Tim Mahon wrote:

>Remind me, if you would, why I should admire Gould? I'm listening to
>Book One of the Well-tempered Clavier on Sony, and the playing is luminous
>-- awe-inspiring, in fact.  But the accompanying humming is driving me
>nuts.  Is this a temperamental genius who doesn't care about other people
>listening and is interested only in perfection of performance? Or is it
>simply a lack of discipline -- surprising (to me) in an artist whose
>reputation is so vaunted.

Get over the humming, enjoy the playing.  Gould was Gould, and most
either love or hate him.  I for one, love him, and believe him to
be one of music's greatest minds.  The sheer technical brilliance of
playing is breath taking.  Many speculate that Gould had Aspberger's
Syndrome, a form of autism in which one cannot perceive and compute social
cues.  This may well explain his bizarre behavior.  I am no medical expert
and won't argue or even venture any other opinion other than that it makes
sense that he may have had the disorder.  Gould hummed.  This is a fact of
live.  So did Serkin, so does Keith Jarrett.  Andrew Litton jumps off the
podium ever four bars, so did Lenny Bernstein.  We all have our quirks as
musicians.  I think it's best to ignore them and enjoy the music.

Kevin