HAPPY BACH’S BIRTHDAY

Mar 21, 2006

Ach, Bach! 

That Bach should have been born on the first day of spring is an anti-irony to be cherished. Here’s a quote from the old man:

I want to demonstrate to the world the architecture of a new and beautiful social commonwealth. Each instrument in counterpoint, and as many contrapuntal parts as there are instruments. It is the enlightened self-discipline of the various parts, each voluntarily imposing on itself the limits of its individual freedom for the well-being of the community. That is my message: not the autocracy of a single, stubborn melody on the one hand, nor the anarchy of unchecked noise on the other. No, a delicate balance between the two, an enlightened freedom. The science of my art, the art of my science, the harmony of the stars in the heavens, the yearning for brotherhood in the heart of man: this is the secret of my music.