Ray Bayles wrote:

>I was once irritated by Glenn Gould's humming, now I don't even hear it
>on the old recordings because the performances are so astounding.

I have yet to 'connect' with Gould's playing, but I cannot understand the
desire for a complete absence of sound other than the performance.  I have
a number of recordings (LPs) with various pops, squeaks, scratches, etc.
that I can ignore, just to hear the performance.  On radio, announcers seem
often too apologetic playing older recordings with weak sound qualities.
I feel there are too many performances that far outweigh the inconvenience
of lesser sound quality.  Listen to the music.

Regards,

Tom Connor