Glenn Gould | Artist
Glenn Gould (né Gold) was a Canadian classical pianist born 1932 in The Beaches, Toronto. Gould was a child prodigy and was described in adulthood as a musical phenomenon. He was among the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, renowned as an interpreter of the works of J.S. Bach. His playing was distinguished by remarkable technical proficiency and a capacity to articulate the contrapuntal texture of Bach's music. Much like Pablo Casals did for Bach's Cello Suites, Gould made several recordings of The Goldberg Variations, which stand today as some of the greatest ever recordings of Baroque music. Gould was the only child of Russell and Florence Gold, both Presbyterians of Scottish, English, German, and Norwegian ancestry. Florence's family name was Greig, and she was a distant relative of the Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg. The Golds changed their name to Gould around 1939 to avoid being mistaken as Jewish, given the prevailing antisemitism of prewar Toronto. Glenn's talent for music was evident very early and his mother encouraged his musical development from infancy. Hoping he would become a successful musician, she exposed him to music during her pregnancy. He had perfect pitch at age three and learned to read music before he could read words. He played his pieces for family, friends, and sometimes large gatherings. At six he performed one of his own compositions at the local Church. At age 10, he attended the Toronto Conservatory of Music and passed his final Conservatory examination in piano at age 12, achieving the highest marks of any candidate, and thus attaining professional standing as a pianist. Gould claimed to have almost never practiced on the piano itself, preferring to study pieces by reading. He could play a vast repertoire of piano music, and orchestral and operatic transcriptions, from memory. He could "memorize at sight" and once challenged a friend to name any piece of music that he could not "instantly play from memory." Gould rejected most of the Romantic piano literature by Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others, in favour of Bach and Beethoven mainly, along with some late-Romantic and modernist composers. Gould was a prodigious recording artist. He recorded most of Bach's keyboard works, all of Mozart's sonatas, all five of Beethoven's piano concertos and 23 piano sonatas, the complete piano works and Lieder of Arnold Schoenberg, works by 20th Century composers Sibelius, Bizet, Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith and Alexander Scriabin, and the pre-Baroque composers Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, William Byrd, and Orlando Gibbons. Discogs lists 187 LP's credited to Glenn Gould, excluding compilations. A small selection of recommendations includes his Bach recordings The Goldberg Variations (1955 and 1981 versions), Concertos for Piano and Orchestra (1992), The Well Tempered Clavier (1963), The Well Tempered Clavier Book II (1968), The Two and Three Part Inventions (1964), The English Suites (1977), also Brahms Ballades and Rhapsodies (1983), and the live set Salzburg Recital: 25. August 1959 (1994). Gould was also a writer and broadcaster, and dabbled in composing and conducting. He produced TV programmes about classical music and was a prolific contributor to music journals. Gould was known for his eccentricities, ranging from his unorthodox musical interpretations and mannerisms at the keyboard to aspects of his lifestyle and behaviour. He disliked public performance, and stopped giving concerts at age 31 to concentrate on studio recording and media. On 27 September 1982, two days after his 50th birthday, Gould suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. He was admitted to Toronto General Hospital and his condition rapidly deteriorated. By 4 October, there was evidence of brain damage, and Gould's father decided that his son should be taken off life support. One of Gould's performances of the Prelude and Fugue in C major from Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier was chosen for inclusion on the NASA Voyager Golden Record by a committee headed by Carl Sagan. The record was placed on the spacecraft Voyager.
Artist Website: glenngould.com
Featured Albums: Glenn Gould
Related Artists: JS Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart
