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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Dear all</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I have often wondered how most of the people who got to
hear GG ever got into him. GG has enriched the lives of so many people from all
walks of life from musicians to desillusioned punk rockers, old hippies,
doctors, architects, artists, teachers and whatnot that these anecdotes
(anthropologists call that oral histoy I think) of how you first heard GG
are quite interesting. At least for me it was a complete watershed, a Before and
After moment, because after that experience nothing would be the same in my
musical world.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>So here is the story of how I got into GG.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>It was December of 1995 and I was bored to death wit rock
and roll music. I grew up with The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rush, fast and loud
hardcore punk rock like Minor Threat, Black Flag or Dead Kennedys. Classical
music was like broccoli. Thanks, but no thanks. Maybe a little, but on the side.
Quattro Stagioni was summet you had at a pizzeria, not in your CD
player.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Back then Grunge (doh) and Rap music was at its peak
and I felt rock music had sold out. What did it for me was when H&M
started selling Ramones t-shirts. I wanted to get out of Corporate Rock and Roll
Hell.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>So I talked to a meta of mine and he suggested I try this
fellow called Glenn Gould playing Bach. I had heard both names before, so I
walked into a tiny little record store with the classical department in the
basement and bought the 1955 GBs which had apparently just come out on Sony. Did
I say Corporate Hell ? Hm.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>What I can remember next is that I went to a pre-christmas
party, got mildly drunk lie everybody else there and woke up the next day
with a relative hangover on a Saturday december morning.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>In my hangover state I decided to check out that CD I had
bought and put it on. That was Before. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>This is After.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>You know that there are moments in life where you just can
say that this is a perfect one ? One you will never forget ? When something
happens that will put your complete mindset upside down ? When you for example
hear music where you have to say that this will probably stay with you for all
your living days ? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Well, that was one of these.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>They are rare, but they do happen. Otherwise you would not
be reading this post because I bet you had a similar moment GGwise.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>On the same day I found out that GG was dead. This
irritated me to no end, my mate had not told me that. But thanks to GG I
started to explore classical music from Bach to Stockhausen, Hildegard von
Bingen to Phil Glass (knock, knock, who is there, Bob Merkin has another PG joke
if you ask nicely), Jazz and experinental electronic music up from Germany. And
even Wagner (shudder). GG opened my eyes for being open-minded when it comes to
music. There is a saying here in Switzerland that a farmer will only eat what he
knows (der Bauer frisst was er kennt) and GG helped me to look over the
fence. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Glenn Gould has enriched my musical life to no end. Open
your eyes and ears and good things might happen. Be tolerant. Sometimes music
will find you, not the other way around. It is not about classical music, it
just is music, no matter what kind.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial> Yet I must stress the point that we should NOT make
an idol of him. He was a great musician, but that does not mean we have to put
him on a pedestal and worship to The Mighty St. Glenn Of Uptergrove, blessed be
his humming, honored be his chair. I hope you will pardon my french here
but GG was a bloody great muso, no more, no less. Period.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>If you have an interesting story to tell how you first
heard GG then please do so. Unique moments like these define us as intellectual
individuals. I for one find them most fascinating. I do know that there are
people on this list who have seen GG perform live or have seen him walking the
streets of YYZ so if you got some oral history or a fun story of how you first
heard of GG then spill the beans, rock out and let it go.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Plus I reckon f_minor needs some action so go ahead, tell
me and you and the rest of us a story.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Pat</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>