Editing Glenn Gould (section)

==Life==

===Early life===
Glenn Gould was born at home at 32 Southwood Drive in [[The Beaches, Toronto]], on September 25, 1932, the only child of Russell Herbert Gold and Florence Emma Gold (born Greig, a distant relative of the Norwegian composer and pianist [[Edvard Grieg]]),{{sfn|Bazzana|2003|pp=21, 54}} [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] of Scottish, English, German, and Norwegian ancestry.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=35}} The family's surname was informally changed to Gould around 1939 to avoid being mistaken for Jewish, given the prevailing [[antisemitism]] of prewar Toronto.<ref name="fnC" group="fn" /> Gould had no Jewish ancestry,<ref name="fnD" group="fn" /> though he sometimes joked about it, saying, "When people ask me if I'm Jewish, I always tell them that I was Jewish during the war."{{sfn|Bazzana|2003|p=24}}

Gould's interest in music and his talent as a pianist were evident very early. Both parents were musical; his mother, especially, encouraged his musical development from infancy. Hoping he would become a successful musician, she exposed him to music during her pregnancy.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=39}} She taught him the piano and as a baby, he reportedly hummed instead of crying, and wiggled his fingers as if playing a keyboard instrument, leading his doctor to predict that he would "be either a physician or a pianist".{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=40}} He learned to read music before he could read words,<ref name="archives.cbc.ca_4"/><ref name="Friedrich15">{{harvnb|Friedrich|1990|p=15}}</ref>{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|pp=44–45}} and it was observed that he had [[perfect pitch]] at age three. When presented with a piano, the young Gould was reported to strike single notes and listen to their long [[Decay (music)|decay]], a practice his father Bert noted was different from typical children.<ref name="Friedrich15" /> Gould's interest in the piano was concomitant with an interest in composition. He played his pieces for family, friends, and sometimes large gatherings—including, in 1938, a performance at the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church (a few blocks from the Gould family home) of one of his compositions.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=48}}

Gould first heard a live musical performance by a celebrated soloist at age six. This profoundly affected him. He later described the experience:
<blockquote>It was [[Josef Hofmann|Hofmann]]. It was, I think, his last performance in Toronto, and it was a staggering impression. The only thing I can really remember is that, when I was being brought home in a car, I was in that wonderful state of half-awakeness in which you hear all sorts of incredible sounds going through your mind. They were all {{em|orchestral}} sounds, but {{em|I}} was playing them all, and suddenly I was Hofmann. I was enchanted.<ref name="archives.cbc.ca_4"/>{{sfn|Payzant|1978|p=2}}</blockquote>

At age 10, he began attending the Toronto Conservatory of Music in Toronto (known since 1947 as [[The Royal Conservatory of Music]]). He studied music theory with [[Leo Smith (composer)|Leo Smith]], organ with [[Frederick C. Silvester]], and piano with [[Alberto Guerrero]].<ref name="canadianencyclopedia.com_2"/> Around the same time, he injured his back as a result of a fall from a boat ramp on the shore of [[Lake Simcoe]].<ref name="fnF" group="fn"/> This incident is apocryphally related to the adjustable-height chair his father made shortly thereafter. Gould's mother would urge the young Gould to sit up straight at the keyboard.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=73}} He used this chair for the rest of his life, taking it with him almost everywhere.<ref name="archives.cbc.ca_4"/> The chair was designed so that Gould could sit very low and allowed him to pull down on the keys rather than striking them from above, a central technical idea of Guerrero's.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=71}}

[[File:Glenn Gould and Alberto Guerrero.jpg|thumb|200px|Gould with his teacher, [[Alberto Guerrero]], at the [[The Royal Conservatory of Music|Royal Conservatory of Music]] in Toronto, in 1945. Guerrero demonstrated his technical idea that Gould should "pull down" at the keys instead of striking them from above.]]

