Glenn Gould in private.
Rare footage of the famous pianist at his private retreat, a cottage on the shore of Lake Simcoe north of Toronto, 1959.
Gould sings and hums as he composes…
‘I tend to follow a very nocturnal sort of existence mainly because I don’t much care for sunlight. Bright colors of any kind depress me. And my moods are more or less inversely related to the clarity of the sky. My motto has always been that behind every silver lining there is a cloud.’ — Glenn Gould
Gould was a master at interpreting Johann Sebastian Bach. Gould’s 1956 recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is regarded as a masterpiece, and ended up selling two million copies, which is considered “astonishing” for a classical album.
Glenn Gould in private. ‘Isolation is the indispensable component of human happiness. — Glenn Gould
An insomniac and a hypochondriac, Gould would go several days without sleep and experience extreme bursts of energy followed by episodes of severe depression. He became increasingly dependent on a wide variety of prescription drugs, which are believed to have hastened his early death at 50.
Glenn Gould, September 25, 1932 – October 4, 1982
On September 27, 1982, two days after his 50th birthday, Glenn Gould suffered a severe headache and had a stroke. He was admitted to Toronto General Hospital.
The left side of his body was paralyzed. His condition deteriorated and by October 4, there was evidence of severe brain damage. Gould’s father Russell made the decision to have his son taken off life support.