I just plain love Bach! Did you know the word Bach is German for 'brook'? It's ironic because a brook is a small stream of water, yet Bach's music encompasses an ocean of expressive composition emulated by everyone after him. Romanticism and chromaticism were influenced by Bach's tonal theory. Beethoven and Chopin always had the Well-Tempered Clavier perched upon their pianos. Even the Beatles incorporated elements of Bach into their songs. Bach once said that anyone could achieve what he did as long as they worked hard enough. When I was in school, my English teacher asked everyone to share their heroes. I raised my hand and said Bach! I can't believe why my class burst into laughter. Many people think Bach is gaudy, like an ancient tapestry. But I cannot think that because when I listen to Bach, I hear a harmony of multipe independent lines of music weaving together into an intricate and harmonious tapestry. It's mesmerizing! Accounts of people who heard Bach play first-hand hundreds of years ago say that he played his music so evenly and precise that people would stop what they were doing and wander toward the music. I'd imagine they feared the music, they must have thought it unearthly and it was! It must have sounded like the sacred music foretold in book of Revelation.
Attachment 7634
