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Gould, Beethoven & Bernstein
Re Gould's Beethoven cadenzas:
The National Library of Canada houses Glenn Gould's archives. We have
copies of Gould's cadenzas to the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1. The Gould
Estate is in the process of having all of Gould's compositions edited and
published by Schott but these cadenzas are not available yet in the new
edition. I have spoken to the executor of the Glenn Gould estate today and
received his permission in this case to furnish a photocopy to Mr. Tolwinski
since he wishes to perform the music relatively soon. The estate would
appreciate knowing details about the eventual performance. Please reply to
me at the address below, Mr. Tolwinski, giving me a snail mail address to
which the copies can be sent.
Re the Gould-Bernstein "controversy," I can point interested list
subscribers to the collection of essays by and about Gould entitled "Glenn
Gould Variations: Glenn Gould by Himself and His Friends," edited by John
McGreevy and published by MacMillan of Canada in 1983. Bernstein
contributed an article about the Brahms Concerto incident to this
publication entitled "The Truth About a Legend." In it he claims that there
was never the least unhappiness on Glenn's part over the brief speech
Bernstein gave before the concert. He feels that the incident was
misinterpreted and blown out of proportion by Harold Schonberg of the New
York Times. He says that his remarks were meant to prepare their listeners
for what would be a surprisingly slow and lengthy version of the work lest
there should be no-one left in the audience by the end of the performance.
One could deduce that this was a bit of revisionist history writing if the
conductor's recorded remarks were more damning. I've heard the commercial
recording in question - it's been available since the early 1980s - and
Bernstein's spoken comments could be interpreted either way: completely
neutral or a definite attempt to save his posterior. It all depends on your
viewpoint.
Hope this helps. Happy New Year everyone!
Dr. S. Timothy Maloney Tel: (613) 995-3400
Director, Music Division Fax: (613) 952-2895
National Library of Canada e-mail: timothy.maloney@nlc-bnc.ca