Gould Haunts Me …

Very nice.

GORGEOUS bloggie…..elliot gould? who knew? not me.

Finally, a music post I can comment on! Thanks so much, bloggie. A great start to the day.

@baked: Glenn Gould – crazy/brilliant Canadian pianist who devoted himself to Bach. There’s a very good film about him called Thirty-two Short Films about Glenn Gould, the title referring to the 32 Goldberg Variations.

Bach is the only music I really love, and Gould does my favorite version of Goldberg. I love Landowska’s “Well-Tempered Clavier”, but her Goldberg seems sterile next to his. One of the big problems recording him, as you can tell here, was his humming/singing along with the music. He couldn’t help himself, and it was always a challenge for the engineers. One of my all-time favorite moments in all of music is his pause between the 1st and 2nd variation — music isn’t just about the notes, but about the silences between them.

@Mistress Cynica: He ate nothing but scrambled eggs the last few years of his life. He insisted on using that creaky chair his dad built for him – I once tried to play sitting that low, and I couldn’t get any power. An amazing man. If you haven’t heard it – get his Art of Fugue. He actually gives up on one fugue b/c he could not go on emotionally.

is this serious monday? i didn’t get the memo.

CODE RED
the rat is enroute to holy sabra whore land. i’m thrilled to have him out of my hair for 3 weeks, but i’m understandably agitated. ignore me.

@blogenfreude: @Mistress Cynica:
i still have my grandfathers 78’s ,of all of it, warping in my laundry room. they aren’t playable, but it’s one of the few things i have that i won’t part with. too bad i didn’t attach myself to something of his a little more portable..they weigh a ton. but i have such glorious memories of him sitting in his chair, listening, eyes closed, head back, i see his slight smile. and occasionally–a tear sliding out of the corner of his eye. thanks for bringing that memory back for me bloggie.

@baked: no problem – come to think of it, I’ll put up another of my favoriet gould videos now.

We’re on the Gould standard today.

@Mistress Cynica: Finally, a music post I can comment on!

Stinque Comment #90,000, to be precise. Big odometer roll coming this fall!