old while at the family cottage.1 His first exposure to chiropractic stemmed from the same incident. “Over the next few years he was taken to many doctors, though only his neighbourhood chiropractor, Dr. Ar- thur Bennett helped.” 2 Dr. Bennett himself believed that that Gould’s life-long muscu- loskeletal complaints originated from his childhood injury. Dr. Herbert Vear inherited Gould as a patient when Bennett retired and treated him over a twenty-year span beginning in the mid-1950s. Vear had no doubt that Gould’s spinal problems were not imag- ined. There was, he stated, “early cervical disc degeneration observed on cervical x- rays” and “functional biomechanical stress to other areas, in particular the upper and mid-thoracic spine”. Dr. Vear also recalled that “he had mild thoracic pain and discom- fort which often affected the lumbar spine as well.”3 He identifi ed Gould’s chronically poor, unstable posture as the source of his musculoskeletal problems which was fur- ther aggravated by his famously awkward, hunched-over keyboard style. His lifelong refusal to use any other piano seating but the under-sized, folding bridge chair his fa- ther modifi ed for him in 1953, would not have helped matters either.4 Gould was particularly anxious about physical contact when someone touched or leaned on his shoulders, and frequently complained of swelling, stiffness, and pain in his joints, fearing that he was predisposed to arthritis. Some of his complaints were strange. According to another biographer, Peter Ostwald, he once stated that “the bones of my back easily get out of alignment with my ribs” – whatever that means.5 “Chiropractors, physiotherapists, mas- seurs, and radiologists” writes Bazzana, “were a regular part of Gould’s life.” Fol- lowing Dr. Bennett’s advice, that Gould required “patience and understanding, as well as treatments which were not painful,” Dr Vear provided him with conventional chiropractic manipulations and trigger point therapy.6 Gould also used therapeutic aids. Around the time of the Steinway injury, he acquired his own Siemens diathermy unit as well as, Bazzana reports, “a locally manu- factured ultrasound unit that emitted high- frequency sound waves to stop pain and tension.”7 This would be the same Toronto Medical Company portable ultrasound unit that is with CMCC today. As we saw in the previous edition of CHA, it was Dr. Vear 40 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | DECEMBER 2008 who introduced Gould to ultrasound thera- py and it is likely that he is the practitioner featured in the photo noticed by Dr. Proctor in Gould’s St. Clair Avenue apartment. About the time Dr. Vear left Toronto in the mid-1970s, Gould began to consult an orthopaedist who found no further expla- nation for Gould’s continuing musculoskel- etal complaints, other than Dr. Vear’s initial diagnosis of poor posture. He prescribed non-steroidal anti-infl ammatory drugs as well as sedative analgesics commonly used for headaches. “In short,” writes Bazzana, “he tried everything to ease his pains – everything, that is, but sitting up straight and getting a little exercise.” 8 ‘MY GOD, A CONCUSSION!’ For Gould the dividing line between real complaints and imagined ones was, how- ever, always a fi ne one. And he knew it. On one occasion, in 1958, a reporter saw him stop in the middle of a record- ing session, groan, and announce, “I think I have appendicitis.” It turned out to be a minor cramp from sitting too long and he joined in laughing about it. During a film- ing session some years later, Gould was seen to gently bump his head on a microphone, collapse in a chair, and exclaim, “My God, a concussion!” 9 Not surprisingly, Gould’s hypochon- dria posed unique challenges in diagnos- ing and treating his perceived ailments. In the famous 1959 Steinway incident, Gould was embroiled in an argument with Stein- way’s chief technician about how far to go in modifying his piano. Gould wanted the action to be lighter and more responsive. In the course of the afternoon, the technician, in what was probably meant as a gesture of friendly reconciliation, clapped him on the shoulder. Gould immediately became upset, claiming that he had been struck so forcefully as to cause pain and produce a physical injury. Fearing that he might never be able to play the piano again, he sued Steinway and Sons for $300,000 in per- sonal damages. A specialist subsequently concluded that he may have been suffering from neuropraxia, a transitory condition that does not lead to permanent disability, as a result of “a minor traction injury to the various nerves entering his upper extrem- ity and particularly the roots of the ulnar nerve.”10 For several years Gould continued to receive treatment for his ailing left shoul- der from an orthopedic surgeon who put his entire upper body into a plaster cast (effectively immobilizing him) in hopes of bringing parts of his left shoulder into bet- ter alignment. It is problematic whether the treatment did much good, as is whether there was any signifi cant injury in the first place. But, then, that was Gould. FINAL WORD Almost as much has been written about Gould’s health concerns and eccentricities, as about his pianistic virtuosity. With his death in 1982, a new and extraordinary post- humous life began. Gould is more popular today than he was in his lifetime. Sales of his recordings far exceed those of when he was still alive, he has been the subject of fi lm treatment and several biographies – two published this year – conferences and symposia continue to be held in his hon- our, and his legend has infused the popular culture. Dead pianists are quickly forgotten. Not so with Gould. So active has his afterlife been that one recording company executive was prompted to comment that “dying was a great career move for him.”11 With all this attention, it seems fitting to let Gould have the last word. From a diary entry dated June 12, 1980: “Some odd spots … on my abdomen – right of the navel, and in the area where the hiatus hernia is often knotted up.” At the end of the entry there is a P.S.: “Have taken bath; spots have disappeared.” They were ink spots from a pen.12 And that was Gould too. • REFERENCES 1,2,3. Bazzana, Kevin. “Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould” McClelland & Stewart, 2003; p. 353-355. 4. Hafner, Katie. “A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould’s Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano” McClelland & Stewart, 2008; p. 21. 5,6,7,8. Bazzana, Kevin. “Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould” McClelland & Stewart, 2003; p. 353-355. 9. Bazzana, Kevin. “Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould” McClelland & Stewart, 2003; p. 359. 10. Ostwald, Peter. “Glenn Gould as Pa- tient”. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ glenngould/028010-502.17-e.html 11. Bazzana, Kevin. “The Glenn Gould Leg- acy”. http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/feature-gould- essays.html 12. Bazzana, Kevin. “Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould” McClelland & Stewart, 2003; p. 359. www.canadianchiropractor.ca
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