My First Record Player
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My First Record Player
The Christmas I remember best...my first turntable...my first LP (Vinyl record)...my first classical music recording. How just a few moments under the Christmas tree set much of the direction for my life.
My Intro to Glenn Gould
There was a day when vinyl records were still a newish thing...a black somewhat flexible disc the size of last night's dinner plate...playing at 33 rpm and boasting 2 sides! Gee, almost an hour of music.
And there was a Christmas, somewhere around 1963 when under the tree on Christmas Eve (my family did the German traditional thing) was a boxy looking affair with a suitcase handle on the front and covered in red and white vinyl. I opened the lid to see the 45 rpm sized turntable and the needle arm (tone arm) and new instantly what this was. My first record player.
Beside this was another gift whose shape was a clear giveaway...an LP. That's "Long Playing" for those of you too young to remember. It just meant that the disc would play lots longer than othe older versions at 78 rpm or the smaller ones at 45 rpm.
So what was this music? It turned out to be the young (then) Glenn Gould playing the Beethoven 3rd piano concerto in C minor with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein. I played this a lot...since it was the only LP i had. So I got to know the Beethoven 3rd very well and how it sounded under Gould's fingers. It's still in my head today...a life-long music worm. A fine one at that.
It's interesting to consider how this event event introduced me to classical music in a very special way that has stayed with me all my life. I'll permit myself a little nostalgia over this.
Since then..I've got it all...MP3, Blu Rays...you name it.
Still it's the music I love most consistently...the most important thing.
And there was a Christmas, somewhere around 1963 when under the tree on Christmas Eve (my family did the German traditional thing) was a boxy looking affair with a suitcase handle on the front and covered in red and white vinyl. I opened the lid to see the 45 rpm sized turntable and the needle arm (tone arm) and new instantly what this was. My first record player.
Beside this was another gift whose shape was a clear giveaway...an LP. That's "Long Playing" for those of you too young to remember. It just meant that the disc would play lots longer than othe older versions at 78 rpm or the smaller ones at 45 rpm.
So what was this music? It turned out to be the young (then) Glenn Gould playing the Beethoven 3rd piano concerto in C minor with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein. I played this a lot...since it was the only LP i had. So I got to know the Beethoven 3rd very well and how it sounded under Gould's fingers. It's still in my head today...a life-long music worm. A fine one at that.
It's interesting to consider how this event event introduced me to classical music in a very special way that has stayed with me all my life. I'll permit myself a little nostalgia over this.
Since then..I've got it all...MP3, Blu Rays...you name it.
Still it's the music I love most consistently...the most important thing.
Music on Amazon
Glenn Gould
by abaran
Alex Baran is a transplant from Southern Ontario to Manitoulin Island. He was Executive Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Ochestra from 2003-2008.... more »
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