[f_minor] o well, why not.

[michael macelletti]

i have to admit, this idea of pat's has started me thinking , and the subsequent f minor posts  have only kept me doing so.  i guess it touched a nerve.  (i'm not sure i'm going to even send this, but i might as well write it anyway.)
 
years ago, too many,  i remember hearing of glenn gould as a young , still concertizing, pianist. - even had chances to hear him in new york. but never did. my loss. he was  considered just one of many performers. even if he was a very different, weird pianist with a funny way and strange interpretations. i mean . let's face it, his mozart and chopin were not something that a budding pianist would like to imitate. interesting, yes.  but a certain way to commit pianistic- career  suicide.   granted it all worked for him  : the chair, coats, ridiculous speeds, etc.  but who would play the opening chord in the beethoven fourth like that when you're in front of an audience expecting a review, or a jury in a competition.  virtually no one.   however, i did always get his first     l. p. releases from someone at cbs. but they were just not  'in'  or inspiring  to us back then like the others   were : richter , who  had just done his amazing ,
 last and only marathon at carnegie hall ; cliburn who had a few years earlier won the tchaikowsky in russia ; howowitz who was making his return in the late 60's with his crazy carmen transcription. besides , their repertoire was a heck of a lot easier than gould's. (well, maybe not carmen )   it must be well known to the pianists out there that it requires far, far less work to do the tschaikowsky concerto , or a liszt or chopin etude  than bach.   you certainly know that the goldberg or even some of the sections of the partitas take around ten years before you feel your hands fit the corners and grooves of the darn thing.   bach requires the most amount of sweat for the least amount of effect on an audience, and liszt , rachmaninoff, et all,  require the very least amount of work and time to produce the  greatest amount of effect on a typical audience. ( who  incidentally just considers the poor pianist as the after-dinner " mint " .)   but
 gould was alone : truly a genius, never seen since, who was able to master this ferocious literature easily and in no time, unlike the rest of us who found the other stuff easier and preferable.     ( the mannerisms and weird interpretations , that all helped him achieve a career without competitions) .  but , despite all this strangeness, he was unique, with a mind and hands which were astounding , beyond belief. ( to quote salieri) .  but he was just one of many until death . only the historical sifting out of great and not-so- great pianists, has given him the place in pianistic history which he deserves. so, in the meantime, let's continue to  keep him going in our living rooms cd players, bedside dream machines, and cars. -  and wait for new releases. 

 i have a feeling that there are a great many more thoughts out there that would be interesting to have. ( you're merest effort would have to be ten times more interesting than this nonsense i have just jotted down ! )           let's hope more f minors  write in . truly,  "it is what we make it." 



________________________________
 From: Pat <pzumst at bluewin.ch>
To: Discussion of the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. <f_minor at glenngould.org> 
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2013 9:55 AM
Subject: [f_minor] 81 and counting
 


Hi all
 
There was only one message regarding what would have been GG’s 81st. 
 
...which leaves me with at least 2 questions:
 
- Is GG still relevant for artists, thinkers, musicians, arrangers etc. 
today ? Some of his ideas are clearly outdated (his idea of what would later 
become the mixtape and is today known simply as a playlist in yer iTunes has now 
been surpassed by technology) ? Was his approach to composers like Bach or 
Mozart (add Beethoven if you want) so out of center it became unfashionable and 
there is a chance that aspiring pianists being fed up with Lang Lang and 
Pogorelich as role models might pick up GG’s approach as a pianistic inspiration 
again ?. That might be interesting, more eccentric diversification, more debate, 
less robot playing, more substance, less image.
 
- Is there still enough in the vaults plus the infamous ice box of Sony and 
the CBC to justify “new” releases for the general public and not just the 
hardcore Gouldians ? GG is still dead, what remains is The Legend And Its 
Hagiography, but is that enough to sell records ? Especially to a new generation 
that has a different approach to classical music ? Mind you, we are talking 
about events that took place at least 60 years ago, to some people that is like 
what the last 6 million years are to a paleoanthropologist...
 
I dunno. I might have more questions though. I like to ask silly 
questions.
 
As an atheist I do not believe in the afterlife, but just in case there is 
the 0,.....00001 chance I am wrong- Happy Birthday Mr Gould !
 
Pat
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