Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould

by Kevin Bazzana

In this absorbing and entertaining biography, Kevin Bazzana distils twenty years' research on Glenn Gould's celebrated life as a pianist, writer, broadcaster, and composer. Looking beyond the legend of the self-taught and emotionally damaged recluse who burst onto the international musical scene in the mid-1950s but was dead at fifty, he presents a balanced portrait of a complex figure who, while uniquely gifted and genuinely eccentric, was also the product of his upbringing and surroundings. Bazzana explores the lasting effects on Gould of his sheltered middle-class Toronto upbringing, his unusual musical education, his brief but colourful concert career and his relations with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Columbia Records and Steinway and Sons. Drawing on candid recollections by Gould's friends and colleagues as well as newly available private papers, he provides fresh insights into Gould's famous eccentricities, his sometimes bizarre stage manner, his highly selective repertoire, his control mania, his private and sexual life, his hypochondria, and his abrupt retirement from concert performance to communicate solely through recorded performance and print.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Classical Music, Canada, Musicians

536 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps you have already heard Gould's version of Bach's Goldberg Variations and perhaps you were already blown away. Well, I was. In any case, this is just the tip of the iceberg in Gould's work which was heavily Bach-influenced but also ventured into nearly all the other western classical musical spectrum. An enigmatic and frustrating person, Gould was a legendary pianist and recluse and this book does a great job of making him human and accessible for the layman.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will probably remain the definitive biography of Gould unless some earth-shattering secret revelations are unearthed anywhere. I find that unlikely.
For all his eccentricities and genius, Gould here is thankfully brought down to earth to a certain extent. One of the greatest technical piano performers ever, I'd venture, his bizarre mannerisms and his abrupt refusal to ever perform in public again when he was in his early 30s tend to consume the man behind the myth. Bazzana goes out of the way to clear up some of these myths. Gould doesn't seem to have been gay or asexual, he had sometimes lengthy affairs with women. He wasn't quite the humorous ham his admirers take him to be. His humor was often exhausting to others around him. He stupidly ignored big parts of the piano repertoire for dumb reasons (probably the most interesting thing discussed here, in a roundabout way throughout).
However, he was Gould, and we have to adore him for his understandable arm-soaking, his low seat positioning (the rationale for which is discussed here at length), and his wacky ideas about technology and the proper relationship between performer and listener.

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first and so far only biography of one of my favorite pianists but I do not know how it could be improved upon.

Kevin Bazzana gives a thorough and balanced account of one of the more controversial concert pianists of the twentieth century.

Bazzana documents his subject in a variety of ways: he gives us a chronology of Gould's life, his development as an artist, his concert years and finally his recording years.

Gould was a child genius and had the good fortune to have indulgent parents with the financial resources to give him everything he required in order to cultivate his unique talents. This included changing his piano every so many years. Gould's quest for a perfect piano was a life long journey for him and he spent scads of money making sure his beloved Steinway was in impeccable working order until it met with a tragic accident (it was dropped in transit and ruined).

There has been speculation whether Gould was autistic or had Asberger's. The author does not offer any conclusion but simply presents Gould as honestly as he can with all of his idiosyncrasies. These included a largely anti-social personality, hypochondria, and many, many rituals and demands that hampered his concert career which he finally abandoned in favor of studio recording.

Love him or hate him Gould was an utterly fascinating individual but that would not matter to the world so much if he was not a truly incredible musician. Watching him sit at his low chair (it was his chair and he would only sit in it, even when the seat deteriorated away and he was sitting only on the frame), reaching up to the piano (he felt this physical approach determined the exact sort of sound he wanted to produce).

Gould was fascinated by Arnold Schoenberg and his twelve tone compositions and he was also obsessed with Bach and other Baroque composers. His performances of the Hindemith Sonatas are as wonderful as they are unique. His performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations are legendary (and you can buy them on Amazon for a mere $100.00 - or like me download them from Spotify).

He was interesting to watch, too, as he conducted himself from his chair, as he played and sang. Yes he sang and the record technicians earned their pay trying to filter out Gould's voice on his recordings. They did not always succeed.

This was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. If I were to find some complaint it would be that Bazzana tended to jump around on the time line. We would be discussing Gould's final years in the 1980s and then we'd be back in the 1960s.

This is, however, a minor complaint and I am glad I have gotten to know better a personally well-loved pianist.

[David Mcnaughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

"For all his anxieties and neuroses, his personal limitations and failures, Gould coped, he got things done, he led a professional life of astonishing productivity and success and a private life that afforded him more satisfaction than is generally recognized " (p 382)

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wondrous Strange has been my introduction to biography in the world of music and is a work of surprising scope. I found Bazzana's voice authoritative and fair when addressing aspects of Gould's life upon which history does not agree, and that the structure of the book lent itself to learning as well as reflection on part of the reader. In addition to remarkable detail on the life of Glenn Gould, the book offers a view into the politics and economy of Canadian art in the twentieth century which gives the reader context for the importance of Gould's art. I would recommend Wondrous Strange to readers who have an interest in detailed biography or the consequences of living a life consumed by art.

