[f_minor] Weird Ear and Technology

maryellen jensen maryellenjensen28 at hotmail.com
Fri Oct 15 20:37:44 EDT 2010



"on GG's "weird ear". He had attached earlobes (an 
inherited trait); the extension of his right ear must have enhanced his 
reception, and perhaps, his perception of sound (acting like a radio 
receiver)." K. Papademas.

"Weird" as adjective ("Gould's weird right ear", Mary Jensen) according to the Oxford English Dictionary: 1) Having or claiming preternatural power to control the fate or destiny of human beings etc. 2) Partaking or suggestive of fate or the supernatural, unearthly, eery;  unaccountably or uncomfortably strange; queer, uncanny. 3) Orig., out of the ordinary, strange, unusual, esp. in appearance. Now also freq. gen., odd, bizarre, incomprehensible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAjsXl2P4T0

The technology at work in this recording of Bach's Prelude and Fugue in F Minor is down to a 20th century instrument in the hands of a 20th century Master of counterpoint and lyricism. Fine, knock yourselves out on stopwatches and the rest but the fact is that everyone who ever worked with Gould in the recording studio - except on the "contrapuntal radio plays" - have attested to the fact that noone needed fewer 'retakes'  or 'cuts' than Glenn Gould. If you glean what anyone who ever recorded or simply worked with Gould has said or written: he was always prepared, no need for serious stops and restarts in the studio due to 'erreur'. Spot the difference.  

Mary Jensen   
 		 	   		  
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