Peter Goddard 
The Great Gould 

A startling new portrait of Gould, including never-before-seen material.



Glenn Gould’s astonishing recordings deliver that unmistakable jolt of genius to each generation newly discovering the great Canadian pianist. With the support of the Glenn Gould Estate, Peter Goddard draws on his own interviews with Gould and on new, and in some cases overlooked, sources to present a freshly revealing portrait of Gould’s unsettled life, his radical decision to quit concertizing, his career as a radio innovator, and his deep response to the Canadian environment. Sci-fi and hi-fi, hockey and Petula Clark, Elvis, jazz, chess, the Beatles, and sex — all these inform this exploration of the pianist’s far-reaching imagination. There is even a touching account of the only piano lesson Gould ever gave.



This is the perfect gift for anyone new to classical music and those already immersed in it, for those with an interest in Canadian music, in Glenn Gould himself, and in what led to
The Goldberg Variations, one of the greatest recordings in music history.

Table of Content

Introduction

One: The Enigma’s Variations

Two: Altered Egos

Three: The “Con”

Four: The Biggest Chill

Finale: The Magus’s Mysterium

Coda: The Lesson

The Life and Times of Glenn Gould

Acknowledgements

Image Credits

About the author

Peter Goddard (1944–2022) was the music, film, and visual arts critic for the Toronto Star (and a winner of a National Newspaper Award). He is the author of The Sounding, a novel, and multiple musical biographies, including those on Ronnie Hawkins, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, and the Rolling Stones. Trained as an ethnomusicologist, Peter played piano for rock and blues bands.