Re: GG: Mozart was a bad composer

[DorianLS@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/6/1999 9:41:48 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
arnowitt@sover.net writes:

<< GG may have controlled the tone of the final
 product for publicity purposes. >>

I recall reading the book by the psychiatrist/friend of GG's whose name I 
have now forgotten, but whose book was titled something like "The Tragedy and 
Ecstasy of Genius" or something along that line.  My recollection is that the 
theme of the book was that GG did suffer some so-called "psychiatric 
problems", though I don't recall that the author really came to any 
conclusion as to what they were exactly.  But it is my impression that - if 
one wanted a diagnostic category to account for most of his personal 
peculiarities - the category which would most obviously be suitable would be 
"obsessive-compulsive" character type (or possibly "disorder").  One of the 
important characteristics of this character type is a need for 
over-controlling things (coupled with an underlying fear of being humiliated 
by making some error etc.).  This would account for Glenn's reputed need for 
controlling and rehearsing interviews, despite the fact that people who knew 
him found him to be even more engaging and brilliant in his spontaneous 
conversations than in his (reputedly) well-structured and rehearsed 
interviews for TV and video.  It would account also for his dislike of the 
spontaneous setting of performance and his anxiety in these situations (and 
his viewing them as threatening spectator-sports where the audience's 
apparent motivation would be to criticize, attack, etc.) despite his 
brilliance at the keyboard.  Even his characteristic qualities as an 
interpreter - his clarity of exposition, his "dotting of every i", his rhymic 
precision, etc. - are recognizable as characteristic traits for this type of 
personality type.  Also, obsessive-compulsive personality types are very 
susceptible to phobias, and Glenn apparently have many.  His avoidance of the 
sorts of relationships we would call true intimacy is also a characteristic.  
There are many others, but these example should suffice for now.  My point is 
 that his need to control his final productions was probably not only for 
"publicity purposes", but the consequence of certain important underlying 
psychological needs as well.   Even the tendency towards a very "individual" 
individuality - a differentness from others and an almost stubborn holding on 
to one's own individuality - is a characteristic "obsessive-compulsive 
personality trait". (and here is just occurs to me that this "stubborn 
individuality" can account also for Glenn's sometimes unusual views (his 
dislike of Mozart, for example) and his insistance on interpretations which 
are so frequently unusual and peculiarly his own).  Of course, Glenn was a 
genus as well, so his personality was and is a fascinating one and (I assume 
for most of us) a very appealing and intriguing one as well.   Dorian