"My mother tells me that by five years old..." "I had decided definitively to become a concert pianist." "I think she had decided sometime earlier." "The story goes that while I was in the womb... she played the piano continuously to give me a head start... and, evidently, it paid off." "My mother was my first teacher, and I've never doubted her methods." "After all, she introduced me to Bach." "Oh, good." "Try another." "By the age of ten, I had the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier... pretty much under my belt." "Good." "Oh, that's good." "Very good." "Let's try one up at this end here." "My childhood was full of music, even at our cottage on Lake Simcoe." "Those days seem particularly idyllic to me, at least in retrospect." " Go ahead." " They were compared to my school days." "Eight-seven times twenty-three is" "At an early age, I could read music and memorize it on the spot." "In fact, I could read music before I could read words." "I remember I used to play a game with my mother... where I would identify the chords she played from the other side of the house." "People always seem to make a great deal out of these early signs... but they hardly constitute miracles, in my opinion." "I simply have a facility with a certain kind of minutia." " I always have." " 87 times 26 equals 2,262." "Eighty-seven times" "Eighty-seven times 27 equals 2,349." "Eighty-seven times 28 equals 2,436." "I often think how fortunate I was... to have been brought up in an environment... where music was always present." "Who knows what would have become of me otherwise?" "It's a question I often ask myself... but I've yet to come up with an answer." "After all, when we met for the first time in a hotel in Toronto... after having talked at length several times over the phone... or having written to make our first appointment" "I met him, the temperature was ninety degrees, it was very warm" "He was wearing a coat, a hat, scarves and gloves" "A seemingly extravagant getup... which, in fact, corresponded exactly to the protection he needed... against the outside world, to protect himself from what finally killed him" "Problems of germs and blood pressure" "So let us say that the first vision... one would have of such a person was very surprising." "You could not avoid being surprised at the sight of someone resembling a tramp." "But he walked into the hotel room and stayed 18 hours straight." "No outside worry, food or anything... interrupted the rapport we were establishing." "The other striking thing was his sense of humor... his extraordinary ability to have fun and offer ideas, stimulating... both because of their depth and because they were fun." "So, this slightly bizarre manner which was the first thing you caught... and which lasted for that brief instant of the first meeting and then was over" "This disappeared very quickly to make way for the real man that he was... who was not trying to shock others." "He was just trying to express himself." "Mr. Gould, to begin, let me ask straight out:" "Are there any off-limit areas?" "I certainly can't think of any, apart from music, of course." "Well, Mr. Gould, I don't want to go back on my word." "Your participation in this interview was never contractually confirmed... but I assumed we'd spend the bulk of the interview on music-related matters." "Do you think it's essential?" "I mean, my own personal philosophy of interviewing- and I've done quite a bit of it on the air, as perhaps you know- is that the most illuminating disclosures usually derive from areas... only indirectly related to the interviewee's line of work." " For example?" " In preparing radio documentaries..." "I've interviewed a theologian about technology... a surveyor about William James... and a housewife about acquisitiveness in the art market." "But, surely, you've interviewed musicians about music." "Well, yes, I have, on occasion, but only to put them at ease with the mike." "But it's been far more instructive to talk with Leopold Stokowski... about the prospect for interplanetary travel which is, I'm sure you'll agree" "Let me ask this:" "Is there a subject you'd particularly like to discuss?" "What about native rights in Alaska?" "Well, I must confess, I had a rather more conventional line of attack... so to speak, in mind, Mr. Gould." "As I'm sure you're aware, the virtually obligatory question about your career... is the controversy you created by giving up live concert performance at age 32... and choosing to communicate only through the media." "I do feel we must at least touch on it." "As far as I'm concerned, it primarily... involves moral rather than musical considerations." "In any case, be my guest." "Now, you've been quoted as saying that your involvement with recording- with media in general, indeed, represents the future." " That's correct." " And conversely, the concert stage... the opera house or whatever represent the past- an aspect of your own past in particular perhaps... as well as, in more general terms, music's past." "That's true." "I hope you'll forgive me for saying that these ideas are only partly justified." "Also, I feel that you, Mr. Gould, have forgone... the privilege that is rightfully yours of communicating with an audience." "From a power base?" "From a setting in which the naked fact of your