GG: (Lengthy) Symposium Synopsis

[kimmoor@mindspring.com (Kristen Immoor)]

Hi Minorians,
        I'm back home safe and sound, and just brimming with news about the
SF symposium. (Forgive me if this enthusiastic wrap-up is a little *too*
fervent... I'm a lousy editor and I'm still a bit excited.) I did tape the
day's events and will be willing to dub copies for interested parties, but
be forewarned that the total package takes *four* 90 minute cassettes. I
don't really want to be chained to the cassette player for the next year,
so if the response is too great I might have to assign numbers... send me a
note if you think you might want a copy. As an alternative, I may
transcribe the individual presentations, and this would be a heck of a lot
easier to send to people... we'll see how my typing skills measure up.
        Let me say first off that I really enjoyed the symposium, and I
loved hearing stories from some of the people who worked with Gould.
Everyone was exceptionally friendly, and the atmosphere was *not* the crazy
circus I had feared. Rather, it was a small and intimate gathering, and the
plush carpeted, tufted-chaired interior of the Dolby presentation
auditorium emphasized the comfortable feel.
        Having said this, let me also say that the lectures were not at all
what I expected. I was both pleasantly surprised and a bit disappointed by
the content. All of the presentations were impressive, highlighted by
excerpts from video interviews and performances, and augmented by audio
examples that seemed to emanate from the heavens (thanks to Mr. Dolby.)
Beneath the impressive exterior, however, the lectures were built from
healthy doses of the standard Gould bio, personal anecdotes inserted where
applicable. I was expecting more abstract topics, or (based on the advance
press of the Ostwald book) lectures that addressed PO's assertion that
Gould, if not mad, suffered from a serious mental disturbance. Instead, the
only brave reference to madness during the entire nine-hour conference was
Humphrey Burton's jocular stab that GG must have been crazy to have wasted
his time on those "unlistenable" radio documentaries (a jibe to which I had
to object - I truly enjoy the Solitude Trilogy.) I am in no way saying that
the papers given at the symposium lacked substance, every one of them was
interesting and contributed to a more complete portrait of Gould; all I'm
saying is that the day's themes didn't really fit the "psychobiography"
motif implied by the advance press (which may have been a blessing,) and if
you are kicking yourself for missing out on a day full of deep dark secrets
- don't be.
        Lise Ostwald did include in her lecture several of the theories
Peter had posited regarding Gould's temper, his childhood, etc., but the
text was drawn verbatim from the book and she didn't really embellish. (I
can't blame her, the book itself is a pretty hefty tome.) For the most
part, the book really just hypothesizes what may have prompted some of
Gould's wackier behaviour, and with the exception of one or two things sure
to make you shudder, it remains very tasteful. The video clips shown were
drawn heavily from Sony's collection, though lengthy clips from *A
Portrait* were also used. I had been hoping to see some new video, but
silent film footage documenting Gould's apartment and some clips from
Monsaingeon's *La Chemins...* were the only pieces I hadn't seen before.
Voyeuristic gratification aside, these clips weren't really that
earth-shattering.

