A ROMANCE ON THREE LEGS
Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest For The Perfect Piano
This evocative, detailed account of the compulsive search for a sensitive, highly responsive concert piano by Canadian musical wunderkind Glenn Gould combines the parallel histories of one of the most controversial and brilliant pianists of the last century and the incredible keyboard instrument on which he played for some of his most important recordings.
In A Romance On Three Legs, Katie Hafner presents a fascinating biography of Gould, who was known for his quirks, including his wearing of winter gear on summer days, his donning of fingerless gloves while playing, his manic fear of germs and hand shaking. The book will greatly appeal to those intrigued by the history of the influential German-bred Steinway piano company, but it is the close interaction of Gould and Charles Verne Edquist, the nearly blind piano tuner, with a Steinway CD 318 concert piano, that lifts the book above the usual biography. This book will help readers appreciate Gould’s ingenious interpretations of the early Mozart sonatas, and his majestic rendition of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.