humanity... is unedited and unadorned." "Couldn't I at least be allowed to display the tuxedoed fallacy perhaps?" "Please, Mr. Gould, we shouldn't allow this conversation to degenerate." "I've tried to pose the question in all candor, and" "Well, then, I'll try and answer likewise." "To me, the ideal audience-to-artist relationship... is a one-to-zero relationship." " That's the moral objection." " Run that by me again?" "First, I'm not at all happy with words like "public" and "artist"... or the hierarchical implications of that kind of terminology." "The artist should be granted anonymity." "He should be permitted to operate in secret, as it were... unconcerned with or, better still, unaware of the marketplace's demands... which demands, given enough indifference on the part of enough artists... will simply disappear." "Given that disappearance, the artist will then abandon his false sense... of public responsibility... and his audience, or "public," will relinquish its..." " role of servile dependency." " And never the twain shall meet." "No, they'll make contact, but on a much more meaningful level." "Well, Mr. Gould, I'm well aware that this sort of... idealistic role swapping has a certain rhetorical flourish." "The creative audience concept of which you've spoken at length elsewhere... has a kind of McLuhan-esque fascination." "But you conveniently forget that the artist, however hermetic his life... is still, in effect, an autocratic figure." "He's still, however benevolently, a social dictator... and his public, however generously enfranchised by electronic options... is still on the receiving end of the experience." "All your neomedieval anonymity quest on behalf of the "artist-as-zero"... and all your vertical pan-culturalism on behalf of his "public" won't change it." "May I speak now?" "Of course." "Sorry to get carried away." "But I do feel strongly about the" " About the artist as Superman?" " That's not quite fair, Mr. Gould." "Or about the interlocutor as controller of conversation, perhaps?" "There's no need to be rude." "What about this?" "If you imagine that the artist" "Yes." "That's right." "Toronto." "Toronto, Canada?" "It should read as follows:" "" Dear Walter." "Stop." "Under the weather yesterday." "Stop." "X- rays reveal chronic bronchitis" "Bronchitis in right lung." "Stop." "Feeling as foggy as it is outside." "Stop." "Stop." "It would suit you perfectly." "Stop." "Cannot and will not leave this room." "Stop." "End. "" "Sir, I am sorry to disturb, but we have a" " From New York?" "Yes." " Yes, sir." "At last." "Excellent." "Thank you." "Yes, that would be it, indeed." "Could you read that back to me, please?" "Wait." "Wait, please stay." ""Concerts tomorrow and Monday cancelled," not "can't sell. "" "That means something entirely different." "Go ahead." "Yes." "That's absolutely flawless." "Could you send it off immediately, please?" "Room 318." "Thank you." "Salzburg to Stockholm, Berlin..." "Wiesbaden, Florence, Tel Aviv,Jerusalem... and, on the whole tour, I'd say there were maybe six good hotel rooms... five comfortable beds and at least three adequate pianos." "Some of these pianos were so hopelessly unwieldy..." "I decided it was best just to ignore them." "It required a kind of mystical transcendence to get me through." "I have no idea what the audience resorted to." "I'm not one of those piano freaks, you know." "Of course..." "I know there are people who would gladly sit in the most uncomfortable chair... with 3,000 other people in uncomfortable chairs... and listen to hours and hours of the stuff... but it's nothing I would ever subject myself to." "I just don't like the sound of piano music that much." "Five minutes, Mr. Gould." "Yeah." "Tell them to close the doors now." "Yeah, I think he's ready now." "I told you, go ahead." "Here he comes." "This way, Mr. Gould." "I didn't want to bother you now, but I'm not gonna be here after the show." " Fine." " Gary's gonna be here- the guy with the short, you know- he's gonna pick you up." "And there is a reception after." "I know, it's gonna be squaresville, man... but you'd make some gray-haired ladies happy if you waltz through it one time." "I did wanna show you a schedule for tomorrow." "No, don't bother with it now." "Don't think about it." "But later, if you wanna change anything" " I'm sure it's fine." " you wanna see more of L.A." "I'm gonna leave it on your dresser." "I think we should take the stairs." "Maybe we should." "Don't even think about it now." " It's a long way." " It certainly is." "If it weren't for you, I'd have been dropping bread crumbs along the way." " Mr. Gould?" " Of course." " My wife has all of your records." " Well... tell your wife that she has exceptional taste." "Also, she's very lucky." "I'm never going to sign one of these again." "How long have you worked for this theater?" "It's been almost 30 years." "Thirty years?" "You must be near retirement?" "If you don't mind my asking." " No." "At the end of the season." " What will you do after that?" " Well, I have my garden." " Yes?" "I'm going to build an arboretum." " You know what that is?" " Yes, I think so." "My best to your wife and garden." "Thank you." "What did he say?" "What did he write?" ""April 1 O, 1964." "Best of luck on your new career." "Glenn Gould" "The Final