On to the topics...
        Lise Ostwald, about whose qualifications I admit to having had
doubts, was absolutely delightful. In her quiet, timid, but incredibly
engaging narration she paid loving tribute to her late husband's final
work; not by repackaging the book in lecture form, but by weaving together
her husband's memories with her own. Her paper served as a unifying thread
for the day's material, and she as a casual guide between the different
lectures. After a brief introduction, she started off the day as the first
speaker, recalling the pleasant and sometimes unusual memories she and her
husband had of Glenn, as well as things Peter Ostwald learned through his
extensive interviews. At the end of the day, Lise gave the closing remarks,
summarizing the clinical details of Gould's death. One can only imagine the
strength it took for Lise to discuss such things, having lost Peter so
recently.
        BBC producer Humphrey Burton's presentation was wonderful, one of
the more evenhanded and witty recollections of Gould that I've seen. He
discussed what it was like to be a television producer working with Gould
in the 'early years', and how seeing "On/Off the Record" for the first time
greatly impacted perceptions of how music documentaries for TV should look.
(I suspected "On/Off" was a significant film, but I had no idea the
influence it had on the future of music docs on both sides of the
Atlantic.) Burton played selections from his video interviews with GG, and
it created an eerie sort of time warp to see a close-up of Gould on the
screen, addressing an off-camera HB at the same time that the real Burton
was sitting in the front row. It gave the impression that GG was speaking
out to HB directly. One could tell from Burton's response that the effect
had struck him as well; as he stood to speak at the end of the clip he
dabbed at his eyes and said "Forgive me, that was a bit overwhelming..." As
I said, HB was the only speaker to hint that Gould had a 'dark side' to
him, and he mused that the so-called "Age of Innocence" (as one of the
early Sony tapes is titled) could more accurately refer to his own rather
than GG's. He said that in the beginning he hadn't yet seen the dark side
of Gould, and found him to be a completely attractive personality, one
without conceit. (Remarkably, GG's lack of conceit was mentioned by more
than one person... I guess you just had to know him. ;-)
        Kevin Bazzana gave a wonderful presentation that directly
illustrated Gould's analogy of audio editing to film editing; that is to
say Gould, with his complicated studio production, did not seek to recreate
the concert experience any more than a film director seeks to recreate the
theatrical experience; instead, Gould edited and shaped his recordings in
much the same way a film director creates a movie. Using the Kyllikki
"acoustic choreography" example, KB pointed out the different views of the
music that were created by GG's placement of multiple microphones, and
indicated the film shots these mics are equivalent to (eg- inside the piano
for a close-up, back of the auditorium for a wide establishing shot, etc.)
It was wonderful to hear the exact bars of the piece as Bazzana addressed
them, it really helped to drive the point home.
        Timothy Maloney presented an abbreviated version of his latest
paper, comparing and contrasting the three Canadians who (according to the
author) helped to define modern culture: Northrop Frye, Marshall McLuhan,
and Glenn Gould. His GG bio was a bit conservative, and at times overlapped
points raised by previous speakers and had to be cut, but the correlations
between the three writers/philosophers were intriguing. He referred to
Gould as "the thinking man's virtuoso," one who sought not only to perform
but to inform, teaching as often as entertaining. I think GG would have
approved of that...  Maloney's input as 1st clarinet of the GG Siegfried
Idyll was noteworthy as well.
        Near the end of the day's events, Stephen Posen took the stand. At
this point, I would like to invite everyone within the sight of my voice to
stand and turn in a generally northern direction for a collective sweeping
bow to Mr. Stephen Posen, quite possibly the most urbane and affable
individual in North America. GG's a lucky man to have Posen in charge, he
couldn't have asked for a more level-headed executor - and I'm not just
kissing up to get a piece of the estate, either. His "layman's perspective"
on Glenn Gould was one of the highlights of the afternoon; loaded with the
kind of warm and affectionate anecdotes you wish you could read in every
bio. Mary Jo and I were laughing so hard during one or two stories that I
completely forgot to take notes! He narrated in honest detail what it was
like, having had little or no preparation, to suddenly find oneself the
executor of a large estate, and he related (with incredibly good humour)
the trial-by-fire variety of decisions that had to be made immediately
following GG's demise. (One such amusing instance raised the question of
what to do with the hundreds of grieving widows who inevitably came
crawling out of the woodwork...) Tactfully addressing the more dicey
topics, Posen showed himself to be a very realistic and circumspect man.
        I'm not certain that the symposium definitively altered my views of
GG in any way, perhaps it only enhanced my perception. Fears allayed, I
give the Ostwald book a grateful thumbs up, and all in all I had a great
time and lots of fun. I am already looking forward to "GouldCon 1999" and
all of the new thesis papers that will undoubtedly be unveiled.

Best regards,
Kristen

PS- Mary Jo is a real diva! Whoo-hoo!

____________________________________________________________________________

"I have several titles for diseases which I am expecting to use in later
life and have not yet had occasion to make use of. I always find that a
good disease title will impress your average concert manager to no end."

                                                              -- Glenn Gould