Gould developed a technique that enabled him to choose a very fast [[tempo]] while retaining the "separateness" and clarity of each note. His extremely low position at the instrument permitted him more control over the keyboard. Gould showed considerable technical skill in performing and recording a wide repertoire including virtuosic and romantic works, such as his own arrangement of [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[La valse]]'' and [[Beethoven Symphonies (Liszt)|Liszt's transcriptions]] of Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth]] and [[Symphony No. 6 (Beethoven)|Sixth]] Symphonies. Gould worked from a young age with Guerrero on a technique known as [[Finger tapping (piano)|finger-tapping]]: a method of training the fingers to act more independently from the arm.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=31}}

Gould passed his final Conservatory examination in piano at age 12, achieving the highest marks of any candidate, and thus attaining professional standing as a pianist.<ref name="Bazzana76">{{harvnb|Bazzana|2003|p=76}}</ref> One year later he passed the written theory exams, qualifying for an Associate of the Toronto Conservatory of Music (ATCM) diploma.<ref name="fnT" group="fn"/><ref name="Bazzana76" />

Gould's next-door neighbour as a child and lifelong best friend was [[Robert Fulford (journalist)|Robert Fulford]], who became a prominent journalist and essayist.<ref name="StarObit">{{cite news |last1=Szklarski |first1=Cassandra |title=Prolific editor, columnist Robert Fulford dead at 92 |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/prolific-editor-columnist-robert-fulford-dead-at-92/article_1a985d19-903c-5b2e-9600-5a1b5b58e871.html |access-date=October 16, 2024 |work=Toronto Star |agency=Canadian Press |date=October 16, 2024}}</ref> In 1952, Fulford and Gould founded New Music Associates, which produced and promoted Gould's first three public performances, including Gould's debut performance of Bach's ''[[Goldberg Variations]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Houpt |first1=Simon| title=Prominent public intellectual Robert Fulford was a champion of Canadian arts |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-prominent-public-intellectual-robert-fulford-was-a-champion-of/ |access-date=October 16, 2024 |work=[[Globe and Mail]] |date=October 15, 2024}}</ref>

===Piano===
Gould was a [[child prodigy]]<ref name="archives.cbc.ca_5" /> and was described in adulthood as a musical phenomenon.<ref name="fnV" group="fn" /> He claimed to have almost never practised on the piano itself, preferring to study repertoire by reading,<ref name="fnG" group="fn"/> another technique he had learned from Guerrero. He may have spoken ironically about his practising though, as there is evidence that on occasion he did practise quite hard, sometimes using his own drills and techniques.<ref name="fnH" group="fn"/> He seemed able to practise mentally, once preparing for a recording of [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]]'s piano works without playing them until a few weeks before the sessions.{{sfn|Bazzana|2003|p=326}} Gould could play a vast repertoire of piano music, as well as a wide range of orchestral and operatic transcriptions, from memory.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|pp=17–18}} He could "memorize at sight" and once challenged a friend to name any piece of music that he could not "instantly play from memory".{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=17}}

[[File:Glenn Gould as a child.jpg|thumb|200px|Gould in February 1946 with his dog, Nicky, and his parakeet, Mozart{{sfn|Hafner|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Dig5pUHMjIsC&pg=PT19 19]}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jorgensen|first=Birgitte|title=The Dogs of Pianist Glenn Gould: In the Key of Woof|journal=Modern Dog|year=2003|url=http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/articles/dogs-pianist-glen-gould/280|access-date=December 24, 2011}}</ref>]]

The piano, Gould said, "is not an instrument for which I have any great love as such ... [but] I have played it all my life, and it is the best vehicle I have to express my ideas." In the case of Bach, Gould noted, "[I] fixed the [[Action (music)|action]] in some of the instruments I play on—and the piano I use for all recordings is now so fixed—so that it is a shallower and more responsive action than the standard. It tends to have a mechanism which is rather like an automobile without power steering: you are in control and not it; it doesn't drive you, you drive it. This is the secret of doing Bach on the piano at all. You must have that immediacy of response, that control over fine definitions of things."{{sfn|Stegemann|1993a|p=15}}

