Re: Don't Forget The Or*$%

[Pooya Woodcock <pooya@math.umd.edu>]

> > Gould played the organ too (from way back in 1943, around 10 years old,
> > methinks).
> >
> > Any photos/film of him at the "helm" of the organ?
>
> There is a photo of GG at the organ in "The Art of Glenn Gould", edited by
> John Roberts. The caption  reads "Glenn Gould as organist. 1970s."  I  think
> that this might be an error, however, because didn't he give up playing the
> organ  altogether in his late twenties, due to problems with his arms and
> shoulders?

Not to mention the workout for the legs, with those foot pedals.

Gould's first public performance was on the organ, in 1945. "Boy, age 12,
shows genius as organist".

I thought it was nice how he didn't just give up on his ability to play
the organ. He learned in the Toronto Conservatory under
Frederick C. Silvester very early in his life, and I had thought that
perhaps it was forced upon him, as some sort of a requirement to graduate.
Perhaps not. If playing the organ was forced upon him, surely he wouldn't
have recorded organ works later on, and perhaps he wouldn't have played
in organ recitals at his high school and "all around town." His organ-
playing stopped after his teens (for a reason I can't see).

P