The pianist from Mars

Glenn Gould

If you read my letter of last week, I set forth the premise that a writer’s job was to be interesting. If the subject matter was controversial, so be it. It the subject matter was actually true, so much the better.

What follows is certainly controversial, but there is no way to know if it’s true, unless eyewitness reports are to be believed. Either way, it’s fascinating.

According to those who study UFOs, aliens, and related matters, there are dozens of species of alien beings who regularly visit our planet. The most famous of these are the “grays”—tiny beings with large heads and enormous black eyes. There are others: some that resemble a praying mantis, those who are reptilian, and—perhaps least known—the Nordics.

The Nordics resemble humans almost exactly. They are generally tall, fair, and can blend in with ordinary humans. And yet they possess extraordinary abilities that they conceal. Sometimes the Nordics breed with humans and produce offspring that possess both human and alien attributes.

In 1957 a Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould, traveled to Russia to perform a series of concerts. Although he had performed in New York, and had released his first recording, he was unknown to the rest of the world. Gould was totally unknown in Russia because of the Soviet-era blackout of anything from the West. Therefore, Gould’s trip was something of an anomaly, but not without precedent.

Previously, Russian musicians Emil Gilels and David Oistrakh had traveled to the United States and performed to glowing reviews. It was the first time Russian artists ever performed outside of the Soviet Union.

In reciprocation, the Soviet Ministry of Culture extended an invitation to Glenn Gould, an “unknown” Western musician. This was unprecedented because Gould was only 27 years old and did not have a well-established track record of performances. Still, Gould’s manager, Walter Homberger, persisted and was able to secure an invitation for Gould.

At Gould’s first Moscow concert—Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Art of the Fugue—not many people showed up to hear him play. The auditorium was only half full. However, at the intermission, the audience rushed out to phone their friends so that they might, at least, see the second half of the program. The intermission lasted 45 or 50 minutes, to accommodate the new arrivals.

When Gould’s concert resumed, the auditorium was packed. By the end of the performance, Gould not only received a thunderous ovation, which lasted several minutes, a basket of flowers was brought to the stage. All of this is beautifully documented in a YouTube video: Glenn Gould—The Russian Journey.

Those who witnessed the performance received a “positive shock” and a “strange feeling of exhilaration.” “Did you hear what happened? It was a miracle!”

A piano student who attended said, “He had to be from Mars. He was so precise, so even in his tempo. You could hear everything.” A Russian composer, who also attended, remarked, “I still firmly believe that he was an alien. It is simply not possible for a human to play like that.”

Was Glenn Gould an alien? There is no way to know. But nobody ever played like Gould—before or since. He was indeed “otherworldly.” Everything about Gould was off-the-charts: his intellect, his technique, and his vast array of idiosyncrasies. He transcended art itself, and his music and uniqueness remain the stuff of legend. There was simply nobody like Glenn Gould, ever.

Russ Mason
As Teo, Saipan