Pianist Glenn Gould's often dismal writing

Abstract

Glenn Gould was known to the world primarily as a pianist. His Bach interpretations were lauded, his Mozart generally lamented, and his often curious musical views met with suspicion. Despite the fact that it was his primary occupation, Gould considered himself to be much more than a pianist. He produced a number of radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from musical topics, to life in the north of Canada. He considered himself to be only a part time pianist, and he longed to be recognized also as a writer. After briefly introducing Glenn Gould as Canadian culturalicon, this paper examines the lesser-known part of his oeuvre, and points out some of the stylistic shortcomings of his writing, before addressing the following question: "Why bother to read him?"