I have been musing on this statement from one of the most popular yet controversial pianists of the Twentieth century. Gould had a highly individual style of playing the piano, and his interpretations were often equally idiosyncratic.

It’s generally assumed that fingers do all the work when playing the piano. I have forgotten how many times I’ve been asked if I have ‘the right type of fingers’, whatever that is, followed by the ‘can I have a look at your hands’. Professional pianists are blessed with all sorts of hand and finger types; Horowitz had short, stubby fingers and, by contrast, Liszt had, according to many former pupils, very long, slim fingers.

Fingers are somewhat inconsequential because we play the piano with our mind. The mind is of fundamental importance in piano playing. You control your fingers, or any other part of your body, with your mind. They do exactly what they are told, and it is no fault of your fingers when they don’t do what you expect because your mind has given them incorrect signals. This is a simplistic viewpoint but it gets the message across.

Once technical difficulties have been mastered through meticulous practice, all controlled by the mind, then you can focus on the musical and artistic tasks within a piece of music. Interpretation is where the mind really comes into play. This element could never be dictated by the fingers alone. Glenn Gould possessed a fine intellect and he frequently produced fairly unorthodox interpretations. They were totally unique which was part of his popularity and appeal.

Some favourite Gould interpretations: