A Romance on Three Legs Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano

by Hafner, Katie

• ISBN13: 9781596915244
• ISBN10: 1596915242
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-10
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

Glenn Gould was famous for his obsessions: the scarves, sweaters and fingerless gloves that he wore even on the hottest summer days; his deep fear of germs and illness; the odd wooden "pygmy" chair that he carried with him wherever he performed; and his sudden withdrawal from the public stage at the peak of his career. But perhaps Gould's greatest obsession of all was for a particular piano, a Steinway concert grand known as CD318 (C, meaning for the use of Steinway Concert Artists only, and D, denoting it as the largest that Steinway built). A Romance on Three Legs is the story of Gould's love for this piano, from the first moment of discovery, in a Toronto dept. store, to the tragic moment when the piano was dropped and seriously damaged while being transported from a concert overseas. Hafner also introduces us to the world and art of piano tuning, including a central character in Gould's life, the blind tuner Verne Edquist, who lovingly attended to CD318 for more than two decades. We learn how a concert grand is built, and the fascinating story of how Steinway & Sons weathered the war years by supplying materials for the military effort. Indeed, CD318 came very close to ending up as a series of glider parts or, worse, a casket. The book has already been lauded by Kevin Bazzana, author of the definitive Gould biography, who notes that Hafner "has clarified some old mysteries and turned up many fresh details."

Author Biography

Katie Hafner is a correspondent for the New York Times.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Ottawa, 1983	p. 1
Toronto	p. 9
Saskatchewan	p. 31
Astoria	p. 57
The Trouble with Pianos	p. 83
Eaton's	p. 113
A Romance on Three Legs	p. 129
CD 318 in the Studio	p. 151
Broken Piano	p. 167
Making Do	p. 177
The Defection	p. 207
Afterlife	p. 225
Acknowledgments	p. 233
Notes	p. 243
Index	p. 251
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