The Glenn Gould Reader

When Glenn Gould died in 1982 at the age of 50, he left behind a legacy of 26 years not only as a remarkable pianist, but as an outstanding music critic. His writing, which appeared primarily in music journals and on record sleeves, was often as provocative as his performances. This book contains essays on composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Schoenberg and Strauss, which challenge virtually every tenet of accepted taste and opinion. Gould inveighs against concert-giving and competitions, and enthuses about recording and its associated technology. He writes on Leopold Stokowski and Barbra Streisand, on Petula Clark and Ernst Krenek, on P.D.Q. Bach in fact and fancy, and even in interview with himself.