Glenn Herbert Gould (25 September 1932 – 4 October 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was among the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach. His playing was distinguished by remarkable technical proficiency and a capacity to articulate the contrapuntal texture of Bach's music. One of Gould's performances of the Prelude and Fugue in C major from Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier was chosen for inclusion on the NASA Voyager Golden Record by a committee headed by Carl Sagan. The record was placed on the spacecraft Voyager 1. On 25 August 2012, the spacecraft became the first to cross the heliopause and enter the interstellar medium.
Glenn Gould was also a well-known (and controversial) interpreter of Beethoven. Critics often took issue with his tempi, dynamics and phrasing. Here he is, with the Toronto Symphony in 1970, playing Beethoven's Concerto No 5 "The Emperor":
To check our listings of Glenn Gould recordings in various media formats:
