I have chosen to compare and contrast Glenn Gould’s interpretations of “Aria” from the Goldberg Variations. The 1955 version of this section is taken quite quickly, it has an almost choppy feel to it in places and I’m not sure if this is because of the piano, the recording, speed or the style he chose to play it in. The 1981 recording is considerably slower, clocking in at over a minute over the duration of the 1955 recording. The 1981 recording has a much more connected and smooth feeling to it, where the 1955 feels choppy and almost disconnected at times the 1981 flows through.  The 1981 recording also has a considerably clearer sound, you can really hear the development in both recording and Glenn Gould’s playing quality over those twenty six years. The 1981 recording also sounds very light and it flows very nicely, I think this is the biggest difference between the two recordings because it changes the whole feel of the piece. On one hand we have the 1955 recording that sounds more weighted and disconnected, and on the other we have the same piece recorded twenty six years later and it hardly sounds like the same piece at all because the style has changed so much. I really enjoyed listening to these two recordings because it is really quite amazing to be able to see exactly how much the style and ability of someone as iconic as Glenn Gould changes and improves over time.

Sound 1:

Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles

Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles is a song that tells the story of a woman who died in the church. The inspiration behind the song is unclear to this day, but it is a very poetic piece of music.

Eleanor Rigby should be included because the Beatles are a very influential band and this is one of my personal favourites of theirs. The Beatles were huge all over the world in their prime and if everyone on earth knows their names extraterrestrial beings should too, their music changed a lot over the course of their career but it managed to stay relevant and keep a solid following of most of the world.  I chose Eleanor Rigby specifically because it’s quite poetic and shows how the lyrics can change how a piece of music makes you feel and how the music can help to convey a story that might be less effective than words alone.

Sound 2:

Glenn Gould

This is a recording of Glenn Gould playing a piece by Bach, while he plays he sings a long which is something he did every time he played.

This recording of Glenn Gould should be included because Glenn Gould was an influential, quirky Canadian piano player. It’s important to include music from all over the world and being in Canada I would like to showcase one of our own amazing talents. I also like this recording because you can hear him sing along, this is important because it gives better insight to his personality as well as his music. (Fun fact: my great uncle Charles Verne Edquist was Glenn Gould’s piano tuner).

Sound 3:

Ducks Quacking

This is the sound of mallard ducks quacking. This a sound I hear quite a bit living near a creek and having a pond in my backyard, the ducks are always happy to quack and say hello.

I think this sound should be included because I think that the sound of a quacking duck is usually a joyful one that deserves to be heard. It is a sound that most people on earth have probably heard in their life time and therefore deserves to be shared with extraterrestrial life forms as well.

This blog site is the primary way you can submit work for MUS 116. In particular, the 20 Blog Prompts you will be given through the course website. You’re also able to take this site with you forever as a portfolio/website.

Before proceeding, I expect you to consider your privacy preferences carefully and that you have considered the following options:

1. Do you want to be online vs. offline?
2. Do you want to use your name (or part thereof) vs. a pseudonym (e.g., West Coast Teacher)?
3. Do you want to have your blog public vs. private? (Note, you can set individual blog posts private or password protected or have an entire blog set to private)
4. Have you considered whether you are posting within or outside of Canada? This blog on opened.ca is hosted within Canada. That said, any public blog posts can have its content aggregated/curated onto social networks outside of Canada.

First tasks you might explore with your new blog:

• Go into its admin panel found by adding /wp-admin at the end of your blog’s URL
• Add new category or tags to organize your blog posts – found under “Posts” (but do not remove the pre-existing “Prompt” category or sub-categories, like Free Inquiry).
• See if your blog posts are appearing on the course website (you must have the course categories assigned to a post first and have provided your instructor with your blog URL)
• Feel free to add pages
• Embed images or set featured images and embed video in blog posts and pages (can be your own media or that found on the internet, but consider free or creative commons licensed works)
• Under Appearance,
  • Select your preferred website theme and customize to your preferences (New title, etc.)
  • Customize menus & navigation
  • Use widgets to customize blog content and features
• Delete this starter post (or switch it to draft status if you want to keep for reference)

Do consider creating categories for each course that you take should you wish to document your learning (or from professional learning activities outside of formal courses). Keep note, however, that you may wish to use the course topic as the category.

Lastly, as always, be aware of the FIPPA as it relates to privacy and share only those names/images that you have consent to use or are otherwise public figures. When in doubt, ask me.