Episode 212 – Beyond Music and Back Again: On Glenn Gould

About this episode

JF and Phil discuss Glenn Gould's style and vision of music through the lens of François Girard's film.

The pianist, composer and sound artist Glenn Gould once wrote: "Art on its loftiest mission is scarcely human at all." What becomes of art and humanity when they are allowed to vary independently of one another? Which serves which, and to what end? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Glenn Gould's style and vision of music through the lens of François Girard's memorable 1993 film, Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. For details on the upcoming Weird Studies Volume 3 listening party, and to register for the event, go to the event page on the Weirdosphere website. The album will be released on May 22, 2026, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. ⁠Click here⁠ to support Weird Studies on Patreon. REFERENCES Francois Girard (dir.), Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Gould’s “Prospects of Recording” "The Shining Recut" "Glenn Gould Interviews Glenn Gould About Glenn Gould" Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Glenn Gould, "The Idea of North" Weird Studies, Episode 124 with Duncan Barford Francois Girard, Production of Wagner’s Parsifal Richard Wagner, Parsifal (clip from performance conducted by Reginald…

People in this episode

Hosts: JF, Phil

Topics covered

• Glenn Gould
• music
• art
• humanity
• film analysis
• sound art

Keywords

• Glenn Gould
• music
• art
• François Girard
• Thirty-Two Short Films
• sound artist
• film analysis
• humanity

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, This is Spinal Tap, The Idea of North, Parsifal, The Shining Recut, Glenn Gould Interviews Glenn Gould About Glenn Gould

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