Concert. "" "I think that like all people who try to justify their stand... do what they want to do anyway... yet still want to justify it in a universal manner" "He, too, fell in this trap... of somewhat exaggerating the morality of his decision." "Of course, in a way, he was right." "In an audience some hear better than others, some see better than others." "Sometimes in large churches people are seated behind pillars and can't see." "Acoustics can be exaggerated." "You hear too much or too little... the volume is too high or the reverberation hurts the ears." "He is right." "It's not always ideal." "But it's part of life." "For me it exists as a live element." "Personally, I find Glen Gould's life too... too artificial." "But as I said, it's because I am not in his league as a creator." "I cannot make a life for myself on my own, excluding everybody else... and concentrating only on this intellectual exercise." "And the physical" " Trying to avoid drafts, protected by a scarf... not tolerating someone touching my shoulder..." "And at the same time, he loved going to fishing villages... over the great" "The great distances that Canada offers." "He liked that." "He liked nature." "He liked natural men." "He liked the fisherman much more than a New York audience." " Ready?" " Yeah." "Glenn, we're ready for playback." "I'm gonna give it to you without EQ-ing, okay?" "And all the levels are flat." "Ready in three, two... one." " Coffee?" " Yes." "Yes." "I really shouldn't be giving this to you, you know." "It's not very good for you." "You mean coffee in general or your coffee?" "No, coffee and cream as a combination- it's very bad for you." " It's dangerous." " Where did you get this?" "It just sits in your stomach like- like asphalt." "I read it in a magazine." "The coffee from that machine is gonna kill me anyway, so, a little cream" "Yeah, you're one to talk." "I mean, look at you." "You're falling apart there." "Now, he could use some coffee." "Sugar, on the other hand, is actually a very good combination." "It actually helps the coffee do what it's supposed to do." "So" "The Italian Concerto." "You know, this is really good." "I really think we have something here." "How was that?" "I think there's something in that." "Let's hear it again." "I became Glenn Gould's chambermaid because the other chambermaids... who were mostly middle-aged Italian and Jamaican women, were terrified of him." "They thought he was strange- probably some sort of sexual deviant." "They just found him peculiar because he was very eccentric." "When we were in Moscow in 1957, we stayed at the Canadian embassy... and, after the first concert... we went back into our limousine which had been loaned to us by the embassy." "At the end of the concert, Glenn had received a huge number of flowers... and big pots of mums and other flowers... and as we got into the limousine and sat down... all the flowers had been piled up there and we had barely room to sit." "Glenn said to me, "You know, Walter... it feels like we are driving to our own funeral at this point. "" "This was his passion." "He really, really wanted to start- you know, retire away to Manitoulin Island... to buy a big hunk of it and bring every unwanted animal in the world there." "There were numerous boxes" "I think one time I counted a dozen boxes of arrowroot cookies... sort of scattered about the room." "There were also numerous bottles of ketchup." "It was a very penetrating interview- the most intelligent questions I think I'd ever heard about the North... from experts, laymen or anything else- questions that required rather long answers." "As I would start to speak or make a point... he would register his feelings not by voice but by a smile... but all the time he was using his hands and conducting." "This might be slightly off-putting when you're trying to think deep thoughts... because I had no idea what this was all about... but he continuously was just waving his arms... and would sort of bring up this idea and so on." "I was his orchestra for that hour." "So he decided to wear this business suit... and I discussed it with him, and I said, "You know, Glenn..." "I'm not sure the public will understand what you're trying to convey... but if you want to do it, go ahead," which he did." "And he was probably the first artist who went out on stage... without what was considered then the proper concert attire." "But he again was in the forefront of change." "He used to wake up at about 4:" "OO in the afternoon... and to get himself awake he used to phone people... and I was one of those people he phoned." "He'd talk about anything, you know." "He just wanted a listening board." "One night he called, and he was babbling on... and it was probably 1:" "OO in the morning, something like that... and he- and I fell asleep." "As a matter of fact, before I fell asleep..." "I had stretched out on the rug, and I had the phone there... 