A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano.

Ann Turner is Financial and Budget Manager at the University of British
Columbia Library.

A love story about a piano? Yes, but the beloved in this tale is a very special piano: a Steinway concert grand CD 318. Its suitor is legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, and the bulk of his life's work, over 90 recordings, was created using this instrument. He himself described their relationship as a "romance on three legs". The story of Gould & CD 318 has all the elements of a tragic love story: his unceasing search for the perfect instrument; his chance discovery of it virtually under his nose, languishing in the Eaton Auditorium awaiting shipment back to the Steinway factory to be sold; his work with the nearly blind but extraordinarily gifted piano technician Verne Edquist to bring CD 318's sound and responsiveness to perfection; their eleven glorious years making music together; and the tragic accident that befell the instrument, leaving it irreparable and Gould inconsolable.

In the course of telling CD 318's story Katie Hafner also tells us a great deal about Glenn Gould's personal and performing life, the history of the Steinway company, and the intricacies of the piano technician's art. She has done a masterful job of weaving her research on these three diverse topics into an appealing and intimate study of Glenn Gould and his interactions with the personalities that shaped his life and career.