Glenn Gould

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 1932, Glenn Gould was a classical pianist, conductor, and composer regarded as one of the finest players of the 20th century with a celebrated mastery of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. He had a wide repertoire and his performances in the late 1950s caused a sensation, but he abandoned the concert hall when he was 32 in order to focus on recordings. Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy who learned to play piano from his mother. He attended the Toronto Conservatory of Music – now known as the Royal Conservatory - and passed his examinations by the age of 13. His first public performance with an orchestra was in 1945 when he played Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with the Toronto Symphony. He gave his first solo recital in 1947 and began to appear regularly on CBC Radio. In 1953, he formed the Festival Trio chamber group with cellist Isaac Mamott and violinist Albert Pratz. On a tour of the Soviet Union in 1957, he played not only Bach and Beethoven but also works by Schoenberg and Berg that had been banned previously in the totalitarian nation. His final concert was in Los Angeles in 1964, after which he spent his time in the recording studio. Although he had been recording since 1955, his 1959 release Berg: Sonata for Piano, Op. 1; Schoenberg: Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11; Krenek: Sonata No. 3 for Piano, Op. 92, No. 4 brought him to commercial prominence when it was nominated for a Grammy Award. He also performed recitals on radio and television, gave lectures, and wrote the music for two films: George Roy Hill's Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) and Robin Phillips's The Wars (1983). His best-known release, Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1982) earned him a Grammy Award for Best Classical Album of the Year and he won as Best Soloist. He won the latter again for Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 12 & 13 in 1983. However, Glenn Gould tragically died On October 4, 1982, after suffering a stroke. He was only 50 years old. Since his death, there have been several posthumous releases and compilations including Glenn Gould Conducts & Plays Wagner (1990), Infiniment Bach (2006), and the 30 CD set The Bach Box – The Remastered Columbia Recordings (2020). Glenn Gould’s music has been heard on more than two dozen film soundtracks including Hannibal (2001), True Detective (2014) and Captain Fantastic (2016). In 2013, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award.

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