Fingers don't have much to do with playing the piano. The idea that they do must be unlearned. Glenn Gould More Quotes by Glenn Gould More Quotes From Glenn Gould The nature of the contrapuntal experience is that every note has to have a past and a future on the horizontal plane. Glenn Gould planes notes past [Bach is the] reason I became a musician Glenn Gould musician reason A record is a concert without halls and a museum whose curator is the owner. Glenn Gould curator records museums The prerequisite of contrapuntal art, more conspicuous in the work of Bach than in that of any other composer, is an ability to conceive a priori of melodic identities which when transposed, inverted, made retrograde, or transformed rhythmically will yet exhibit, in conjunction with the original subject matter, some entirely new but completely harmonious profile. Glenn Gould identity matter art Once I turned pro, so to speak, I put away childish things forever. Glenn Gould childish-things speak forever I don't know what the effective ratio would be, but I've always had some sort of intuition that for every hour you spend in the company of other human beings, you need "x" number of hours alone. Now, what "x" represents I don't really know; it might be two and seven-eighths or seven and two-eighths, but it is a substantial ratio. Glenn Gould intuition numbers two u201Che G-minor Symphony consists of eight remarkable measures surrounded by a half-hour of banality. Glenn Gould eight symphony half The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity. Glenn Gould construction serenity purpose art Behind every silver lining, there's a cloud. Glenn Gould cloud every behind silver I don't much care for the sunlight or bright colours of any kind. Glenn Gould bright sunlight care kind Isolation is the one sure way to human happiness. Glenn Gould human isolation happiness way I'm fascinated with what happens to the creative output when you isolate yourself from the approval and disapproval of the people around you. Glenn Gould yourself you creative people There's a very curious and - and almost sadistic lust for blood that overcomes the concert listener, and there's a waiting for it to happen: a waiting for the horn to fluff; a waiting for the strings to become ragged; a waiting for the conductor to forget the subdivide, you know? And it's dreadful! Glenn Gould know you waiting forget Perhaps the most important thing that technology does is free the listener to participate in ways that in all previous periods of listening were governed by the performer. Glenn Gould free technology important listening To me, the ideal artist-to-audience relationship is a one-to-zero relationship. The artist should be granted anonymity. Glenn Gould ideal me artist relationship I think there's a fallacy that's been concocted by the music teachers' profession, to wit: that there's a certain sequence of events necessary in order to have the revealed truth about the way one produces a given effect on a given instrument. Glenn Gould teachers think music truth I love the early sonatas; I love the early Mozart, period. I'm really fond of that moment when he was either emulating Haydn or Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach or anybody but himself. The moment he found himself, as conventional wisdom would have it, at the age of 18 or 19 or 20, I stop being so interested in him. Glenn Gould moment wisdom age love I find myself more genuinely drawn to the essence of Beethoven in Schnabel than I ever have been by anybody. Glenn Gould than find more myself I detest audiences. Not in their individual components but en masse... I think they are a force of evil. Glenn Gould think individual force evil By the time I was six, I made an important discovery that I get along much better with animals than humans. Glenn Gould animals better important time