Writings by Glenn Gould

Quando Glenn Gould smise di fare il pianista si dedicò a quella che - secondo la sua stessa provocatoria affermazione - era la sua attività preferita: scrivere.

Se avete visto i "32 piccoli film su Glenn Gould", il film di François Girard del 1993, ricorderete l'intervista Glenn Gould parla con Glenn Gould di Glenn Gould (si vede cliccando qui) il cui passo più sagace era questo:

g.g.: Well, Mr. Gould, I don't want to go back on my word. I realize that your participation in this interview was never contractually confirmed, but it was sealed with a handshake.

G.G.: Figuratively speaking, of course.

g.g.: Of course, and I had rather assumed that we'd spend the bulk of this interview on musically related matters.

G.G.: Well, do you think it's essential? I mean, my personal philosophy of interviewing -- and I've done quite a bit of it on the air, as you perhaps know -- is that the most illuminating disclosures derive from areas only indirectly related to the interviewee's line of work.

g.g.: For example?

G.G.: Well, for example, in the course of preparing radio documentaries, I've interviewed a theologian about technology, a surveyor about William James, an economist about pacifism and a housewife about acquisitiveness in the art market.

g.g.: But surely you've also interviewed musicians about music?

G.G.: Well, yes, I have, on occasion, in order to help put them at ease in front of the mike. But it's been far more instructive to talk with Pablo Casals, for example, about the concept of the Zeitgeist, which, of course, is not unrelated to music --

g.g.: Yes, I was just going to venture that comment.

G.G.: Or to Leopold Stokowski about the prospect for interplanetary travel, which is -- I think you'll agree, and Stanley Kubrick notwithstanding -- a bit of a digression.

E se avete letto il libro di Michael Schneider, Glenn Gould, piano solo (Einaudi 1991) ricorderete forse che viene citato l'Advice to a Graduation.

Confluiti nel 1984 in The Glenn Gould Reader, a cura di Tim Page, questi scritti sono ora disponibili nella versione originale sul sito collectionscanada.gc.ca

Read in English here (la traduzione in "inglese maccheronico" è fatta dal traduttore automatico di google; thanks to The Glenn Gould Foundation and Aristote).

B.S.