'cause I'd been sitting in the chair and got tired, so I stretched out." "He was talking, talking, talking, and I wasn't talking at all." "and I fell asleep." "The next thing I knew, my son had walked into the room... and he was kicking me on the soles of my feet." "He said, "Wake up." "There's somebody on the phone. "" "It was Glenn, and he was talking away." "I don't know how long I had been sleeping... but I didn't even remember the sequence, he was just" "The words were just pouring out." "The phone rang, and as I picked it up it was Glenn Gould on the other end." "He said, " Hi, this is Glenn Gould, and I feel like talking. "" "" Mario," he said, "I came across the most marvelous opera for your program. "" "I said, "What is it?" He said, "You know Ernst Krenck?"" "I said, "Yes, certainly. " He said..." ""I've got this marvelous opera by him. "" "He said, "Wait, I've got the score here." "I'll sing it to you. "" "So he sang this entire one-act opera- one-act, two-scene opera- over the telephone... in his not-very-pleasant voice." "He was very much involved with himself." "You know, he didn't think of what others had to- what others had to do, or their responsibilities." "You know, he was consumed with- with what he was doing and his own things." "His will was that he left... half of estate to the SPCA" "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals- and the other half to the Salvation Army." "Yes!" "Getting 318 back from Ottawa... to tune for the conservatory... when I was phoned up about it..." "I thought, "Should I do this?"" "I thought, " No, I'm going to do it, just for old-times' sake. "" "And when I got working on 318 again and cleaned it up... and tuned it and worked on the action a bit... it felt good." "So, I guess I miss him." "I miss his intelligent comments... and I miss listening to his 20 questions... not particularly to me, but" "He was- I'll tell you one thing." "Today I had a customer phone me up and say..." ""Can you come tomorrow to tune my piano?"" "Glenn Gould used to give me two or three months notice... and I respected that... and I'm very thankful for knowing him." "Hello, Mr. Gould." "Do you want the usual?" "Yes, if you'd be so kind." "Yeah, I agree." "For instance, one time, up by the reptile house- you know where that is, up near Parry Sound" "I see this hippie-yippie type thumbing' a ride." "Long hair out to here." "I figured I'd pick him up anyway- keep me entertained for a while 'cause I'm goin' all night." "Keep me awake." "Only when I pick him up, it turns out it wasn't a hippie at all" "It was a girl- a young girl... and I mean pretty like you never seen." "So I says to her, "What the hell you doin' out here all by yourself, eh?"" "And a hundred miles down the road I got her whole life story." "Seems like she had a fight with her boyfriend." "They broke up." "Then she had a fight with her parents..." " and decided to run away from home" " Janet?" "generation gap, or whatever the hell it was." "Sit down." "It's not the right time, but I need to talk to you." "A hundred miles later she's curled up next to me..." "They are going to change my route." "I won't be coming this way anymore." "I looked down at this sweet little 16-year-old thing..." "The same route for three years." "The change isn't so bad." "I turned my rig around, and I took her straight home" "Do you know how many times I've come here?" "I've counted: 156." "You should have seen the look on her parents' face." " Fifty bucks, pal." " They screwed us, man." "Damn Imlach." "We would have been better off with Clancy." "Ohlman, Anderson, Ellis- who needs 'em?" " If we still had Maholovich" " Yeah, but you don't." " You see, there's a code I live by." " Because it's over." "I gotta go now." " Montreal's gonna take it." "Wanna bet?" " A strict ethical code." "I believe it." " So, come on- rack 'em up." " You rack 'em up." " I practice it." " Okay, ten bucks." "I never regret it, not a minute- never." "No, sir." "Okay, Glenn, I'm ready to start." "Yeah, I'll give you the whole thing from the top, and when we get" "I'll just hit the "record"button, and you can start." "Are you all set?" "Here we go." "Stand by." "Ready?" "Here we go." "Three, two" "I was fascinated by the country as such." "I flew north from Churchill... to Coral Harbour on Southampton Island at the end of September." "Snow had begun to fall, and the country was freshly covered by it." "Some of the lakes were frozen around the edges... but toward the center of the lake you could still see the clear, clear water." "Flying over this country you could look down and see... various shades of green in the water, and you could see the lake bottoms... and it was a most fascinating experience." "I remember I was up in the cockpit with the pilot... and I was forever looking out, left and right... and I could see ice floes over Hudson Bay... and I was always looking for polar bears or seals to spot." "but, unfortunately, there were none." "And as we flew along the east coast of Hudson Bay  this flat country frightened me..." " I don't know." "Let me say this again." " I don't go for this northmanship." " because it just seemed endless." "We just seemed going into nowhere." "And the further north we went, the more monotonous." "But I see it as a kind of a game- this northmanship thing." "People say, "Well, were you ever up at the North Pole?"" "I say, "I did a dogsled trip of 22 days"... and the other fellow says, "Well, I did one of 30 days. "" "Perhaps they would see themselves" "Sure, the North's changed my life." "I can't conceive... of anyone being in close touch with the North... whether he lived there all the time or simply travelled it... month after month, year after" "I