Today in Language: Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685. Regardless of one's criteria, Bach must be considered one of the greatest composers of all time. What he did for music would be difficult ever to rival or to undo.
My personal Bach favorite, other than just anything he composed, is probably “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” It is not, of course, strictly “his,” as he neither scored the basic melody nor wrote the lyrics. And yet Bachian brilliance infuses any orchestration of it. It is one of those glorious pieces, like Handel’s Messiah, that seem to require that the composer have known God. My favorite philosophical point about the piece is the absolute necessity of the “Jesu” of the title, without which it becomes nonsense, as in the title of a novel by Jean Giono.
My personal Bach favorite, other than just anything he composed, is probably “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” It is not, of course, strictly “his,” as he neither scored the basic melody nor wrote the lyrics. And yet Bachian brilliance infuses any orchestration of it. It is one of those glorious pieces, like Handel’s Messiah, that seem to require that the composer have known God. My favorite philosophical point about the piece is the absolute necessity of the “Jesu” of the title, without which it becomes nonsense, as in the title of a novel by Jean Giono.
Comments
Post a Comment