Glenn Gould Memorial Service info

[Noel Roberts]

There seemed to be some confusion as to who organized Glenn Gould's
Memorial Service on Oct 15, 1982.

It was John P. L. Roberts, who was asked by Glenn's father Bert. Bert
realized that there would be an expectation for the public to mourn, and as
John remembers it, Bert said "I'm too old. I can't do it and I don't know
all the people." So he asked John to lead it. John consulted with Bert and
also kept him informed along the way.

It was a mad rush to organize the memorial service in 2 weeks. The venue,
the selection of the music, the artists, media handling, notifying various
embassies, and so on.

John recalls trying to track down Elmer Isler who was on tour with the
Elmer Isler singers in the US, Maureen Forrester and others. He mentions
they came rushing back, postponing their American tour.

John originally reached out to St James Cathedral in Toronto as the venue
of choice, but as calls from the press, and the level of media attention
increased, he realized that the Cathedral was not going to be big enough.
He reached out to St Paul's Anglican church as it was larger, and they were
very gracious in accommodating the memorial service on such short notice,
as they had to cancel or postpone an event that had been planned for that
weekend.

The CBC was going to broadcast it in Canada, and I believe that there was a
broadcaster in the US who also broadcast it live there (likely at least in
New York).

Here are a few things that John recalls, that may be of interest:

   1. John wanted to involve the congregation in the service, and since
   Glenn loved the old hymns, two were chosen. Bert loved the idea of
   involving everyone. Many hymns were suggested, and the two that were chosen
   were done so in consultation with at least organist John Tuttle and likely
   others. John asked Godfrey Ridout to make the musical arrangements, who
   probably did so working with John Tuttle. The hymns were:
      1. “The Old Hundredth” chorale (from "Glenn Gould, A Life and
      Variations", Friedrich, p.4)
      2. The chorale "Nun danket alle Gott" - Now Thank We All Our God
      (from Alexina Louie's post:
      https://www.glenngould.ca/2020/12/07/o-magnum-mysterium/)
   2. John wanted representation from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and
   worked with Walter Homburger, who was able to assemble the quintet.
   3. John also wanted it to end with Glenn playing, and so chose it end
   with the Aria da Capo (Track #32 of Glenn's second recording of the
   Goldberg Variations)

Here's what I was able to assemble as to the music that was performed at
the service:

   1.

   The Music Programme included:
   1.

      J.S. Bach, Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BMV 544 ;
      2.

      J Brahms, Motet for Double Chorus, op.110, no. 1 Ich Aber Bin Elends ;
      3.

      from the J.S. Bach Motet No.3, BMV 227, Jesu Meine Freude ; (Elmer
      Iseler Singers)
      4.

      J.S. Bach, Allegro from Sonata in G minor for flute and continuo, BWV
      1020 ; (Tuttle and Aitken)
      5.

      J.S. Bach, Have Mercy Lord from St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244;
      (Forrester, accompanied by Staryk and Tuttle. This was a work that
      Forrester had performed with Gould)
      6.

      Cavatina from Beethoven’s String Quartet in B flat Major, op. 130 ;
      (the Orford String Quartet)
      7.

      J.S. Bach, Aria da Capo from Goldberg Variations. (Recording. Aria da
      Capo, Track #32 of second Gould recording of the Goldberg Variations)


John also recalls reaching out to various embassies, which resulted in some
countries being represented at the service.

On a different and anecdotal note, John remembers being at the hospital
with Bert and Vera (Bert's second wife) for the discussion with the doctor
who informed them that there would be no recovery for Glenn. The suggestion
was to take Glenn off of life support the next day, October 3rd, but as
this fell on Vera's birthday, it was decided to take him off of life
support on October 4th instead.

Here are some of the sources that I used. Supposedly there's a recording of
the memorial service, but the CBC has copyright. I would love for that to
be available in the CBC online archive.

https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/otufm51-tp-1982-050

https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?idnumber=557676&app=FilVidAndSou&ecopy=

Happy reading!
Noel
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