As a teenager, Gould was significantly influenced by [[Artur Schnabel]]<ref name="fnU" group="fn"/>{{sfn|Bazzana|1997|pp=132 fn. 1, 137}} and [[Rosalyn Tureck]]'s recordings of Bach{{sfn|Bazzana|1997|pp=21, 120–121}} (which he called "upright, with a sense of repose and positiveness"), and the conductor [[Leopold Stokowski]].{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=28}} Gould was known for his vivid imagination. Listeners regarded his interpretations as ranging from brilliantly creative to outright eccentric. His pianism had great clarity and erudition, particularly in contrapuntal passages, and extraordinary control. Gould believed the piano to be "a contrapuntal instrument" and his whole approach to music was centered in the [[Baroque music|Baroque]]. Much of the [[homophony]] that followed he felt belongs to a less serious and less spiritual period of art.

Gould had a pronounced aversion to what he termed "hedonistic" approaches to piano repertoire, performance, and music generally. For him, "hedonism" in this sense denoted a superficial theatricality, something to which he felt Mozart, for example, became increasingly susceptible later in his career.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=147}} He associated this drift toward hedonism with the emergence of a cult of showmanship and gratuitous virtuosity on the concert platform in the 19th century and later. The institution of the public concert, he felt, degenerated into the "blood sport" with which he struggled, and which he ultimately rejected.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=100}}

===Performances===
On 5 June 1938, at age five, Gould played in public for the first time, joining his family on stage to play piano at a church service at the Business Men's Bible Class in [[Uxbridge, Ontario]], in front of a congregation of about 2,000.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|page=47}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/glenngould/028010-1060-e.html|title=Glenn Gould Chronology|date=25 September 2002|website=[[Library and Archives Canada]]|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329002525/https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/glenngould/028010-1060-e.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1945, at 13, he made his first appearance with an orchestra in a performance of the first movement of [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven's]] [[Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)|4th Piano Concerto]] with the [[Toronto Symphony Orchestra|Toronto Symphony]].{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=35}} His first solo concert followed in 1947,{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=36}} and his first recital on radio was with the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] in 1950.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=38}} This was the beginning of Gould's long association with radio and recording. He founded the Festival Trio chamber group in 1953 with cellist Isaac Mamott and violinist [[Albert Pratz]].{{fact|date=August 2023}}

{{external media|image1=[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/canadian-pianist-glenn-gould-at-a-piano-toronto-canada-1956-news-photo/498380869 Glenn Gould performing at the piano in Toronto, Canada, in 1956]|image2=[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/music-new-york-usa-circa-1960s-conductor-leonard-bernstein-news-photo/82139210 Glenn Gould, c. 1960s], with [[Leonard Bernstein]] and [[Igor Stravinsky]] in rehearsal with the [[New York Philharmonic]]}}

