Glenn Gould: A Life and Variations
by Otto Friedrich
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Book Summary Information
Author: Otto FriedrichEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Illustrated
Published: 1990-09-12
ISBN: 0679732071
Number of pages: 441
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Glenn Gould: A Life and Variations
Book Review: All Those Melodies
Summary: 4 Stars
I had the best of all worlds - reading this book in front of a fire while listening to Gould's incredible performance of the Inventions & Sinfonia. It's hard to get better than that. Gould was/is a cult figure that only grows more enigmatic the more one delves into his life and work. This bio striked a perfect balance between the man and his music. Indeed, the two are inseparable.
The reader learns that Gould was born this way - left-handed, perfect pitch, a genius. It is not accidental that scientists now think the gene related to both also increase the odds for neurological disorder. The man was so weird! With his real and imaginary illnesses, unusual clothing, eceentric, critic-hating performing behavior and his tendency to sing (or direct or turn sideways or polish his glasses) during a performace thrown in for good measure.
Like many geniuses he lived inside his head, seeking out companionship by phone or at impromptu times (the hours between midnight and sunup). But then there's the music, the consistencies and the inconsistencies. His public performances are the stuff of legend but as a "gladiator" he was crushed. Gould was as much a techno-nerd as he was pianist, organist, composer or conductor. His forways into television displayed his originality in a new way. His Bach is unapproachable and for all his talk about how much he hated Romanticism, his last years were devoted to that genre. The author manages to capture the lonliness of the man, his wacky problems that he recognized himself. It would have been perfect if the reader could have "clicked" on the musical selection discusses.
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