can't conceive of such a person being really untouched by the North." "When I left in 1965- at least, left the job" "It was not like there was some special merit, some virtue... to being in the North, or some special virtue... in having been with the primitive people." "You know, what special virtue is there in that?" "It is most difficult to describe." "It was extreme observation." "This is very true." "I knew very well I could not go anywhere except for a mile or two, walking." "I always think of the long summer nights when the snow had melted... the lakes were open and the geese and ducks had started to fly home." "During that time the sun would set... and when there was still the last shimmer in the sky..." "I would walk out to one of those lakes... and watch those ducks and geese just fly around peacefully... or sitting on the water... and I felt that I was almost part of that country- part of that peaceful surrounding- and I wished that it would never end." "This is Glenn Gould, and this program is called "The Idea of North. "" "Let's talk about the radio documentaries you made for the CBC." "Two of your programs, "The Idea of North" and "The Latecomers"... are both about the idea of solitude... as it affects people living in Northern Canada." "In fact, all of those programs deal to some degree with solitude." "I've made five programs that have taken 300 or 400 hours of studio time." "Number one was, as you mentioned, "The Idea of North. "" "Two was " Latecomers. " Three was "Stokowski. "" "Four is one we're just mixing now on Casals" ""Casals:" "A Portrait for Radio. "" "I'm doing one next year on Schoenberg, and there's one that's lain around... for a year and a half." "It's a program about the Mennonites called "Quiet in the Land"... and that's the ultimate in community isolation." "So, next I want to do a comedy about an isolated man... because I'm sick and tired of all these profound statements." "Well, radio itself is a solitary experience." "Why does it interest you as a medium?" "I'd like to deal with this as sensibly as I can." "It's a big question." "It's an important question." "I don't know what the effective ratio would be... but I've always had a sort of intuition... that for every hour you spend with other human beings... you need X number of hours alone." "Now, what that X represents I don't really know- whether it be two and seven-eighths or seven and two-eighths- but it's a substantial ratio." "Radio is something that's been very close to me since I was a child... something I listen to virtually nonstop." "I mean, it's wallpaper for me." "I sleep with the radio on, in fact." "Now I'm incapable of sleeping without the radio on... ever since I gave up Nembutal." "Does it affect your dreams?" "Sure, insofar as if there are broadcasts on the hour..." "I will pick up the bulletins and dream them... and in the morning, if there's a boat that's just gone down..." "I'll think, "Gee, that was on odd dream about the Titanic I had last night. "" "And I will have, of course, gone through it." "Maybe your feelings about solitude come from your Nordic temperament." "I think that's certainly part of it." "It's always been an ambition of mine... which I'll probably never get around to realizing... to spend at least one winter north of the Arctic Circle." "Anyone can go there in the summer when the sun is up... but I want to go there when the sun is down, I really do... and, so help me, I'm going to do it one of these times." "I've been saying this for five or six years now... and every year the schedule gets in the way." "Well, I hope you do." "Thank you very much, Mr. Gould." "Mr. Gould, thank you for the interview yesterday." "I would just like some further clarification if I may." "That's good." "Where am I?" "Okay, here we are." "Now, if it's really true that you attach little importance... to the actual technique of playing the piano... how is it that you have managed to attain such a level of skill at it?" "Well, that is to say, don't you think it's depressing... for all the young pianists of the world to know this?" "I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart... for arranging for me to have this chance to interview you finally." "And before we begin the interview..." "I also want to give you a great big thank you... on behalf of all of our readers." "These are tough questions." "They're gonna come up." "People are gonna watch the play." "They're gonna ask me." "Glenn Gould is apparently incredibly interested in technology... but, really, wasn't technology just a reason... or a way for him to keep the world at arm's length?" "It's just a big smoke screen, isn't it?" "Let me ask you this:" "What is Glenn Gould really like when he's not in the studio?" "I mean, what do you like to do when you're outside of a recording booth?" "What kind of lifestyle do you lead?" "Mr. Gould, you are a perfectionist when it comes to recording." "So why is it when you are recording, you place little importance... on whether you have a piano with noisy works or a chair that squeaks?" "Why, when you seem obsessed with this idea of musical perfection... do you hum as you play?" "Well" "I forgot the question." "I mean, what aspect of your life... has nothing to do... with- with-with... anything that has to do with... classical musical