Some passages I found notable:

"In puritan cultures, as Gould once wrote, people tend to take 'the view of art as an instrument for salvation, of the artist as a missionary advocate' and ... it was commonplace to view music less as a passion or vocation than an adjunct to religion and morality." (p. 45)

"He was already convinced of the creative necessity of solitude. 'I'm not anti-social' he told the photojournalist Jock Caroll in 1956, 'but if an artist wants to use his mind for creative work then self-discipline, in the form of cutting oneself off from society, is a necessary thing.'" (p. 130)

"The Canadian artist who has a talent of international rank but chooses to stay home has always encountered surprise and suspicion: If you're really so good, why are you still here?" (p. 143)

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best of the three “official” type biographies of Glenn Gould. Bazzana writes in an unbiased, informative way and completely covers all the essential aspects of Gould’s life and yet the book is pleasing to read. Unlike the Friedrich (biography), who thought anything Glenn did away from the piano was a waste of his time, Bazzana devotes as many pages to Gould’s life and work after retiring from the stage, as he does before. Unlike the Ostwald (psycho-babble nonsense biography), who had his own personal reasons for dragging Gould over the coals, Bazzana keeps his tone professional, i.e.- believable. Bazzana does not fall into the camp of diagnosing Gould as having this or that, in order to explain his genius away. And Bazzana also doesn’t buy into the many eccentricities that have been obsessed about and instead views Gould as an (almost) sensible genius who had his own perfectly legitimate reasons for doing (most) of the things he did.
My favorite section in this book may well be one of my favorite things ever written about Glenn Gould- Bazzana’s chapter “a portrait of the artist.” I think anyone mildly interested in Gould should just read this chapter, and if they don’t come away truly enamored and fascinated, then I don’t think anything (other than actually watching Gould) will do the trick. Thank you Kevin, for finally giving Glenn the credence and meticulous research he deserves!

[Ricky German · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always found music biographies to be interesting. I don't necessarily love many modern music biographies except this one. Glenn Gould was a bit of a crazy, but his love of music can be heard in his dear interpretations of the classics. I found it interesting to read about how he would change whole passages claiming that this is what the composer would have intended. There is something magical about listening to his interpretations. They certainly aren't stale.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come after my review for class is handed in lol but I LOVED IT

[Jay Storey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, beautifully written biography on one of Canada's greatest musical geniuses. Gould was definitely one of a kind. The book captures his idiosyncrasies, failures and triumphs, and shows us the man behind the brilliant performances.

[Aka901 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An all-encompassing account of Gould's earliest influences (including the often neglected role of his homeland Canada); his first life - touring and aweing a whole world -, his second, more self determined life as an increasingly focused recording artist, broadcaster, creative director and champion of the technology and art of a - then - new medium.

If you know Gould by his now infamous Bach recordings, this book offers an extensive and engaging insight into his much more broad and expansive work. Known to lean on the eccentric side, to sometimes break through even the extremes, the passion and devotion that pervade Gould's entire life come to light and are viewed here not under one, already determined stance - Bazzana does not lean on the popular tropes that have long dominated our view on this artist - the loner, the manic hypochondriac, the heartless technicalist.

Careful in both it's critique and praise, supplemented and enriched by many voices of those who knew Glenn Gould in private and in person, these 500 pages fly by, so much so that the book does not even feel much like a biography at all.

[Daniel Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not very good but was interesting to read for its Toronto and Canadian content. Glenn Gould is the only Canadian superstar in our country's history. Having lived in his whole life in Toronto, and his adult life living a short walk away from where I grew up, there is a lot of excellent local content in here that was fun to read about. Still, I feel like I know facts about Glenn's life but nothing actually who he was, deep down.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too musically technical, it lacked the "feel" of Glenn Gould. (I believe he was an extraordinarily interesting man, so was very disappointed.) I actually found myself paging through this biography rather than reading it, something I have never done before with with a biography.

[Carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best bios I've ever read.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating account of a gifted genius! Enjoyed it immensely.

[Josh Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely found this book interesting as a biography. I think though I was expecting more the musical equivalent of a literary biography. The recordings and considerations of the music from a musical standpoint were frustratingly brief, but the telling of the story of Gould's life was definitely engaging.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty darned engrossing for a biography.

[Rhawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

';



Mr. Gould was wired differently that's for sure.

[Sheila King]

Glenn Gould was a favorite of my father's~I, too, have enjoyed his works and am interested in reading about his life, learning about him as a person

[Bonnie Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book -- so revealing of Glenn Gould's artistry, eccentricities, brilliance, etc. Many insights into his approach life and music. Loved it.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glenn Gould in all his fascinating and infuriating glory.