American Composer Philip Glass Wins The Glenn Gould Prize

As loyal readers know, Philip Glass and Glenn Gould are favorite subjects on this blog. I certainly acknowledge their birthdays each year and often post their music and performances. It was a double treat this week when the Glenn Gould Foundation announced in Toronto that Glass was selected as the eleventh winner of The Glenn Gould Prize.  Leonard Cohen, Sir Andre Previn, Yo Yo Ma, and Oscar Peterson are among the previous winners. The prize, often described at the Nobel Prize of the arts,  is given every two years to "an individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts."

Here is an example of the enrichment brought to us by the genius that is Philip Glass:

I doubt that Canada will ever produce another legendary pianist like Glenn Gould. His eccentricities often left producers and recording engineers at the edge of madness. His technical perfection left the world astounded:

Sources:
Photo, nwfilm.org

A Song For November 7

Cloudy, cold, icy rain, and brilliant fall colors. Perfect music for the day:

Leaves me speechless, as it should.

November Goes

And what does this November mean to you as it passes into memory?  Perhaps it is the peaceful acceptance that there is no summer without winter, much in the same way that there is no love without loss.

Simply beautiful work.

The Wilderness of Manitoba is a new group from Toronto. OTR thinks we'll be hearing much more from them.

Canada Votes Right

OTR has a soft spot for Canada. His great aunt--she had connections-- always kept the family well-supplied with Canadian maple syrup and maple sugar candies when he was a boy. Fifty years ago, a ten day visit to Canada was his first to a "foreign" country though there wasn't much foreign about it then or now. And toward the end of his career he spent almost two weeks each year working with a tireless, enthusiastic, and hospitable crew of Canadians from federal tourism, land management, and protection agencies. They were a great group who "smuggled" OTR and his colleagues some superb Canada-only "beverages" and introduced them to several dishes including poutine, a tasty artery clogging combination of french fries, cheese curds and gravy.

OTR misses those annual opportunities to renew friendships and see what those Canucks planned to do both for and to us Yanks. The news coming out of Canada today may not be as personal as what he remembers, but it still feels positive if not downright friendly. That news? A mandate given to Conservative--and pro-American-- Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his party to govern Canada for four years. The leftist Liberal Party, always a power broker at the national level, took a breathtaking hammering and was displaced by the New Democrat Party as the main opposition. Could European-style socialism be wearing thin among Canadian voters? We who live in the new Age of Reason can only hope.

The Ottawa Citizen has the news here and here. And here is Mark Steyn's take--readers will enjoy the comments-- at National Review Online.

We should listen carefully to our friends across the border. Why dance closer to the socialist abyss than necessary? Socialism is the road to serfdom and the sooner U.S. voters understand it the better.

Canada Eh!

Love those Canadians. My family took a long vacation in Canada when I was 14. We traveled from Windsor to the Gaspe Peninsula over the course of almost three weeks. The people were friendly, helpful and eager to show off their culture even in the smaller towns in Quebec where we had been told to expect a cool reception. In Wisconsin, forty years later, I had the opportunity to spend two intense weeks each year for a five year period with about 50 Canadians. Nothing changed. They were a diverse collection of smiling faces and very generous with their time and talents. Whether it was the "high-test" beer they smuggled into the country or the poutine they prepared, I always looked forward to seeing the old and new folks from the north.

Apparently, not all Canadians share the love when it comes to their southern neighbors. I can understand. So how do you interpret this hostility if you hold dual citizenship? For one answer. check out this hilarious post at Big Hollywood . When you stop laughing, go pay your respects with some poutine and a Molson's.