GG Glenn Gould and the sustaining pedal

[Anne Smith <smithqa@nexicom.net>]

Dear F minors,

Last month Anne Marble asked us if we knew anyone who had heard Glenn Gould
perform.  Today I found someone.  He told me something that I'm not sure is
correct and I found very surprising.  I would like some opinions.

I must begin this by telling you that Mark is not that much
older than I am.  I was a kid when GG stopped performing so Mark could not
possibly have been an adult when he  heard GG perform.

We were discussing the fact that we like totally different styles of music.
Mark thought that since I play a lot of Bach he had found something we had
in
common.  To make his point he played excerpts from the Goldberg Variations
with his foot working the sustaining pedal the whole time.  I said ' Well,
there's where we are different.  I keep my foot off the pedal when I play
Bach.' Mark said 'Glenn Gould used the pedal all the time.'  He looked at my
shocked expression and said ' I saw him.  I heard him play the GV's and he
had his foot working the pedal the whole time.  I was there and I saw him.
Most of the time it was flutter pedaling -- 1/2 and 1/4 pedaling, but he WAS
doing it.'

>From a Tim Page Interview:
GG  Well, you know, there are certain personal taboos, especially in playing
Bach, that I almost never violate.
TP Well, I know one of them, for sure: you never use the sustaining pedal.
GG That's right.
TP Because I saw that German television film that was made when you actually
recorded the new Goldbergs, and it was honestly rather astonishing to see
you sitting there, thirteen inches off the floor, in you stocking feet, and
when the camera pulled back they were nowhere near the sustaining pedal.
GG That's true.

Mark's answer to this was that Glenn Gould didn't always practice what he
preached.
I had to admit that I did sometimes, though rarely, hear a 'wet' tone rather
than a 'dry' tone in GG's recordings.

It has been a very long time since I saw GG's C.B.C. shows and I don't have
any of the videos.  Help me out, please.

Anne Smith