Glenn Gould Reader

I like everything about the contents of

Appreciation of Glenn Gould's towering genius came late to me, but now that it has, I would be bereft without this book as my companion.Gould's virtuoso performances speak for themselves, but by clever design the 3-CD set  A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981)  included a radio interview that allows Gould to speak for himself. Listening to his incisive and insightful self-criticism, I regretted that his life and my awareness of it never overlapped. Happily, a collection of his playful, unorthodox, and thoroughly original ideas were committed to paper, and Tim Page has done a great service to his legacy by editing and collecting those papers into this rather substantial volume.It is absolutely breath-taking the way that Glenn understood the implications of his preferred medium, the audio recording, and how that understanding presaged the free culture movement, and in particular, the Creative Commons. Consider this proposition from "Strauss and the Electronic Future": "[in] fact, implicit in electronic culture is an acceptance of the idea of multilevel participation in the creative process." In "The Prospects of Recording" Gould asserts "[it] would be a relatively simple matter, for instance, to grant the listener tape-edit options which he could exercise as his discretion. Indeed, a significant step in this direction might well result from that process by which it is now possible to disassociate the ratio of speed to pitch and in so doing ... truncate splice-segments of interpretations of the same work performed by different artists and recorded at different tempos." Twenty years before sampling, and thirty years before remix was a genre, Gould knew that it was only a matter of time and technology. And though he did not live to see that technology become mainstream, he writes manifestos of culture and philosophy, aesthetics and interpretation that give us a perfect view about what he would have thought about today's crisis of copyright versus culture.Gould writes with such an intimate voice, so rich in imagery, precise in detail, tireless in explanation, fearless in argument (and the use of the parenthetical), that I feel as if I am having a late-night conversation over a bottle of red wine with the man himself. Or, more astonishingly, that I feel as if we are true friends.So listen, and read. Read and listen. You may find yourself with a new friend, too.

Great book. Great service.

Glenn Gould was one of the best piano players ever. But he not only achieved the highest level of virtuosity, he re-invented the music of Bach and other composers. He was not only faster than other musicians (as this is the trivial criteria of virtuosity), every of his interpretations contains a thought beyond the music. This book shows the world of Gould's thoughts beyond the music. It's almost pure philosophy of art, almost, because Gould doesn't want to create complex system, his points are straight. Two examples:- "The determination of the value of a work of art according to the information available about it is a most delinquent form of aesthetic appraisal"- "The computer repositories file away the memories of mankind and leave us free to be inventive in spite of them"Makes you think, huh?The book contains dozens of short texts written during many years, and are grouped into few parts:1) Music - about Art of Fugue of course, Goldberg Variations, Beethoven, Schoenberg and Mozart. Deep look into the music.2) Performance - Gould gave up live performances and was accused for eccentrism There was a good reason beyond this decision, figure out why he did it.3) Glenn Gould interviews Glenn Gould. What? Yes, his interviewers weren't good enough, so he conducted an interview with himself.4) Media - how recording has changed the perception and performance of music, Gould's favourite radio with explanation of the "Idea of North" and "Latecomers", exceptionally original radio pieces by Gould, comparable with the XX century avant-garde. Radio as music.5) Miscellany.Sometimes it requires quite good musical background and education, as Gould lets the music speak for itself, on paper, by reproducing notes. Sometimes it requires knowledge of this recordings, which he refers to. But most of it is about music per se, the universal language Gould mastered. Highly recommended to all people who believe in music.

After reading this book I can appreciate Glenn Gould as a man, thinker, and musician. He was incredibly thoughtful, much more than the pianists today (of course there are a few exceptions), and this is very apparent from his works.Among my favorite essays:-Glenn Gould interviews himself about beethoven (although I did think the vanity was high with this one)-his explanation for why he stopped performing publicly-his thoughts on the future of recording (interesting how things turned out)-and many more interesting writings (these were only a few)Go buy a used copy as they are really cheap, definitely worth it if you are a pianist

Gould's musical illustrations, undoubtedly useful to some, were not so good for me. That's the ONLY reservation I have about this wonderful collection of his writings. And his marvelously offbeat sense of humor shines through (see, for example, his three fictitious and self-composed reviews of his recording of the Beethoven Fifth). If you admire Gould, this is a book you want.

This Vintage edition is a shrunken reprint of the original Faber and Faber paperback. The Faber and Faber pages measure 6 x 9.25 inches. The Vintage pages measure 5.25 x 8, so the print is smaller, and yet the individual letters appear darker and less crisp. The Faber and Faber is still available online, along with used hardcover.

Glenn Gould Reader is the definitive and fantastic compilation of Glenn Gould's written works. There's no better way to study the genius of Glenn Gould than through his own musical works, but if you like words too, then this is the book for you. It includes many of his articles, liner notes, interviews and letters. This book allows a deeper dive into Gould's music, genius, intellect and humanity.

This is a SUBERB book, a MUST HAVE for Gould fans or new comers who want to learn about him. You can really get into the mind and feelings even emotions at times of this "overwhelming performer, this very great man" (Karl Ancerl) I admit to being a Gould fan - for me he has the finest intellectual interpretive musical mind and playing genius of all time - this book assists in learning why he was so good.

Its a book full of Glenn Gould. What's not to like?

Great book. Amazing price.

Brilliant insight into the ingenious mind of Glenn Gould. Recommended!