The pianist Glenn Gould was dogmatic about his recording setup, placing the microphone as close as possible to his piano to exclude the sound of the surrounding room. That is, until he encountered the music of Alexander Scriabin—Gould felt that no one acoustic could do justice to Scriabin’s mystical musical language, and devised a system of ‘sound cameras’ that could zoom into or zoom out of his piano. Gould’s ambitious ‘Acoustic Orchestrations’ experiment remained unfinished, however, until music professor Paul Théberge discovered it in an archive and brought the project to completion.

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  • Désir from Deux Morceaux, Op. 57. Composed by Alexander Scriabin. Performed by Glenn Gould. Documentary footage from The Alchemist. Produced by Bruno Monsaingeon. RTF, 1974.

  • Variation VI from The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Performed by Glenn Gould. The Goldberg Variations – 1981 Recording. Sony Classical – 517480 2, 2004. CD reissue.

  • Contrapunctus IV from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Performed by Glenn Gould. The Art of Fugue. Sony Classical – SMK87759, 2002. CD reissue.

  • Le poème de l’extase, Op. 54. Composed by Alexander Scriabin. Performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. Pierre Boulez. Le Poème de l’extase, Piano Concerto, Prométhée. Deutsche Grammophon – 459 647–2, 1999. CD recording. Listen

  • Le poème de feu, Op. 60. Composed by Alexander Scriabin. Performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. Pierre Boulez. Le Poème de l’extase, Piano Concerto, Prométhée. Deutsche Grammophon – 459 647–2, 1999. CD recording. Listen

  • Footage from The Les Paul Show. Performed by Les Paul. Broadcast date unknown. Courtesy Wisconsin Media Lab. Listen

  • Movement III from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged and performed by Wendy Carlos. Switched–on Bach. CBS Masterworks – MK 63501. CD reissue. Listen

  • Bitches Brew. Composed by Miles Davis. Bitches Brew. Columbia – 88697 54519 2, 2010. CD reissue. Listen

  • The Idea of North. Produced and narrated by Glenn Gould. CBC Radio documentary, 1967.Listen

  • Désir from Deux Morceaux, Op. 57. Composed by Alexander Scriabin. Performed by Glenn Gould. Mixed by Paul Théberge. The Acoustic Orchestrations. Sony Classical ‎– 88725406572, 2012. CD recording.

  • Sonata No. 5, Op. 53. Composed by Alexander Scriabin. Performed by Piotr Kosinski. Live performance at the Grieg Competition, 2014. Listen

  • Sonata No. 5, Op. 53. Composed by Alexander Scriabin. Performed by Glenn Gould. Mixed by Paul Théberge. The Acoustic Orchestrations. Sony Classical ‎– 88725406572, 2012. CD recording.Listen

Credit

Producer

Willem Boning

Issue Editor

Willem Bonig

Senior Editors

Joseph Bedford and Curt Gambetta

Production Consultant

Griffin Ofiesh

Technical Assistant

Brendan Smith

Announcer

Trudy Watt

Interview

Paul Théberge