Lessons from Glenn Gould

 

Journalist: "Do you think you are really evolving into a teacher?"

Glenn Gould: "I like to think of myself in that role."  

(from a 1962 interview by B. Lee)

Here are some of my sketches with a small selection of things I learned from the pianist-philosopher.

For me an important lesson from Gould was "the notion of ecstasy as the only proper quest for the artist" that "assumes competence as an inclusive component" as he formulates in an article against music competitions.  

You have probably heard about the elusive state of "flow", the holy grail of all creative people. Gould's flow is special in that he takes it into the realm of trance-like ecstasy, and makes it look so explicitly delicious (watch his Eroica Variations videos on youtube) that you find yourself wanting to try what he's having, enticing you into any kind of creative process of your own.

I am an atheist, and I have often thought of art as an alternative to religion, but only in theory.  Gould converted me into art as religion, and with his own example showed the use of art-making as a spiritual practice. And for darker days, one can learn how to get drunk with art as a way to escape from problems or pain directly into paradise.

Confidence in art creates its own truth, and to me Gould is a perfect example of that that both in his art and his career.  He joked: "I’ve always been repulsively sure of myself,”  but as a result of this assuredness and not caring what the critics said, he dared to create such original and interesting versions of most of the repertoire he played, and make numerous technical and artistic innovations in the media of recording and radio.  

Gould's playing style explodes with this confidence: every sound, every musical decision feels like the final statement on the subject, and his are the most definitive silences I have heard. It reminds me of the art of Rubens, who often painted bodies with "wrong" anatomy, that were perfectly convincing and correct artistically because of the dazzling assuredness with which they were painted - confidence can create art more convincing than life itself.

 

 

The third important lesson was about being inspired in spite of, and even because of being surrounded by mediocrity.  Gould was cultured, well-read and well-travelled, an intellectual and musical genius, and yet he loved grey suburbs, grey people, grey days, and the colour grey.   

In his humourous 1966 self-interview he said that he would like to try his hand at being a prisoner because  "to be incarcerated would be the perfect test of one's inner mobility and of the strength which would enable one to opt creatively out of the human situation."  

Seeing a bland environment as a stimulant for creativity for such a giant made my life in a mediocre suburb of Los Angeles more bearable.