music?" "Years ago, you said that you were gonna leave public performance... because you wanted to compose... and we've waited, and the years have passed... and there's no body of work- I mean, musically speaking" "and people are waiting." "How do you feel about all that?" "Would you teach me piano?" "What about children?" "I mean, have you thought about that?" "What do you look for in a woman?" "Or maybe I should just say, what are you waiting for?" "One more question, if I may, out of curiosity." "Why do you insist on conducting interviews by phone?" "Mr. Gould, you stated that in our culture there are economic... and social forces at play which have already rendered... concert halls obsolete." "Furthermore you expected... these halls to disappear by the year 200O." "In which way does this statement allow you to look anew... upon the mechanics and the economy of the music market... and on the subservience of the artist to this system?" "Well, um" "Obsolete." "I know." "You left the concert platform." "It's been talked about, it's been explained... all the reasons, but when you think about it... on the day that it happened, it was about fear, wasn't it?" "While you consider this new cultural order as the emancipation... of the artist, it seems in my opinion, that this vision encourages... a techno-hegemony and the exploitation of the artist... by capitalistic mega-structures, don't you think?" "I've asked you about your music, I've asked you about your family..." "I've asked you about your children, what you had for dinner..." "I've asked you what you do when you go to a movie." "Mr. Gould, you've stated... that the concert hall is becoming... more and more of an economic liability... but that you foresee this problem rectifying itself by the year 200O." "Why?" "Okay, fine." "Are you homosexual?" "Why didn't you answer my calls?" "Why did you stop calling me?" "You know, I am deeply in love with a certain beautiful girl." "I asked her to marry me, but she turned me down... but I still love her more than anything in the world... and every minute I can spend with her is pure heaven." "But I don't want to be a bore... and if I can only get her to tell me when I could see her, it would help." "She has a standing invitation to let me take her anywhere she'd like to go... anytime, but it seems to me she never has time for me." "Please, if you see her, ask her to let me know... when I can see her and when I can" "Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani arrived in Ottawa today to begin... a series of discussions across Canada about the future of oil pricing." " The powerful Saudi oil minister" " Howie, thanks for holding." "It's me, your fairy godmother." "You just cleared 30 grand in your sleep." "12,OOO Texas Gulf at 46." "Call me and let me know how the options open." "Sorry, sir." "What's on the recommender?" "Play it safe." "I'm sticking with the big one." "Oil, that is, black gold, Texas tea." "Across the board:" "Gulf, Dome, Petroflna." "Take your pick, hold on for the ride." "We're going through the roof here." "I'm looking at 32 by the bell." "Okay." "Sotex Resources?" "No, never heard of it." "Yeah, I'll check the charts." "Yeah, but again, I'm telling you, oil, right now... is as close to a sure thing as we got in this business, and it's crazy to sell." "Sotex." "No." "Got nothing on it." "Sounds risky to me." "You want it, you got it." " Who's that?" "Who is it?" " Glenn Gould." "I'll just ask you to remember in the days and weeks ahead... this was your bright idea." "That's my job." "Later." " The piano player?" " Yeah, Glenn Gould, the piano player." "Okay, got a buy for you:" "1 O,OOO STX, Gould." " What's the special of the day?" " Canstar Oil and Gas." " Eleven and three quarters." " Mr. Mackie lunched with the minister." "There's an incentive program in the air." " Well, I don't buy it." " He's in for 90 thou." "The Pormack brothers are in tight with the Saudis." "They've mopped up all week." "So as long as this embargo holds" " It's going up, up and away." " Anything else, Mr. Gould?" "Yes, I'll have a cup of coffee and a telephone." " Everybody's buying." " I'm afraid I can't agree." "What do you mean?" "Do you know something?" "I had a small word with Sheik Yamani's bodyguard at the airport and" " And what?" " Now... this one has to be kept strictly between you and me." "STX" " Sotex Resources?" "Never heard of it." "The sheik has, and he's about to deliver them a major explorations contract." "This is entirely entre nous." "This is just between you and me." "Sotex?" "Hang on one second." " Here it is." " Little stock called Sotex." "Hear of it?" "Sotex, ten and a third." "Get me 20,OOO shares." "Mines, natural resources, stuff from up north, you know." "Listen, Sheik Yamani is very interested in this company." "The TSE dropped 40 points as a result of this morning's announcement... and the Dow fell back an alarming 72 points." "One of the few bright spots in the midst of this doom and gloom... was a tiny company called Sotex Resources... which closed at 15.3." "Ten and a quarter." "Ditch it, for Christ's sake." "What are you waiting for?" "Yeah, Howie, unfortunately we are looking at a bit of a dip." "Down 12 points." "Well, that's the way the game works." "You know the risk." "Sotex?" "Sure." "You want a piece?" "Look, what