Re: GG -- Another Possible Syndrome or Two (not Asparagus)

[Glenn Gould <glenngould@beethoven.com>]

Dear Anne and F-minor irregulars,

My parents were so fanatical about Glenn Gould they named me after him.
I have no recollection of it, of course, but they took me to his
viewing. Now as fate would have it, on my own i took an interest in
playing piano. I have been doing so since i was six, and now at the age
of 23, I still play everyday as well as for my parents and family when
occasion give aught. However, i consider myself a writer and have been
working on several short stories and a novel for publishing.

The reason why i'm giving you my background is because, until my senior
year i didn't take much interest in the man i'm named after. Oddly
enough, and perhaps his specter has been wielding influence on me, i
have developed a similar technique of playing. I learned the tapping
method and various other techniques that enable quick and precise
playing. I also feel comfortable sitting close to the keys, and find
myself lost in the music.

My parents tell me that sometimes i conduct and move in an ecstatic way
while I play but i don't know if i can remember it or if i'm imagining
the memory of this behaviour because people tell me about it. I joined
this list, at my parents behest earlier this year and have enjoyed
reading the discussions. You are all splendid people!

Now, even more freaky is that I found out in kindergarten that i have
synesthesia. And now i read about the possibility of Glenn having had
it.! Some notes on both synesthesia and turrets. My parents took me to
see a great many doctors when i was a bairn. I became so accustomed to
seeing doctors; psychologists and many specialists that i thought of
them as relatives or friends.

My mother tells me that they thought i had a kind of turrets, even
possibly a form of autism however they ruled all that out, for the most
part. But they are certain i have synesthesia, and one of the features
of this in addition to the muddled up crossing senses, is that music or
sounds make you want to react and move in certain ways. It's almost
convulsive when i listen to certain orchestrated music, and i've been
somewhat of a sideshow attraction for years in the local concert going
scene. When i was a kid, they called me the little conductor, but now i
don't know what. For this reason i find myself listening to recordings
more than going to concerts.

It certainly is an odd thing my parents have done to me, naming me after
this chap. Can you imagine if i decided to start performing, what
pressures and conceptions i'd have placed on me? And then with many of
these similarities I might even be accused of faking them.

Well, thank you for listening.

cheerio,
Glenn



On Sunday, October 28, 2001, at 12:07  PM, Anne M. Marble wrote:

> I've heard some people theorize that Glenn Gould may have
> had Tourette syndrome. Though I'm dubious about it, it's not as "out
> there" as it seems. Tourette syndrome is often
> misunderstood. When TV shows cover TS, they almost always
> show people with the most severe symptoms. Most people with
> TS have minor symptoms such as tics or throat clearing.
> They may also have symptoms such as obsessive thoughts and
> compulsive and ritualistic behaviors. They also tend to be
> good with music. (Understandably, many TS patients don't
> take medications because it interferes with their musical
> or other abilities.)
>
> OTOH it's also possible that TS has become another "disease
> du jour." :( For example, in the 1990s, someone theorized
> that Mozart had TS. That theory is now considered with a
> big grain of salt. It's sad when this happens to a condition
> because it often spreads misconceptions about the syndrome
> and takes attention away from people who really had it.
> (Does anyone remember the theory that people with porphyria
> were mistaken for vampires in Medieval times? That theory
> has been disproven, but people with porphyria still have to
> put up with people who say "Oh, you have that vampire
> thing!")
>
> And if anyone replies to this message by saying "How dare
> you say Glenn Gould had porphyria, I will spank them with a
> damp slouch cap. ;->
>
> And Now For Something Completely Different
> Bob Merkin and others have mentioned synesthesia (aka
> synaesthesia) in connection with GG. This is a condition in
> which people experience their senses in a different way
> than others. For example, they may "see" a sound or "feel"
> a sound. This reflects the way GG often talked about
> musical keys. One of the writers in an on-line writing
> community I belong to (www.hollylisle.com) has synaesthesia
> and discussed its impact on his writing. The first thing he
> mentioned is that for a long time, he never realized other people
> didn't experience the world the same way as he did.
> (That could apply to a lot of creative people. <g>) There's
> some neat stuff about Glenn Gould and synesthesia here:
> http://www.gould.nlc-bnc.ca/phase3/epayzant.htm
>
> Or of course, it's most likely that Glenn Gould was simply Glenn Gould.
> (Though the synaesthesia theory does make a lot
> of sense, particularly considering the early musical training!) It
> doesn't matter in the long run anyway, as
> long as he made recordings and wrote essays and inspired
> people and so forth.