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- LETTERS, Page 6Tempus Fugit
-
- Here is a footnote to your review of Otto Friedrich's
- biography of pianist Glenn Gould (MUSIC, May 22). At the
- conclusion of a concert in Toronto, in the course of which
- pianist Leonard Pennario and I played Beethoven sonatas for
- violin and piano, Gould came backstage. Instead of the customary
- congratulations, perfunctory or otherwise, he said to me, with
- obvious disapproval, "Where did you get those tempi?" Looking
- him straight in the eye, I responded, "From Beethoven." End of
- conversation. The fact is, Beethoven left meticulous metronome
- indications, sometimes at tempos too fast for execution. I'm
- sorry I cut Gould short. Now I'll never know whether we were too
- slow or too fast.
-
- Henri Temianka Los Angeles
-