Re: gg: improvising

[Elmer Elevator <bobmer@javanet.com>]

Naturally we all take for granted that all of Gould's recordings
are on Columbia/CBS (now SONY). But about twelve years ago I was in the
Harvard Coop looking through a bargain bin for cassettes for my Walkman.
There was a tape of a very obscure label, never seen it before or since,
and it said

EARLIEST PIANO RECORDINGS OF GLENN GOULD!

What a find! So at $3 I bought it.

Well, they weren't lying. Lord knows how old he was -- perhaps three -- and his aunt had set up this primordial home tape recorder; the audio quality was beneath description. He wasn't very good. If I recall correctly, among the selections that he was hesitantly pounding out and wrestling to a conclusion were "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Chopsticks." It's probably still around here somewhere.

Bob Merkin
http://www.javanet.com/~bobmer/

Andre Moellerhaug wrote:

of course u have all heard the archival tapes @ national library of canada
of gould improvising... of course u have... but if u havent, u should.

www.gould.nlc-bnc.ca/ra/real.htm

andre