Classical Music for Aficionados
More Edward Said this article contains the description of Saint Saens playing Siegfried at Wagner's home Cosmic Ambition Edward Said October 20, 2011 Edward Said
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Fantastic writing but from wrong guy .He has no idea, none, how deeply Bach was committed to God . His Lutheran religion does not want you to be pious or submissive but to be humble . Humility is having an accurate assessment of both the best of you and the worst of you, which Bach did . He knew what he was worth and asked for it.To an Orthodox Lutheran , which he was, that is standing in front of God and accepting his Grace as his child , not his slave . There were pious elements in the Leipzig city government that wanted him to write their way, he never did but came out against them clearly in the cantata’s and passions . Back would no more revolt against God than, well you name it . On every piece he wrote were the words "Ruhm gottgegeben" ."The Glory is to God"You can not understand Bach without understanding his religion .Said , clearly does not , indeed from his writing I doubt if he has any himself. The best book about Bach, by far, I have ever read is John Eliot Gardiner’s "Music In The Castle of Heaven ". Gardiner is one of the greatest musicians alive and a fine writer of this great book. Not an easy read but an uplifting one. Gardiner ends the book ,pg 558 so:. " Beethoven tells us what a terrible struggle it is to transcend human frailties.......Mozart shows us the kind of music we might hope to hear in heaven. But it is Bach, making music in the Castle of Heaven who gives us the the voice of God-in human form.He is the one who blazes a trail, showing us how to overcome our imperfections through the perfections of his music , to make divine things human and human things divine ". To which I say , Amen and Amen . |
Thanks, jim, for last 5 years my routine has been to listen to a cantata drinking my coffee right after breakfast , I think it is a factor in me still being alive .I plan, God willing , to spend a few weeks in October in my beloved Berlin for the last time . I will get a room near the main train station and spend a few days in Leipzig, two hours from Berlin, where I hope to just sit and meditate in Bach’s St. Thomas Church . |
Len , Oh how I wish I could travel because Leipzig and Berlin would be top of my list of places to visit. Did you know that the people who were at one time garnering information on Liszt could never ever find the grave of Liszt's son Daniel until low and behold when they were knocking down the Berlin wall that they found Daniel's grave under the wall. Apparently the wall had gone right through the middle of the churchyard. Bloody Russians have no shame. I would love though to go to the Berlin Philharmonie Hall and listen to a full concert, I think then I would be a very happy man indeed. Funnily enough Len my day always starts with some Bach, I am at the moment listening to his keyboard partitas at the moment with Schiff and next week it will be the violin Partitas and Sonatas with one at the start of each morning. I am not ashamed to say that my favourite keyboard piece is the Goldberg Variations , required listening for cleansing the soul. Len I hope you have a wonderful time. |