Gould made his American debut on 2 January 1955, in Washington, D.C. at [[The Phillips Collection]]. The music critic [[Paul Hume (music critic)|Paul Hume]] wrote in the ''[[Washington Post]]'', "January 2 is early for predictions, but it is unlikely that the year 1955 will bring us a finer piano recital than that played yesterday afternoon in the Phillips Gallery. We shall be lucky if it brings us others of equal beauty and significance."{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=43}} A performance at [[The Town Hall (New York City)|The Town Hall]] in New York City followed on 11 January. Gould's reputation quickly grew. In 1957, he undertook a tour of the Soviet Union, becoming the first North American to play there since World War II.{{sfn|Bazzana|2003|p=163}} His concerts featured Bach, Beethoven, and the [[serialism|serial music]] of [[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]] and [[Alban Berg|Berg]], which had been suppressed in the Soviet Union during the era of [[Socialist Realism]]. Gould debuted in Boston in 1958, playing for the [[Peabody Mason Concert]] Series.<ref name="bostonglobe.com"/> On 31 January 1960, Gould first appeared on American television on CBS's ''Ford Presents'' series, performing Bach's [[Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052|Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor (BWV 1052)]] with [[Leonard Bernstein]] conducting the New York Philharmonic.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/9Nx09pigZRI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160206124309/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nx09pigZRI Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nx09pigZRI|title=Glenn Gould's U.S. Television Debut – Bernstein conducts Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor|date=20 January 2016|access-date=5 February 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Gould believed that the institution of the public concert was an anachronism and a "force of evil", leading to his early retirement from concert performance. He argued that public performance devolved into a sort of competition, with a non-empathetic audience mostly attendant to the possibility of the performer erring or failing critical expectation, and that such performances produced unexceptional interpretations because of the limitations of live music. He set forth this doctrine, half in jest, in "GPAADAK", the Gould Plan for the Abolition of Applause and Demonstrations of All Kinds.{{sfn|Gould|1987}} On 10 April 1964, he gave his last public performance, at Los Angeles's [[Ebell of Los Angeles|Wilshire Ebell Theater]].<ref name="Bazzana229">{{harvnb|Bazzana|2003|p=229}}</ref> Among the pieces he performed were Beethoven's [[Piano Sonata No. 30 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata No. 30]], selections from Bach's ''[[The Art of Fugue]]'', and Hindemith's Piano Sonata No. 3.<ref name="fnE" group="fn" /> Gould performed fewer than 200 concerts, of which fewer than 40 were outside Canada. For a pianist such as [[Van Cliburn]], 200 concerts would have amounted to about two years' touring.{{sfn|Bazzana|2003|pp=232–233}}

One of Gould's reasons for abandoning live performance was his aesthetic preference for the recording studio, where, in his words, he developed a "love affair with the microphone".<ref name="fnS" group="fn" /> There, he could control every aspect of the final musical product by selecting parts of various takes. He felt that he could realize a musical score more fully this way. Gould felt strongly that there was little point in re-recording centuries-old pieces if the performer had no new perspective to bring. For the rest of his life, he eschewed live performance, focusing instead on recording, writing, and broadcasting.

===Eccentricities===
[[File:Glenn Gould's chair.JPG|upright|thumb|Replica of Gould's piano chair]]
Gould was widely known for his unusual habits. He often hummed or sang while he played, and his [[audio engineers]] were not always able to exclude his voice from recordings. Gould claimed that his singing was unconscious and increased in proportion to his inability to produce his intended interpretation on a given piano. It is likely that the habit originated in his having been taught by his mother to "sing everything that he played", as his biographer [[Kevin Bazzana]] wrote. This became "an unbreakable (and notorious) habit".{{sfn|Bazzana|2003|p=47}} Some of Gould's recordings were severely criticised because of this background "vocalising". For example, a reviewer of his 1981 [[Bach: The Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould album)#1981: a new recording| rerecording ]] of ''The Goldberg Variations'' wrote that many listeners would "find the groans and croons intolerable".<ref>{{cite book |first1= Edward |last1= Greenfield |first2= Robert |last2= Layton |first3= Ivan |last3= March |title=The New Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and Cassettes |year= 1988 |publisher= Penguin Books |location= London |isbn=978-0-14-046829-8 |name-list-style= amp |page=44}}</ref> Gould was known for his peculiar, even theatrical, gesticulations while playing. Another oddity was his insistence on absolute control over every aspect of his environment. The temperature of the recording studio had to be precisely regulated; he invariably insisted that it be extremely warm. According to another of Gould's biographers, [[Otto Friedrich]], the air-conditioning engineer had to work just as hard as the recording engineers.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=50}}

The piano had to be set at a certain height and would be raised on wooden blocks if necessary.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|p=18}} A rug would sometimes be required for his feet.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=51}} He had to sit exactly {{Convert|14|in}} above the floor, and would play concerts only with the chair his father had made. He continued to use the chair even when its seat was completely worn,{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|pp=304–306}} and became so closely identified with it that it is displayed in a glass case at [[Library and Archives Canada]].

