Paul Theberge remixes Glenn Gould

SSHRC Grant 2006 – Research Profile
Paul Theberge, Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture
Project Title: “Glenn Gould, Remixed”
(Glenn Gould: A Reassessment of his Recording Practices)

Twenty-three years after his death, Glenn Gould remains one of Canada’s most celebrated musicians. The purpose of Paul Theberge’s grant is to place Gould and his approach to the recording medium in an historical and technological context that will illuminate the relationship of Gould to both the larger set of ideas and aesthetics current during his lifetime and, more specifically, to the evolution of sound recording practices during the post-World War Two period.

In particular, the research will take a detailed look at the history of sound recording practices between 1950 and 1980 in the realms of classical, jazz, and popular music, as well as in radio and cinema. By cutting across these generic and industrial boundaries, the research will contribute, to a better understanding of the overall technical and aesthetic context of post-War music and sound recording. It will also contribute a more critical and substantive assessment of Glenn Gould’s place in the history of recorded music and sound.

Using a production technique pioneered by Gould, Theberge will create an acoustic mix of a recording made by Gould in 1970 – a recording that has remained essentially unfinished for over thirty-five years. This component of the research project will shed new light on an innovative technique utilized by Gould, the ramifications of which have yet to be fully realized in sound recording practice.

“The work of Glenn Gould – as pianist, recording artist and thinker – has been an inspiration to me since my student days,” said Theberg. “This project will allow me to investigate his ideas in a more systematic and critical fashion than I have in the past and will also allow me to combine my abilities as a researcher with my practical experience in music and recording in a new way.”