When my cousin was visiting, I played a snippet of GG and told her
that you could hear him humming. She kept shaking her head and saying,
"No. Someone just made a mistake when they recorded that CD." I
insisted he was humming, and she insisted that somebody behind the
scenes had messed up. (Poor Andy! All that hard work, and he gets the
blame...) This went back and forth until I finally said, "Believe me,
he's humming!" I don't know if she was just being stubborn, or if she
really couldn't believe a pianist would hum on his own recordings.
(Knowing my family, I'd vote for stubborn.)