The Goldberg Variations, Glenn Gould and Me...

http://thinkingisnotdangerous.blogspot.com/

In honor of Johann Sebastian Bach and Canadian pianist Glenn Gould I decided to post a little tribute on my blog --- I just love this collection - The Goldberg Variations.

Glenn Gould was genius - He was autistic and did not fit in unless he was sitting at a piano... He died young, only 50...

Peace.

(You may recognize this music from Silence of the Lambs - )
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6984208089899995423&q=glenn+gould&total=499&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/2/26/Glenn_Gould_in_rehearsal,_Toronto,_1974.jpg

I just love listening to Glenn Gould...

I hadn't realized he was autistic, though...

Wonderful pianist!

Thank you for the link...

And damn it, I won't be able to go to bed till it's done...

:hug:

Ah! I hear him humming...

If you listen close, you can hear him humming along...

Gould wore the heavy coat and scarf even in the heat of the summer - part of his autism - as was the humming. He was a social misfit with a beautiful mind.

Pianists of ALL GENRES HUM. With improvisation my still unanswered question is "What comes first? Are you humming along with what you play or playing what you hum?"

not just humming...

Are you his lawyer?

he was autistic.

He was a wonderful pianist but every once in a while his humming would be too distracting.

Have you ever turned pages for a pianist?

Do you know anything about autism?

autistic children -- I have a BA in behavioral psychology -- It is commonly known that Gould was autistic.

Do I have to qualify a simple statement of fact by giving you my credentials? Not everyone who hums is autistic - and of course, that is not what I said.

I enjoy the music - I recognize Goulds autism - one thing does not cancel out the other.

to my kicking your post. (Gould's Goldberg is a religion of mine). Please accept my apologies for joining in, it won't happen again.

I have been employed as a page-turner for a number of world-renowned classical pianists, including one mentioned in this thread with whom I went to school. Most HUM. Some loudly, some softly. Jazz pianists hum, hence my question, "What comes first?" I've just been fascinated for years by it. Keith Jarret has also been cited for "uncontrolled humming" while playing.

Many times it's been pointed out to me that I hum continuously.
But being an oboist it obviously stops while playing. :silly: Lots of string players hum too, particularly those who improvise. My son, who is autistic, also hums continuously. I figure he picked it up from me. :shrug: My point was simply, Gould's humming was not connected to his autism. It is an entirely separate phenomenon shared by many...

but you seem to think I want to argue a known point - i.e. humming uncontrollably is systematic of autism.

Autism has a giant range of symptoms but a very common symptom is uncontrollable humming - Not humming while you wash dishes or whatever. Your friends who play the piano -- When they go into a recording studio, can they CONTROL the humming? Can they play the piano without humming?
You took a statement of fact and turned it into an argument.

In your sons case he may be humming to block out noise from the outside world - then again, he may not.

Gould could not control his humming -It was symptomatic of his autism. If you do not believe me, please feel free to research/Google autism and humming.

Why you elected to be touchy about this is curious to me. I do not know you and for some reason you have asked me to prove that I am not just making something up out of my imagination. You asked me if I have experience with autism - I provided that info even though I felt rather ridiculous.

Please read all the posts and then look at who is being hostile.

Again, please accept my apologies for disturbing you and your thread. It won't happen again.

Thanks for posting this.

Glenn Gould took 47 minutes to play the aria (once) and the 30 variations. I have a 2 CD set on which Daniel Barenboim takes 1 hour and 20 minutes to play the same piece, except that Barenboim repeats the aria after the variations. It's surprising how much faster Gould plays some of the variations.

I have the recording (video) of Gould playing the aria - it is on my blog --- it is just over 47 minutes. http://thinkingisnotdangerous.blogspot.com/

I'm glad this got kicked back to the top. :D

Thanks for posting it, Gilligan! (I keep wanting to see your name as "Gillian" :crazy:)

I posted this last night - I was listening to it and thought I should share --- You can download the video to your computer and iPod - The quality is excellent:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6984208089899995423&q=glenn+gould&total=505&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2

And it is free... The best free thing you may ever get.

I've always thought Gould was overrated, especially as an interpreter of Bach.

thought he was over rated too...

until he redid the recording in '81.

I will look for your suggested piece of music.

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Goldberg-Variations-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B00004Z3PV/ref=dp_return_1/102-7487256-0316929?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music

If you like Bach on piano, you might also like recording:

http://www.amazon.com/J-S-Bach-Toccata-Partita-Argerich/dp/B00004R7X0/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7487256-0316929?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1191022143&sr=1-1


Samples...

George Szell quote