The decisions that placed the abundant notes in those pieces seem at once inevitable and astounding, as if there’s only one route to perfection and a human actually found it. Events are…charged, and with a kind of energy that seems to draw its momentum from the fabric of the universe. It’s hard to explain, probably impossible, but the more you study, listen, and appreciate, the deeper you are drawn into his mystical world.

I started to have the experience I understood my mentors to have in listening to Bach. Once I started college and began to mature a little more, the attitudes I had encountered, and continued to, regarding the musical contributions of the great Bach began to come a bit more clearly into focus. I knew his name was regarded with an almost sacred reverence by my musical mentors, but I couldn’t have exactly told you why. I had even listened to much of his music. Like any young musician, as a child I had known of Bach. Why is this? The answer is deep and complex, but I’m going to try to sum it up for you. It seems that musicians simply cannot help but to admire Bach’s musicianship. I find his admirers far-flung across diverse musical styles and modes of expression. You hear his name all the time in musical studies, don’t you? You’re never that far away from hearing Bach’s name if you are involved with music in any way. It was impossible for any musician working within the German legacy (a legacy which still informs the classical training of today very deeply) to escape the incredible gravity of Johann Sebastian Bach. But to understand how we got here, it would be good to go back a couple hundred years. The two pieces were written by the German composer Paul Hindemith in 1942 and they represent a deliberate choice which reflects a certain way of thinking about musical composition. Smartandsoulful on Music About Snow, Day 4…Įlizabeth Saunders on Music About Snow, Day 4…ĭoes anything strike you about the two? They are actually the same. Smartandsoulful on Weekend Gems #2 – Robert… Shuffling Off, Day 2 – Contrapuntus XIV from “The Art of Fugue” by Johann Sebastian Bach.Shuffling Off, Day 4 – Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.Shuffling Off, Day 5 – Turandot by Giacomo Puccini.

Ludus tonalis.