Gould’s Mind
February 18th, 2008 by Steve BowbrickThis really marvelous show sent me off into a kind of radio nerd reverie. It’s an Archive Hour programme by British experimental radio legend Piers Plowright about Canadian piano legend Glenn Gould and his strange and fascinating radio career. One of my most treasured CDs is a three disc set featuring three of Gould’s CBC docs: The Idea of North, The Latecomers and The Quiet in The Land. On the show you’ll hear clips from these and lots of other shows, including his notorious meditation on Petula Clark. Yes, Petula Clark. Also lots of quirky, brilliant Gould (was he autistic? I think so) and some good anecdotes (like the one about the carphone). Need I say more? No (MP3).
The CD set, which is called The Solitude Trilogy, is very expensive at amazon but I notice there are a few second-hand copies listed too and also another cheaper CD of clips from his other docs that I haven’t heard. UPDATE: and another 5-CD set which appears to be definitive.
And while I’m linking, here’s a lovely Plowright interview about ‘the innovative feature’ from The University of Pennsylvania’s Ubu web site.
