Volume 17 Issue 8 - May 2012

continued from page 6the same love and appreciation that we accord to the majorcomposers of lieder of the 19th century.GLENN: Is that a “no,” Brian?BRIAN: Our decision was to let Leonard Cohen’s songs speakto our audience in styles that seem most appropriate to him — justas our tribute to another great master, Oscar Peterson in 1993,was presented in his idiom, jazz. I hope this is somewhat helpful.GLENN: Wait, how about if I promise to also use just threechords and hum the rest?BRIAN: I’m happy to answer more questions if you wouldlike to cover some additional points.FITTING THE “LEN” IN GLENN:A SEMI-IMAGINARY ETHER-MAIL EXCHANGE bETwEENbRIAN LevINE, execuTIve dIRECTor of theGLENN Gould FoundATIon, and GLENN Gouldduring which Levine breaks the news to Gould thatthere’s to be no classical component to the May 14GGF Award Gala at Massey HallGLENN: What the blazes do you mean you don’t want meat the gala? The powers that be are giving me a special 80thbirthday pass just to be there. And I’ve been practising.BRIAN: Hi Glenn, thanks for your kind note, and don’t worry, Iappreciate your concerns. So let me answer as best I can. … First,as you can imagine, we’re thrilled that Leonard Cohen is the NinthLaureate of The Glenn Gould Prize. I think that in many significantways, he and you occupy very special and distinctive places in theCanadian cultural mythos. But our first consideration in mountinga gala is to pay tribute to our laureate in a way that is reflective ofthat artist’s special “voice” and contributions. We aren’t wedded toa single idiom, a particular mode of expression because philosophically,to take such a position would be to place anartificial constraint on art itself — the antithesis ofthe unbridled creativity that is at the core of whatit means to make and communicate art.GLENN: So?BRIAN: So, in the case of Leonard Cohen, wehave an artist whose work has its own “nativevoice” — his own performance — but which hasspread out into the world in a wide range of stylescarried by the poetic thread at the heart of all hiswork, in which artists of many backgrounds heartheir own loves and longings, and infuse the musicwith their own styles.GLENN: So?BRIAN: So our goal was not to graft an artificial“classical” framework onto Cohen’s music but tobuild a gala performance which allowed some ofthis range of expressive idioms to find voice. Theprogram is rich and varied.GLENN: So?BRIAN: So it would have seemed artificial to puta “classical” stamp on the program — and I’m surethat attempts to do so might have been a sourceof discomfort for Mr. Cohen himself.GLENN: Ah, so. I would make Lennie uncomfortable,is that it?BRIAN: In a larger sense, an artist like LeonardCohen defies categorization. When it comes to theart of the song, I don’t find a ready distinctionbetween the finest songs by major 19th centurycomposers and 20th and 21st century composers,whether they identify as “classical” or “popular,”“simple” or “complex.” I have no doubt that in the22nd century, Leonard Cohen’s music, whateverstyle it is performed in, will be regarded with…GLENN: Brian? … as regards that “three chord only” dig, I haveto confess this is a bit more of a challenge than I thought. Does that“minor fall” count as an entirely separate chord? … Brian? Brian?…BRIAN: (to Len) You can come out now, he’s gone.LEN: Hallelujah.—David Perlman, publisher@thewholenote.comEUROPEAN BEAUTIESGOING FOR A SONG!Piano Sale May 2-6210 Bloor Street West. 416.961.3111remenyi.comRAMA70 thewholenote.com May 1 – June 7, 2012