Conductors had mixed responses to Gould and his playing habits. [[George Szell]], who led Gould in 1957 with the [[Cleveland Orchestra]], remarked to his assistant, "That nut's a genius."<ref name="Bazzana158">{{harvnb|Bazzana|2003|p=158}}</ref> Leonard Bernstein said, "There is nobody quite like him, and I just love playing with him."<ref name="Bazzana158" /> Bernstein created a stir at the [[New York Philharmonic concert of April 6, 1962|concert of April 6, 1962]], when, just before the [[New York Philharmonic]] was to perform the Brahms [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Brahms)|Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor]] with Gould, he informed the audience that he was assuming no responsibility for what they were about to hear. He asked the audience: "In a concerto, who is the boss{{dash}}the soloist or the conductor?", to which the audience laughed. "The answer is, of course, sometimes the one and sometimes the other, depending on the people involved."<ref name="archives.cbc.ca_3" /> Specifically, Bernstein was referring to their rehearsals, with Gould's insistence that the entire first movement be played at half the indicated tempo. The speech was interpreted by [[Harold C. Schonberg]], music critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', as an abdication of responsibility and an attack on Gould.<ref name="nytimes.com_April 07, 1962" /> Plans for a studio recording of the performance came to nothing. The live radio broadcast was subsequently released on CD, Bernstein's disclaimer included.

Gould was averse to cold and wore heavy clothing (including gloves) even in warm places. He was once arrested, possibly being mistaken for a vagrant, while sitting on a park bench in [[Sarasota, Florida]], dressed in his standard all-climate attire of coat, hat and mittens.{{sfn|Friedrich|1990|p=62}} He also disliked social functions. He hated being touched, and in later life limited personal contact, relying on the telephone and letters for communication. On a visit to [[Steinway Hall]] in New York City in 1959, the chief piano technician at the time, William Hupfer, greeted Gould with a slap on the back. Gould was shocked by this, and complained of aching, lack of coordination, and fatigue because of it. He went on to explore the possibility of litigation against [[Steinway & Sons]] if his apparent injuries were permanent.<ref name="ahsl.arizona.edu" /> He was known for cancelling performances at the last minute, which is why Bernstein's aforementioned public disclaimer opened with, "Don't be frightened, Mr. Gould is here ... [he] will appear in a moment."

In his [[liner notes]] and broadcasts, Gould created more than two dozen [[alter ego]]s for satirical, humorous, and didactic purposes, permitting him to write hostile reviews or incomprehensible commentaries on his own performances. Probably the best-known are the German musicologist Karlheinz Klopweisser, the English conductor Sir Nigel Twitt-Thornwaite, and the American critic Theodore Slutz.{{sfn|Stegemann|1993a|p=14}} These facets of Gould, whether interpreted as [[neurosis]] or "play",{{sfn|Kingwell|2009|loc=pp. 125–128 (On "play", chapter 11)}} have provided ample material for [[psychobiography]].

Gould was a [[Teetotalism|teetotaller]] and did not smoke.<ref name="Bazzana325">{{harvnb|Bazzana|2003|p=325}}</ref> He did not cook; instead he often ate at restaurants and relied on room service. He ate one meal a day, supplemented by arrowroot biscuits and coffee.<ref name="Bazzana325"/> In his later years he claimed to be vegetarian, though this is not certain.<ref name="fnX" group="fn"/>

===Personal life===
{{external media|audio1=[https://archive.org/details/cbs-60253-bach-j.s.-o-italian-concerto-preludes-fugues-etc.-glenn-gould/CBS+60253%E2%80%A2f1.wav Gould performing] J. S. Bach's ''[[Italian Concerto (Bach)|Italian Concerto]]'' in F major, BWV 971 and various Bach Preludes and Fugues|audio2=[https://archive.org/details/glenn-gould-plays-bach-the-art-of-fugue-bwv-1080-organ-piano Gould performing] J. S. Bach's ''[[The Art of Fugue]]'', BWV 1080, on organ and piano}}

