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Glenn Gould (1932–1982)
Tune written when eight years old  1940
Courtesy of the Estate of Glenn Gould and the National Library of Canada

 

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National Library of Canada
Ontario, Canada

Glenn Gould
1932–1982

Glenn Gould was a famous Canadian classical pianist who, by the age of 23, was filling concert halls with audiences eager to hear his interpretations of the works of composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Schoenberg. He received international acclaim performing in Europe, and was the first pianist from North America to perform in the Soviet Union. Gould's interest in music was highly developed at an early age, as is shown by this manuscript, written when he was eight years old. 

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Glenn Gould (1932–1982)
Transcript of Siegfried Idyll II 1973
Courtesy of the Estate of Glenn Gould and the National Library of Canada

 

Gould's transcription of Wagner's Siegfried Idyll for piano continued a nineteenth-century tradition which took advantage of the ready availability of pianos to bring versions of orchestral works to a wider audience. His transcription gives us insight into his processes of thinking about the piano. Richard Wagner wrote the Siegfried Idyll for a small orchestra to celebrate the birthday of his wife Cosima in 1870, and the title refers to their son Siegfried. The manuscript displayed is Glenn Gould's second draft of his transcription of this work for piano, and he recorded it with a small orchestra in 1982, shortly before his death.

Gould's meticulous approach to recording and editing is shown in his notes on the manuscript. The numbers refer to alternate versions of the recordings. Gould's normal procedure was to record a complete movement, or a long section of a movement, several times, trying different tempi, articulations and phrasing. These were the ‘takes’. Then he would re-record brief passages he wished to modify or correct (the ‘inserts’) so that they could be spliced into the longer ‘takes’. In the number ‘2–2/3–6’, the first ‘2’ means ‘take’ and the second ‘2’ means ‘insert’; number ‘3’ means ‘take’ and number ‘6’ means ‘insert’. It is believed that his preference was for the first group of numbers in each case.