Re: GG Mystery lover

[Kate Clunies-Ross <goldbergs@TALK21.COM>]

 Well, I hope my previous post offended no-one, since I was not discussing
specifics!

First, I would like to thank Anne for her balanced reply to what , on
f-minor, can become a rather vexed question.

I do not think that Gould himself would be offended by anything that has
been said.  He probably would be more surprised that we know (because
biographers have given us the details ) quite intimate details about his
physical health and medical treatment, than he would  be  because we
speculate about his loves or even his flirtation!  (By the way. I love this
new image of him as flirtatious. It shows him maybe in a completely new
light!  - not cold and introspective all the time, as some writers would
have us think.)

OK, so what we say about his personal life is speculation. But in the past
we have discussed his philosophy and possible religious beliefs too; and
since we have no definite confirmation of what  these were either, that was
also mere speculation; yet nobody seemed offended.

  Glenn Gould was a very  warm and complex human  being. In fact I
am always impressed that so many of his friends have described him in this
way; warm, funny, caring...even if he had difficulty expressing these
feelings directly because of his difficulty with social interaction. Perhaps
there is probably a danger that we stress too much his isolation, eccentric
lifestyle, and intense involvement with his art to the exclusion of othe
aspects of his personality; his warmth, kindness and  humour. OK, he was in
some way a loner, and an eccentric, but the biographers and journalists
perhaps stress this aspect of him too much. His was not a bleak, isolated
personality, even if he chose a solitary lifestyle. Many people seem both
proud and happy to have called him a friend.

I think many people on this list consider that to understand a man's art, it
helps if we understand his whole personality, as  what he creates is largely
determined by this. If you do not agree with this, fine; just delete the
posts that don't interest you, as Anne suggests! But as long as people are
not being deliberately offensive, and are treating our sublect with genuine
respect and affection,  I  personally think any discussion is fine.

There seem to be quite a few new people on F-minor ...  last time I posted I
think I was informed  that my post had been distributed to 359 people.
Great, the membership is growing! But perhaps some of thiese people might be
new to the 'Idea of Gould'. He was a fascinating man. Lets depict him in as
well-rounded  and balanced a way as possible; his wonderful music certainly
deserves this.

Kate