Gould lived a private life. The documentary filmmaker [[Bruno Monsaingeon]] said of him: "No supreme pianist has ever given of his heart and mind so overwhelmingly while showing himself so sparingly."<ref name="collectionscanada.gc.ca Monsaingeon (1983)"/> He never married, and biographers have spent considerable time on his sexuality. Bazzana writes that "it is tempting to assume that Gould was asexual, an image that certainly fits his aesthetic and the persona he sought to convey, and one can read the whole Gould literature and be convinced that he died a virgin"—but he also mentions that evidence points to "a number of relationships with women that may or may not have been platonic and ultimately became complicated and were ended".<ref>Elliott, R. "Constructions of Identity in the Life Stories of Emma Albani and Glenn Gould." ''Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes'' vol. 39 no. 2, 2005, pp. 105–126. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/jcs.2006.0017</ref>

One piece of evidence arrived in 2007. When Gould was in Los Angeles in 1956, he met [[Cornelia Foss]], an art instructor, and her husband [[Lukas Foss|Lukas]], a conductor. After several years, she and Gould became lovers.<ref name="star.com (2007)"/> In 1967, she left her husband for Gould, taking her two children with her to Toronto. She purchased a house near Gould's apartment. In 2007, Foss confirmed that she and Gould had had a love affair for several years. According to her, "There were a lot of misconceptions about Glenn, and it was partly because he was so very private. But I assure you, he was an extremely heterosexual man. Our relationship was, among other things, quite sexual." Their affair lasted until 1972, when she returned to her husband. As early as two weeks after leaving her husband, Foss noticed disturbing signs in Gould, alluding to unusual behaviour that was more than "just neurotic".<ref name="star.com (2007)"/> Specifically, he believed that "someone was spying on him", according to Foss's son.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/christopher-foss-grew-up-with-glenn-gould-but-never-got-to-say-goodbye/article4294730/ |title=Christopher Foss grew up with Glenn Gould, but never got to say goodbye |last=Hampson |first=Sarah |date=29 November 2009 |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=24 April 2018 |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616191052/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/christopher-foss-grew-up-with-glenn-gould-but-never-got-to-say-goodbye/article4294730/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Health and death===
Though an admitted hypochondriac,<ref name="nytimes.com_May 29, 1988"/><ref name="fnL" group="fn"/> Gould had many pains and ailments, but his autopsy revealed few underlying problems in areas that often troubled him.<ref name="fnM" group="fn"/> He worried about everything from [[high blood pressure]] (which in his later years he recorded in diary form) to the safety of his hands. (Gould rarely shook people's hands, and habitually wore gloves.)<ref name="fnN" group="fn"/><ref name="fnO" group="fn"/> The spine injury he experienced as a child led physicians to prescribe, usually independently, an assortment of [[analgesic]]s, [[anxiolytic]]s, and other drugs. Bazzana has speculated that Gould's increasing use of a variety of prescription medications over his career may have had a deleterious effect on his health. It had reached the stage, Bazzana writes, that "he was taking pills to counteract the side effects of other pills, creating a cycle of dependency".{{sfn|Bazzana|2003|p=362}} In 1956, Gould told photojournalist [[Jock Carroll]] about "my hysteria about eating. It's getting worse all the time."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Caroll|first=Jock|title=Glenn Gould: Some Portraits of the Artist as a Young Man|publisher=Stoddart|year=1995|isbn=0773729046|pages=24}}</ref> In his biography, psychiatrist Peter F. Ostwald noted Gould's increasing neurosis about food in the mid-1950s, something Gould had spoken to him about. Ostwald later discussed the possibility that Gould had developed a "psychogenic eating disorder" around this time.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997}} In 1956, Gould was also taking [[Thorazine]], an anti-psychotic medication, and [[reserpine]], another anti-psychotic, which can also be used to lower blood pressure.{{sfn|Goddard|2017|p=19}} Cornelia Foss has said that Gould took many [[antidepressants]], which she blamed for his deteriorating mental state.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.adelaidereview.com.au/arts/music/being-glenn-gould/ |title=Being Glenn Gould – The Adelaide Review |last=Orr |first=Stephen |date=14 August 2013 |website=The Adelaide Review |language=en-US |access-date=24 April 2018 |archive-date=24 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424135649/https://www.adelaidereview.com.au/arts/music/being-glenn-gould/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Whether Gould's behaviour fell within the [[autism spectrum]] has been debated.<ref name="canadianencyclopedia.com_1"/> The diagnosis was first suggested by psychiatrist Peter Ostwald, a friend of Gould's, in the 1997 book ''Glenn Gould: The Ecstasy and Tragedy of Genius''.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997}} There has also been speculation that he may have had [[bipolar disorder]], because he sometimes went several days without sleep, had extreme increases in energy, drove recklessly, and in later life endured severe depressive episodes.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIOOAwAAQBAJ |title=The Autism Spectrum and Depression |last=Dubin |first=Nick |date=2014 |publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers |isbn=9780857002426 |page=77}}</ref>

