Glenn Gould (1932-1982) String Quartet Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973) String Quartet in c minor Two Sketches based on French Canadian Airs Quatuor Alcan Laura Andriani, Nathalie Camus, violons | violins Luc Beauchemin, alto | viola - David Ellis violoncelle | cello ACD2 2596 • 26 years after his death Glenn Gould remains probably the best-known Canadian classical musician.   A phenomenal and controversial pianist, he was no less impressive - or eccentric - as a thinker, writer, and radio producer.   However, Gould defined himself as “a composer who plays piano”; he started composing at the age of 5, and before his premature death at the age of 50 planned to devote himself increasingly to composition. • Gould applied the label “Opus 1” to his String Quartet in F minor.   There were to be no higher opus numbers, for Gould then launched his dazzling international career as a pianist.   Composed between 1953 and 1955, the period during which he was getting ready to record the Goldberg Variations for the first time, the quartet represents an astonishing intellectual mosaic of musical aesthetics. • Sir Ernest MacMillan was a dominating figure in Canadian musical life during the mid-20th century.   Principal of the Royal Conservatory of Music, conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for 25 years, and long-time organist at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church (the Forest Hill bastion of Toronto's business elite), MacMillan was synonymous with classical music in English Canada in a way that seems almost unimaginable today.   MacMillan was on the podium when a 15-year old Glenn Gould made his TSO debut.   (Gould was a Royal Conservatory student, and to complete the link, spend the last few decades of life living just a few steps from Timothy Eaton Church.) • Produced, recoded and edited by Anne-Marie Sylvestre at the Salle Françoys-Bernier du Domaine Forget, St-Irénée (Québec), Canada, 2 - 4 April, 2008. GLENN GOULD 1 | String Quartet Op. 1 (1956) | Quatuor à cordes op. 1   [ 33:01 ] ERNEST MACMILLAN String Quartet in C minor (1914 rev. 1921 | Quatuor à cordes en do mineur   [ 26:39 ] 2 | Allegro ma non troppo   [ 6:44 ] 3 | Scherzo : Allegro vivace   [ 2:56 ] 4 | Lento ma non troppo   [ 7:29 ] 5 | Un poco lento - Allegro con fuoco   [ 9:30 ] Two Sketches for String Quartet based on French Canadian Airs Deux esquisses pour quatuor à cordes inspirées d'airs canadien-fançais 6 | Notre Seigneur en Pauvre   [ 4:58 ] 7 | À Saint Malo   [ 2:19 ] ATMA Classique is distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading PO Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone +61 (0)3 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile +61 (0)3 9444 6879