The Prolific Canadian Pianist Glenn Gould - 1591 Words

The prolific Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould, was immersed in music early on in his life. Even before Gould’s birth his mother, a musician herself, played him music during her pregnancy. When he was still an infant he was known to hum along to music and wiggle his fingers in apparent chord patterns, leading a doctor to say he would end up †either a physician or a pianist†(Ostwald 40). When Glen was three his mother realized that he possessed tremendous musical talent, including absolute pitch as well as the ability to read staff music notation. Gould was taken to his first live musical performance, a concert by pianist Josef Hofmann. As Gould described the experience in a 1959 CBC Radio Broadcast: â€Å"...it was a staggering impression. The only thing I can really remember is that, when I was being brought him in a car, I was in that wonderful state of half-awakeness in which you hear all sorts of incredible sounds going through your mind. They were all orc hestral sounds, but I was playing them all, and suddenly I was Hofmann. I was enchanted†. This performance clearly had a lasting impression and led him to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto at age 10. While there he studied music theory, organ, and piano. Around that time Gould injured his spine in an accident, He began playing with an adjustable-height chair built by his father, a chair he would famously use for the rest of his life. The chair was designed in such a way that Gould could have a