[[File:Glenn gould.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Gould's grave marker, with incipit of Bach's ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'']]

On 27 September 1982, two days after his 50th birthday, after experiencing a severe headache, Gould had a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. He was admitted to [[Toronto General Hospital]] and his condition rapidly deteriorated. By 4 October, there was evidence of brain damage, and Gould's father decided that his son should be taken off life support.{{sfn|Ostwald|1997|pp=325–328}} Gould's public funeral was held in [[St. Paul's, Bloor Street|St. Paul's Anglican Church]] on 15 October with singing by [[Lois Marshall]] and [[Maureen Forrester]]. The service was attended by over 3,000 people and was broadcast on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]. He is buried next to his parents in Toronto's [[Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto|Mount Pleasant Cemetery]] (section 38, lot 1050).<ref>{{cite web |title=Gould, Glenn Herbert (Search Results) |url=https://www.finditatmpg.com/Details.aspx?GID=ZVitZj8N38rFCcqFV1UScA%3d%3d |website=[[Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto|Mount Pleasant Group]] |access-date=17 July 2021 |archive-date=17 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717063457/https://www.finditatmpg.com/Details.aspx?GID=ZVitZj8N38rFCcqFV1UScA%3D%3D |url-status=live }}</ref> The first few bars of the ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'' are carved on his grave marker.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/festivals/wildlife-on-the-trail-of-count-von-svoboda-and-glenn-gould | title=Wildlife: On the trail of Count von Svoboda and Glenn Gould | first=Fish | last=Griwkowsky | date=15 February 2018 | newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]] | access-date=19 September 2018 | archive-date=20 September 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920084015/https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/festivals/wildlife-on-the-trail-of-count-von-svoboda-and-glenn-gould | url-status=live }}</ref> An animal lover, Gould left half his estate to the [[Toronto Humane Society]]; the other half went to the [[The Salvation Army, Canada|Salvation Army]].{{sfn|Goddard|2017|p=35}}

In 2000, a [[Movement disorders|movement disorder]] neurologist suggested in a paper that Gould had [[dystonia]], "a problem little understood in his time."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Oestreich|first=James R.|author-link=James R. Oestreich|date=13 March 2012|title=A Disorder That Stops the Music|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/arts/music/dystonia-which-struck-glenn-gould-and-other-musicians.html|access-date=5 May 2021|archive-date=9 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609053339/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/arts/music/dystonia-which-struck-glenn-gould-and-other-musicians.html|url-status=live}}</ref>