do you want me to say?" "You lost, I lost, everybody lost." "Take it up with OPEC." "Whatever you say, Glenn." "You know, I have to confess, you were my only client who made a buck last week." "And a pretty good one too." "Hey, listen, you gave up touring." "Maybe you should give up playing piano altogether and just play the market." "That's right, a virtuoso." "Yeah, I'll talk to you soon." "Piano player." ""Wanted,'friendly, companionably reclusive... socially unacceptable, alcoholically abstemious... tirelessly talkative, zealously unzealous... spiritually intense, minimally turquoise... maximally ecstatic loon... seeks moth or moths with similar equalities... for purposes of telephonic seduction..." "Tristan-esque trip-taking" "Tristan-esque- Tristan-esque trip-taking... and permanent flame-fluttering." "No photos required." "Financial status immaterial." "All ages and noncompetitive vocations considered." "Applicants should furnish cassettes of sample conversation... notarized certification of marital disinclination... references re:" "low-decibel vocal consistency..." ""itinery" and- itinerary and sample receipts... from previous, successfully completed out-of-town moth flights." "All submissions treated confidentially." "No paws need apply." "The auditions for all promising candidates... will be conducted to and on Anaton Penisend, Newfoundland. "" "Toronto Star Classifled." "Good afternoon." "Valium,'a minor tranquilizer... used to relieve symptoms of tension and anxiety." "Avoid using this medication in conjunction with antidepressants." "Trifluoperazine,'an antipsychotic... prescribed for moderate to severe depression and anxiety." "This medication may cause an inability to sleep." "Do not take in conjunction with barbiturates." "Like other barbiturates... pentobarbital acts by interfering with nerve impulses to the brain." "Long-term use may result in addiction." "Side effects include drowsiness, lethargy... and a general allergic reaction." "Librax is most commonly used... to soothe the anxiety often associated with gastrointestinal disorders." "The effects of Librax may be inhibited... by certain medications used in the treatment of high blood pressure." "Aldomet is used to control high blood pressure." "A mild sedative effect or transient headache are possible side effects." "Aldomet will increase the effectiveness of other antihypertensives." "Clonidine acts in the brain... by causing the dilation of certain blood vessels." "Side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, headache and fatigue." "Indocin,'a nonsteroidal agent... used to treat various forms ofjoint and muscle inflammation." "It can produce severe stomach upsets... rashes, itching and even a ringing in the ears." "Hydrochlorothiazide,' an antihypertensive used in the treatment of high blood pressure." "Side effects include headache, restlessness and a depressed sex drive." "Septra,'an anti-infective used to treat infections of the urinary tract." "May cause itching, rashes, drug-fever or arthritis-like pain." "Fiorinal,' a nonnarcotic pain reliever... can lead to drug dependence or addiction." "Interaction with phenylbutazone may cause stomach irritation." "Phenylbutazone,' an anti-inflammatory... often used to treat pain in the shoulder due to bursitis." "Prolonged use may lead to excessive water retention." "Chlorothiazide,'a diuretic used in the treatment of high blood pressure... or in situations where it is necessary to rid the body of excess water." "Avoid using in conjunction with drugs that have a stimulant effect." "Allopurinol,' an anti-gout medication." "A major side effect is exhaustion and a desire to sleep." "Avoid tasks that require concentration." "He didn't talk to me about drugs very much... except these instances when he would excuse himself... and then- it was interesting." "Of course, there was a bathroom in this hotel suite... and I asked him if I could use the bathroom." "These sessions went on for six and seven hours, and so I did" "I remember going in there and seeing lined up on the wall... all these different bottles, and I came out and I said" "I said, "Glenn, surely you're not taking all this stuff, are you?"" "He said, "Well, no, not all at once," and sort of laughed." "I don't understand that in him." "I never understood that and he" "I didn't have the feeling that he was acting in a- in a way that had been produced by a drug." "He was neither speeding, nor was he sort of, you know... not in control of his any kinds of anything." "And here was this lineup of bottles." "Mr. Gould, we've covered a lot of the topics... that I wanted to cover with you." "But could we perhaps move on to some of the more personal questions?" "Tell me, do you believe in the supernatural... or in ESP?" "You know, no one's ever asked me that before." "Do I believe in the supernatural?" "Of course." "Yes... and no." "That is to say..." "I don't hold with this notion... that one's mind can be read like a book... or some such thing." "But that there are... certain inexplicable coincidences in the world... seems, to me, patently obvious." "Have you ever experienced any of those coincidences?" "Could you tell me about it?" "Yes, several times... the oddest being when I was very young- nine years old." "I should preface this by saying... that I've