Starting from Porcupine

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University and editor of the Newsletter
of the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and
Documentation Centres.

This short memoir by a noted Toronto pianist and teacher makes a
puzzling impression. No compelling raison d’кtre for the narrative
emerges as we wade through a loose collage of reminiscences about
William Aide’s private life and musical career.

Tongue in cheek, Aide describes himself as the greatest pianist to come
from the Porcupine region of northern Ontario. He has taught at several
Canadian universities, and his recordings include a very fine account of
the Chopin Йtudes, the music of which has preoccupied him off and on
since his teens.

Yet surprisingly, Aide doesn’t divulge his practice or teaching
methods. Of his teaching, he writes with enthusiasm only of his sojourn
in Winnipeg in the 1970s, where his students included the Native
playwright Tomson Highway.

Overall, the tone of Starting from Porcupine is dark. Aide acknowledges
the struggle that both he and his wife have had with depression, and
perhaps this is an area that should have been explored more.

The highlight of the book is a previously published piece on Aide’s
teacher, Alberto Guerrero. Guerrero also taught Glenn Gould, and there
is evidence that he significantly influenced the young Gould.