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FW: Gould-cult...
Juozas Rimas wrote (although my thoughts that follow are for the whole
list, not aimed at Juozas in particular):
> I expressed my opinion and opinions shouldn't be taken as criticism instantly.
> am interested in main traits of Gould's personality to understand his art
> betterbut the accent on his supposed sexuality was the last straw to me and I
> "trolled" a bit :))
Well; "sexuality" is certainly a topic I never thought I would see
discussed on F-minor! And I have hesitated quite a bit before replying.
Maybe (some may think) I should have hesitated permanently, and not leapt
in with my comments at all, but this topic does raise again the vexed
question of what is, and is not, suitable to discuss on F-minor. I think
that the archives might show that along with Asperger's Syndrome (No! I
am not going down _that_ path again, so dont worry) this is the topic that
rouses wrath between subscribers more than any other.
Firstly, I would like to say that I agree with Anne Marble that any aspect
of Glenn Gould's life and work and personality are valid subjects for
discussion. Of course the music takes priority; but he himself
once>referred to himself I believe as "a musician who happens to play the
piano" and he also considered the Solitude Trilogy to represent some of his
most important work, even if critics did not agree. And it is well known
that by 1982 he was seriously considering giving up playing the piano
altogether and devoting himself to composition and conducting. So if death
had not claimed him so prematurely, and he was still alive today, how would
we think of him now? OK, still as a musician, but probably not as a pianist
so much....presumably just as as Glenn Gould, conductor/composer...maybe
even, (since Canadians can accept knighthoods, I understand) as Sir Glenn;
he'd probably love that, seeing as how when he wrote to Yehudi Menuhin
congratulating him in _his_ knighthood, he said his nose had been
seriously put out-of-joint!....But I digress, and those of you who do not
admit there might occasionally be room for a bit of whimsy in F-minor are
no doubt beginning to growl and mutter.
But: Gould's "sexuality" a subject to be discussed? Wow! But hang on a
moment; as far as I can see, nobody _has_ tried to discuss his sexuality,
even if a case could be made for such a discussion to be considered as
important from the point of view of understanding his psychological
make-up. We simply do not have enough knowlege of the subject to fuel such
a discussion, thanks to his perfectly reasonable wish to maintain complete
silence with regard to his private life. For those that _are_ interested,
guess the most that we can honestly be said to know is that he was
heterosexual, had short relationships with women but never formed a deep or
longlasting emotional involvement of this type; and that he - or so it
appears to me - never felt this to be essential or regarded the lack of
this type of relationship as something to be regretted. His 'aloneness' was
certainly important for his creativity ( everything that he said about the
idea of solitude confirms this) but this of course has nothing to do with
his personal relationships, or lack of them.
No, what has probably surprised some F-minoreans is the idea that some
admirers might themselves find Glenn Gould attractive! But surely there is
occasionally room on this list for a little fantasy, and humour, along
with the serious stuff? We are all human, and so was Gould, no matter how
stunning and far above the common run of mankind his awesome talents were.
Anyway, its hardly surprising that he should inspire such thoughts. All
celebrities, unless totally physically repusive or of absolute repellent
character.seem to attract this sort of attention from admirers, these
days. I guess we have become one of the most sex -orientated societies that
has ever existed ( I do not like the expression "sex-obsessed") a
contributary reason being that we can now see the reality of our icons.
Before the 20th century there were no photographs (or at least, not the
sort of photographic publicity) we now 'enjoy', and certainly no moving
images to show us the physical reality of the famous.
And Glenn Gould certainly had a great affinity with the camera, and the TV
camera too. ( Jock Carroll said in his book that "Gould. like Marilyn
Monroe, had an affinity for the camera and made great use of it".) So none
of the recent f-minor posts are exactly surprising.
In any case, nobody has said anything offensive about Glenn Gould. I would
certainly agree that offensive, abusive, or obscene posts should be
condemned, immediately (this of course does not include serious or
constructive criticism) but I certainly dont find anything offensive about
either expressing the idea that the man was attractive, setting up an
enthusiastic website,or offering a rather whimsical fantasy concerning the
nature of the music that Mr Gould might have employed to put his lady
friends into an, um, romantic mood! ( at the risk risk of upsetting the
determinedly -serious, i'd like to state that I dont think he would have
had to try TOO hard ... Many women would no doubt have been very happy to
spend a little time with him!
Whatever may be discussed, I do not think anyone on this list would wish to
hurt the memory or the image of this man. Yes, it is "trivial"; but hey,
life is full of trivial delights as well as serious ones; lets enjoy them
all!
And lets not forget that Glenn Gould himself admired Petula Clark and
Streisand, and was quite happy for everyone to know it!
To me, Glenn Gould's music remains one of the most astounding discoveries
of my life. It is music that can move me to ecstasy, that can inspire me
and uplift me. it is therapeutic...when stressed, afflicted by
panic-attacks, or just plain depressed, the beauty of its calm control can
show me that the world can be a better place. So yes, I would agree that
the music is the most important thing Gould has given us. If that makes me
a cult-member then I am happy to be seen as such. But there is so many
things about the man that are interesting.
A final fantasy: Given that Gould would not have welcomed speculations
about the actual details and realities of his personal life, I wonder how
he would have reacted to the idea that female admirers found / continue to
find him so attractive ( I know he reacted with fear to that obsessive
lady with the gun we have already discussed...understandably ... but I have
no idea if he received trivial fan-mail or if he did, how he felt about
it). I imagine him hovering invisibly close by, reading these posts with an
assumed air of astonishment. He might frown, but inwardly I'd hazard a
guess he would be amused, even secretly pleased; but puzzled. After all,
this was a man who obviously cared little about his physical appearance;
someone even commented once about him that never was there a man so
ill-at-ease in his own body.
Never mind Glenn: you may not be with us any more, but you sure keep giving
us a lot to talk about! And thank you. (For the music.)
Kate