April 2008

How I Met Glenn Gould

by Eric Ainsworth

Glenn Gould was and still is instrumental (pun intended) in shaping and sustaining my musical passions.

In the mid-70's I was a young and enthusiastic but undisciplined piano student. I had a penchant for ignoring my lesson assignments such as mundane salon pieces and the obligatory scales and arpeggios, and indulging in Scott Joplin rags instead. I was ready for something new and exciting to come along---and it did.

In a record shop one day I spied an enticing album cover featuring a bewigged 18th century chap twiddling knobs and dials on a Moog Synthesizer. It was of course "Switched-On Bach" by Walter Carlos. I loved it and my interest in Bach's music was permanently switched on.

I was surprised to hear later that Gould himself claimed Carlos' realization of Bach's 4th Brandenberg Concerto was THE best he had heard------live, canned, or otherwise.

At 13, my first encounter with Gould's singular artistry was during an interlude on the weather channel where a leisurely walk in the park was accompanied by wonderful music, baroque in nature, yet as fresh as if written yesterday.

I called the TV station and learned it was Glenn Gould's 1955 account of Bach's Goldberg Variations. By turns sublime and dreamy to scintillating and edgy, I was captivated. After buying the album (it was in stock and still is!), I hurried home for an in-depth listen.

Due to a packaging error, and to my good fortune, the record inside (yes, vinyl) was of the thorny and unpianistic Beethoven/Liszt/Gould Fifth Symphony transcription, which Gould tossed off with well-oiled ease, his foot mostly staying clear of the damper pedal. I put many miles on that record, and strove to wear out each new Glenn Gould album I added to my collection.

Gould's always thoughtful and sometimes astonishing playing never failed to draw me into a world of intellect, elegance, and beauty balanced with raw unbridled macho energy. His anti-establishment style, ripe with rebellious phrasing and dangerous tempi appealed to my teenage sensibilities.

I often felt personally invited by Gould to share in his enthusiastic discovery of wonderful landscapes and geometries in sound, springing to life from constellations of black dots and arcane symbols. To explore and share music together as collaborators in the symbiotic dance of artist and audience, was Gould's aim I believe.

A famous conductor once quipped: "There is more music in a Bach Two-Part Invention than in an entire Mahler Symphony", and with Gould at the helm, I might agree. He had an inimitable way of presenting Bach, that often convinced me I was hearing the greatest music ever written. He had dared to defy tradition, dispensing with stodgy and irrelevant mannerisms, and 'historically accurate' sterilization of Bach's timeless work.

Gould once said (paraphrased): "I prefer to play modern music." When reminded of his nearly complete discography of Bach's keyboard works, he retorted: "Bach IS essentially a modern composer."

We miss this iconic and brave musical mastermind, who revealed the true meaning of ecstasy, and the indomitable potential of the human spirit.

"Bach is like the astronomer who finds the most wonderful stars." --Frederic Chopin

Piano Studio Dedicated to the Memory of Glenn Gould

by Dorothy Ainsworth

Back in 1982 when Glenn Gould unexpectedly died, my pianist son Eric (19) and I (39) who were both devoted fans of Glenn Gould, decided to build a piano studio in his honor. I was a single mom/waitress who didn't have much money to speak of, but I did have a piece of property on the outskirts of Ashland, Oregon, and access to short logs for only 3 cents a foot via a permit from the USFS.

Eric designed the 30' diameter 8-sided studio for optimum acoustics, and we cut and carried 180 logs out of the Oregon forest for only $42.00. We hauled them home in an old pick-up, and then I built a vertical log studio over the next 3 years in my spare time, learning construction techniques as I went along. Eric went off to school to become a piano technician/tuner and a recording engineer.

I wanted to create and forever maintain a hallowed place worthy of the music played within. I wanted to insure that classical music was elevated to the sublime status it deserves.

Eric, himself an accomplished pianist and Bach aficionado, is as passionate as they come about classical music and thus has always held Glenn Gould in his highest esteem. The perfection and exquisite beauty of Glenn Gould's playing has continually inspired Eric to achieve his own musical goals since he first heard Gould's Goldberg Variations at age 13 in 1976.

I think we can all agree that Glenn Gould's music is beyond entertainment---it transcends the mundane, enhances the senses, and emotionally lifts one up to what I would define as pure heaven.

Our Glenn Gould Studio, with its 9-foot grand piano inside, stands as a testament to our love and appreciation for all the great composers and their musical interpreters throughout history. But Glenn Gould is the crowning glory---the ultimate vehicle through which piano music has been carried to a whole new level of purity, worthy of exaltation.

Glenn Gould lives on in the studio whenever we play his CD's, which is often and regularly. When it comes to Glenn Gould, too much of a good thing does not apply!

To see the studio click on: https://dorothyainsworth.com/piano/studio.html