Gould’s “Solitude Trilogy” – 3 Radio Documentaries

Surprisingly, these documentaries have nothing to do with music. The first, called "The Idea of North" (1967) documents the experiences of southern Canadians travelling to or dwelling in the extreme northern reaches of the country. Next comes "The Latecomers," (about the province of Newfoundland. Last is "The Quiet in the Land," about Canadian Mennonite communities. It's an overstatement … Continue reading Gould’s “Solitude Trilogy” – 3 Radio Documentaries →

Gould Recordings 4-9 and an Interview

I'll talk about the interview first. It's called "At Home with Glenn Gould" and is in 9 8-minute segments on YouTube if you want to listen. It's from the late 50's, and shed a lot of light on my experiences of these recordings so far. What I think came out most was a sense of humility … Continue reading Gould Recordings 4-9 and an Interview →

Two Concertos (Concerti?)

The third major-release record Gould recorded again pairs Bach and Beethoven. Gould selected Beethoven's 2nd, in B Flat Major, and Bach's D Minor Concerto. They're both three-movement concertos, following the common three-movement tempo pattern of medium-slow-fast. Gould was often quoted as saying he wanted to avoid the "competitive" aspect of concerto performance, where the soloist's … Continue reading Two Concertos (Concerti?) →

A Question and Kant, Durkheim and Causality

So for my current MLA course entitled "Meaning and Motive in the Social Sciences," we're reading Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Upon reading the opening pages of the book, I was extremely skeptical almost immediately, mostly I think because of the following claim made in the introduction: "At the root of our judgments, there are … Continue reading A Question and Kant, Durkheim and Causality →

Gould’s First Two Columbia Recordings – Bach and Beethoven

It’s surprising how different these two recordings are – Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s 30th-32nd sonatas. They both bear the mark on the same performer, and though I still don’t know that I’m qualified to say things like “this performer’s take on such-and-such piece is better than that performer’s” or “this performer is better at … Continue reading Gould’s First Two Columbia Recordings – Bach and Beethoven →

The Nietzsche Poem

As my fellow OPers know, I'm casually putting together a collection of love poetry as written by, or related to, the great philosophers. I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but it's a fun diversion, so I suppose that's reason enough. Here's my latest. It's not meant to reflect Nietzsche's thoughts about love; rather, to … Continue reading The Nietzsche Poem →

Gould the Hipster – Early Recordings and Composition

The one thing you'll find in any reading about Glenn Gould is that he "burst onto the scene" in 1955 with his first recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. He did, however, compose, perform and record music prior to then. He was actually fairly well known (at least in Canada) prior to the first Bach recording. … Continue reading Gould the Hipster – Early Recordings and Composition →

The Glenn Gould Project

Quick - who's your favorite introverted left-handed Canadian genius? (Other than Nates of course...) I've been looking for a successor to the Dostoevsky reading project for some time, but I think I've finally admitted to myself, there just won't be a replacement. It's so sui-generis and so enormous that I just won't find anything that … Continue reading The Glenn Gould Project →

Nate Silver and Burritos

I know I'm late to the party on this one but - http://burritobracket.blogspot.com/ I was glad to see that he basically got it right - El Taco Veloz, Picante, de Pasada and La Pasadita are the four best places to get a burrito that I've been. That's even counting places in California, which are supposedly, … Continue reading Nate Silver and Burritos →

Django Unchained is Better than Lincoln

A. O. Scott reports in his review yesterday that when he emerged from the theater with his daughter, she asserted that Tarantino’s latest was better than Lincoln. I can imagine one’s teenager daughter asserting such a thing just to rankle her stuffy old film-critic dad, but – I mean to assert (and prove) her proposition … Continue reading Django Unchained is Better than Lincoln →