Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most unfathomable composers in the history of music. How can such sublime work have been produced by a man who (when we can discern his personality at all) seems so ordinary; so opaquemdash;and occasionally so intemperate? John Eliot Gardiner grew up passing one of the only two authentic portraits of Bach every morning and evening on the stairs of his parentsrsquo; house; where it hung for safety during World War II. He has been studying and performing Bach ever since; and is now regarded as one of the composerrsquo;s greatest living interpreters. The fruits of this lifetimersquo;s immersion are distilled in this remarkable book; grounded in the most recent Bach scholarship but moving far beyond it; and explaining in wonderful detail the ideas on which Bach drew; how he worked; how his music is constructed; how it achieves its effectsmdash;and what it can tell us about Bach the man. Gardinerrsquo;s background as a historian has encouraged him to search for ways in which scholarship and performance can cooperate and fruitfully coalesce. This has entailed piecing together the few biographical shards; scrutinizing the music; and watching for those instances when Bachrsquo;s personality seems to penetrate the fabric of his notation. Gardinerrsquo;s aim is ldquo;to give the reader a sense of inhabiting the same experiences and sensations that Bach might have had in the act of music-making. This; I try to show; can help us arrive at a more human likeness discernible in the closely related processes of composing and performing his music.rdquo; It is very rare that such an accomplished performer of music should also be a considerable writer and thinker about it. John Eliot Gardiner takes us as deeply into Bachrsquo;s works and mind as perhaps words can. The result is a unique book about one of the greatest of all creative artists.
#705629 in eBooks 2013-06-04 2013-06-04File Name: B00CNOSU5S
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I was pleasantly surprised.By Patricia Y HughesI bought this play because my daughter was in the play and I wanted to be familiar with the play before I went to see it. I was afraid it was going to be two hours of man bashing and I wasnt really looking forward to reading it. But; I found it to be an entertaining; sometime humorous; thought provoking play. I would recommend that anyone who is going to go to see a production of "Top Girls" read the script before you do. Youll get a lot more out of it.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy GS AccountGood school book0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. overlapping dialog-author shows you how to read them- and some ...By artie solomonoverlapping dialog-author shows you how to read them- and some scenes not in chronological order but still well worth your time. characters at a dinner party taken from all different places and times in history but each was a woman who took chances (except one from Chaucer) or suffered as a woman in her society and overcame the odds.