always been fascinated by dreams... and the kind of feeling... that they leave one with." "There's a certain horrible feeling... tragic sense of loss... that one can derive only from a dream." "Anyway, at this time..." "I was about nine years old" "Pardon me." "About nine years old, and I had this peculiar dream... in which I saw myself covered with red spots." "The next morning, when I mentioned it to my mother... she'd had exactly the same dream." "Now, at that time, there was no hint of measles... no epidemic, no worry of any kind... so the dream certainly couldn't have been affected... by any external common suggestion." "And yet, four days later, I got the measles." "Very interesting." "Tell me, continuing... what do you believe regarding afterlife?" "Well, I was brought up a Presbyterian... though I stopped being a churchgoer... at about the age of 18." "I've always felt tremendously strongly... that... there is, indeed, a hereafter... with which we must all reckon... in light of which we must live our lives... and there is that inevitability of the transformation of the spirit." "As a consequence..." "I find all here-and-now philosophies quite repellent- lax, if you will." "I realize, however, that there's a great temptation... to formulate a comfortable theory about eternal life... so as to reconcile oneself to the inevitability of death." "But I'd like to think that's not what I'm doing." "I don't believe I'm trying to create for myself... a deliberate self-reassuring process." "It just seems intuitively right." "I've never had to work very hard of convincing myself of a hereafter." "After all, don't you think it seems infinitely more plausible... than its opposite: oblivion?" "Hello,Jessie, it's me." "I wonder, could indulge me for a moment?" "I'm in a bit of a state." "Well, I was driving along... when I suddenly remembered that story about Schoenberg." "Schoenberg." "Remember, he was obsessed with numerology, numbers and so forth." "So much so that when he turned 65... he was terrified that he was going to die... because his age was divisible by 13." "So he consulted an astrologer friend who assured him that he would survive... until the next time the numbers conspired against him." ""Well, great," he thought, "another 13 years." "I'll be fine until I'm 78."" "Eleven years later, however, when he was 76... the astrologer wrote back to warn him that it's not only numbers... that are divisible by 13 that he ought to watch out for... but also those whose digits add up to 13." "For example, 76." "Needless to say, he was petrified, but not for long." "Three months later, he died..." "July 13, 1951." "I can't help it." "I'm 49 tomorrow... and Schoenberg's still talking to me." "Jessie?" "Jessie, are you there?" "The week before he died, I remember it in great detail." "And it's funny that" "It's peculiar that I do remember it in such detail... because many of the times our conversations were light... and just banter between two good friends." "But that week before Glenn died... everything was serious." "He couldn't control the birthday... that was coming up- the celebration." "He couldn't- He seemed to think... everything was slipping away from his control... and he was obsessed with this feeling that he wondered- would people recognize him and come to a funeral... and we'd never talked about anything like that before." "But he said that he wanted" "He didn't" " He would like to be like Huckleberry Finn... and come to his own funeral... because he didn't think that there would be people who came." "He didn't think that the world loved him like they did... and he knew about how the records were selling... he knew that they were very- thatJapanese people bought a lot of them... that people in Central Europe... and in Asia bought a lot of them... but he just didn't think... that he was that important... and it never surfaced that, to me at least... that he felt his own... fame." "His humility was beyond everything." "And when I saw the people pour into..." "St. Paul's Cathedral..." "I couldn't help but believe, "Oh, Glenn, you were wrong... for probably the first time in your life. "" "You know, 'cause he always liked to think he never was wrong." "Hello,Jessie?" "It's me." "I was just out driving along and guess what came on the radio." "Here." "Well?" "Yes, sure it's one of the French suites, but which one?" "And there you have it- Johann Sebastian Bach... the Saraband from French Suite No. 1... performed with the unmistakable genius of the young Glenn Gould." "Tragically, Mr. Gould passed away this morning at the age of 50." "He died in hospital in Toronto after suffering a stroke last week." "Since that time, he'd been on a life support system... and never regained consciousness." "In the fall of 1977... the U.S. government sent two ships, Voyagers I and ll, into space... where they are eventually destined to reach the edge of our galaxy." "In the hope that someone, somewhere, would intercept these craft... a variety of messages were placed on board... that would be capable of communicating the existence... of an intelligent creature... living on a planet called Earth." "Among these was included a short prelude byJohann Sebastian Bach... as performed by Glenn Gould." "Voyagers I and ll left our solar system respectively... in 1987 and 1989."