On the evening of April 10, 1964 — that is, 60 years ago Wednesday — the Canadian virtuoso Glenn Gould stepped away from the piano at the end of his concert at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles and revolutionized the recording industry. There was no announcement at that landmark moment in L.A.; only the ensuing circumstance would tell the story. For the Wilshire Ebell recital marked the end of the 31-year-old star's performing career. He would never play another note in public.
In 1966 he wrote of overcoming his dissatisfaction with two takes of a fugue from Book 1 of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, one take he considered 'rather pompous' and the other overly jubilant — and both 'monotonous.' He solved the problem by using the first for the fugue's opening and conclusion, and splicing in the second for the midsection, producing a version 'far superior to anything we could at the time have done in the studio.