Glenn Gould's Life and Legacy | Generated by AI

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Question: What is Glenn Gould’s life story?

Answer:

Glenn Gould was a renowned Canadian pianist, celebrated for his brilliant and often unconventional interpretations of classical music, particularly the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Born Glenn Herbert Gould (originally Gold) on September 25, 1932, in Toronto, Ontario, he was the only child of Russell Herbert Gold, a furrier, and Florence Greig Gould, a piano teacher distantly related to Edvard Grieg. The family changed their surname to Gould around 1939 to avoid anti-Semitic associations during that era. Gould displayed prodigious talent early: he could read music before words, began piano lessons with his mother at age 4, and showed perfect pitch by age 3.

As a child prodigy, he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto under Alberto Guerrero. He debuted publicly at age 12, performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Toronto Symphony at 13 (1946), and gave his first organ recital at 14. By his late teens, he was performing professionally in Canada.

Young Glenn Gould portrait Young Glenn Gould as a child prodigy.

Another young portrait of Glenn Gould Gould in his early years.

International fame came in 1955 with his debut recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for Columbia Records, praised for its clarity, speed, and contrapuntal insight. This launched his global career, with tours in the US, Europe, and the Soviet Union (1957, as the first North American pianist post-Stalin).

Gould was known for eccentricities: he played on a custom low folding chair made by his father, wore heavy coats and gloves even in warm weather, hummed/sang audibly while playing (which sometimes appeared on recordings), was hypochondriacal (taking numerous pills), insisted on precise studio temperatures, and avoided physical contact like handshakes.

Glenn Gould at the piano, hunched over in his characteristic style

Gould performing with intense focus

Gould in a recording session

In 1964, at age 31 and at the peak of his concert career, Gould abruptly retired from live performances, calling concerts a “force of evil” and preferring the control of studio recording. He focused on recordings, radio documentaries (like his innovative “contrapuntal” style in The Idea of North), television, writing, and composing (though his only major composition was a string quartet, Opus 1).

He never married but had significant relationships, including a romance with painter Cornelia Foss in the late 1960s. Gould lived reclusively in Toronto, often working nocturnally.

On October 4, 1982, just days after his 50th birthday, Gould suffered a massive stroke and died in Toronto hospital.

Gould in the recording studio, bundled up

Another view of Gould working in the studio

His legacy endures through iconic recordings (including a 1981 re-recording of the Goldberg Variations), influence on Bach performance, and cultural impact— inspiring films like Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993), books, and ongoing admiration as a visionary artist who embraced technology and challenged traditions.

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