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    Struggling for Perfection: The Story of Glenn Gould
    Struggling for Perfection: The Story of Glenn Gould
    Struggling for Perfection: The Story of Glenn Gould
    Ebook198 pages1 hour

    Struggling for Perfection: The Story of Glenn Gould

    By Vladimir Konieczny

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    About this ebook

    Struggling for Perfection is the story of the famous pianist, an enigmatic figure who made some of the most acclaimed classical recordings of the last century. A former child prodigy and an unpredictable, passionate man, Glenn Gould was known as much for his eccentricities as his vast musical genius. After retiring prematurely from performing, Gould branched out into work in film and radio and helped bring classical music recording technology into a new age. He has became a national icon in Canada. Vladimir Konieczny delivers a sensitive and affectionate portrait of this imposing figure in music history. The book is illustrated with sketches and archival photos.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDundurn
    Release dateNov 1, 2009
    ISBN9781459726239
    Struggling for Perfection: The Story of Glenn Gould
    Author

    Vladimir Konieczny

    Vladimir Konieczny is a freelance writer and a professional saxophone and bassoon player. He first heard Glenn Gould on the CBC during his teens, and he has remained a lifelong fan. The author of the children's title Struggling for Perfection: The Story of Glenn Gould, he lives on Pender Island, British Columbia.

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    • 5/5
      Great book! I loved and I'll love Glenn Gould, one of the greatest musicians of all time. ❤

    Book preview

    Struggling for Perfection - Vladimir Konieczny

    A Musical Odyssey

    The time capsules in Voyagers I and II include several sounds from Earth, including a declaration from then President Jimmy Carter and a series of greetings in various languages: the first in Sumerian, Earth’s oldest known language, the last in English. There are also sounds of Earth: whales breathing, volcanoes rumbling, barking dogs, whistling trains, people laughing. As well, there is music from around the world, including Pygmy women from Zaire singing, a song by Louis Armstrong, a Japanese flute, an aria from a Mozart opera, and a wedding song sung by women from Peru.

    Billions of kilometres from Earth, two spacecraft sail silently through inky space. Launched in 1977, Voyager I and Voyager II had passed the farthest known planet in our solar system by 1990. Inside each ship is a time capsule. Among the many messages to unknown civilizations, there is a recording of J. S. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Major from Book One of The Well-Tempered Clavier. The pianist is Glenn Gould.

    If there are other intelligent beings in the universe, and they find our space ships, they will hear glorious music written by one of Earth’s great geniuses and played by another. They may wonder about the musician who made the recording. What was he like? What did he do? What did he think about?

    Many people have asked these same questions about Glenn Gould ever since he captured the world’s attention. A thin, handsome man with pale brown hair, he fascinated people from the beginning of his career until his death in 1982, and still his legend grows.

    A special human being, Glenn Gould was a gentle rebel who struggled for perfection in everything he did. He shared his music and his ideas about music with the world. He changed the way many people think about music.

    You Who Are About to Leave

    In the same year, 1964, the University of Toronto conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Glenn. Although he had never attended university, Glenn had by this time earned the respect of audiences and musicians around the world.

    In 1964, Glenn spoke to the graduating students of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He knew the place well, having studied there himself not so many years earlier when it was called the Toronto Conservatory of Music. The students listened quietly to his every word. Many were in awe of this famous young genius and probably hoped to be as successful someday.

    On that day, Glenn spoke passionately about music. He stressed the importance of the imagination and encouraged his audience to recognize that the imagination is the place where all creative ideas are born.

    Early in the speech, however, he said that if he could tell the room full of hopeful young musicians any one thing, it would be that they should not live too much by the advice of others. In other words, they should think for themselves.

    From the time he was a little boy until his death, Glenn thought for himself. Sometimes he annoyed people with his ideas; other times he made them laugh, but more often than not he made people think. He was different. He knew he was, and everyone else knew it, too. Some people thought he was strange, but they simply didn’t understand him. He lived a most unusual life on his own terms, a life lived mostly in his imagination. Glenn Gould followed his own advice.

    A Welcome Addition

    Baby Glenn with his mother, Florence Gould, in 1932

    Glenn Herbert Gould was born on September 25, 1932, three years after the start of the Great Depression. In those days, most babies were delivered at home. Glenn was too.

    Like many exceptional people, he was an only child. His parents, Florence and Russell Herbert (Bert) Gould, had tried to have children before. Unfortunately, Mrs. Gould had lost several babies. She was forty-two years of age when Glenn arrived. The Goulds were delighted.

    Mrs. Gould had decided long before Glenn was born that if she had a son, his name would be Glenn.

    His mother would play a very important role in Glenn’s life. Except for his cousin Jessie Greig, Florence Gould was really the only woman with whom Glenn was very close throughout his life.

    Glenn with his father Bert in 1933

    A Musical Family

    Mrs. Gould was an exceptionally talented musician. Glenn was very lucky to have someone so gifted and knowledgeable as his first teacher.

    Several million reed organs were built in North America between 1850 and 1950. Most had one keyboard, although some had up to three. They usually had two pedals and two or two and a half sets of metal reeds. The player would pump the pedals to force air past the reeds.

    Glenn arrived into a musical household. His earliest musical influences were right in his own home. Even before he was born, Glenn was surrounded by music. His mother played music the entire time she was pregnant with Glenn.

    Both his parents were good singers. Mr. Gould had played the violin until he damaged his hand and had to stop. Mrs. Gould was a music teacher, a talented pianist and a singing coach. Glenn’s Uncle Bruce played trumpet, and his grandmother, Mary, was a pianist. Even before Glenn was a year old, his grandmother held him on her lap while she played the piano and he hummed. His grandmother also played the organ and kept stacks of anthems by Victorian composers piled on her reed organ, whose pedals she pumped vigorously. Glenn could also claim to have a very famous musician in his family tree—the composer Edvard Grieg, who was a distant relative of his mother.

    Early Signs

    Robert Fulford and Glenn met in elementary school and formed a strong friendship that lasted through high school and into adulthood. At one point, they formed a small company called New Music Associates. They produced three well-attended concerts at the Toronto Conservatory of Music, which later became

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