Scholar Patrick Kavanaugh has heard oodles of baroque fugues and he swears that most of their composers were more interested in higher mathematics than in music.<\/p>\n\n
The melodic lines spin out one on top of another, creating dizzying layers of notes, intervals and overtones. This is the musical equivalent of watching chess masters maneuver on a multi-level, three-dimensional board.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an art to it, in terms of the logic and structure and the intricate patterns,\u201d said Kavanaugh, author of \u201cThe Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers.\u201d \u201cBut at some point you have to stop and say, \u2018Wait a minute. This is a piece of music. What does it sound like? What is it saying?\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n
Then there is J.S. Bach, whose contrapuntal music continues to awe and intimidate performers, composers and scholars. This summer marks another Bach anniversary, with the 250th anniversary of his death in 1750. How big is Bach? Teldec is celebrating by releasing a complete set of his works \u2014 a suitcase containing 1,200 compositions on 153 CDs. This is a body of music so complex that some of its mysteries weren\u2019t discovered until the computer age.<\/p>\n\n
But Bach doesn\u2019t offer complexity for the sake of complexity, stressed Kavanaugh, who leads the Christian Performing Artists\u2019 Fellowship in Haymarket, Va.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIt sounds almost ridiculous to have to say it, but Bach didn\u2019t just write complex, difficult music. He wrote gloriously beautiful music, some of the most beautiful music ever composed by anyone. \u2026 His music is cerebral, it\u2019s spiritual and it\u2019s gorgeous. He did it all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Most scholars \u2014 secular and religious \u2014 would even agree on why Bach wrote what he wrote. From all indications, the composer was a devout Lutheran and frequently annotated his manuscripts with initials such as \u201cJ.J.\u201d, for \u201cJesu Juva (Help me, Jesus),\u201d and ended them with \u201cS.D.G.\u201d, for \u201cSoli Deo Gloria (To God alone, the glory).\u201d Many of his masterworks were based on scripture, hymns and classic Christian poetry.<\/p>\n\n
But Bach also used an ancient technique called \u201cgematria,\u201d in which letters of the alphabet are assigned numerical values. This allows the composer to use intervals and the number of notes in a melody to make symbolic references to specific biblical words and doctrines. Bach also inserted music references to his own name.<\/p>\n\n
Some examples of numerology in Bach\u2019s work are obvious, such as the 10 repetitions of the melody in \u201cThese are the holy 10 commandments.\u201d But then there are musical elements centering on the number three, for the Trinity, and four, for the New Testament Gospels. Patterns of five represent the five wounds Jesus suffered on the cross and, thus, the crucifixion. The number 12 represented the apostles. The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSome of these patterns are so subtle that you have to be a Sherlock Holmes to find them,\u201d said Kavanaugh.<\/p>\n\n
Some scholars believe Bach was driven to do this by sheer talent and the sense of order in his imagination. His mind, in other words, was just wired that way. Others say this was a mental game, used to escape the boredom of his crushing workload \u2014 such as the task of writing one 30-minute church cantata a week.<\/p>\n\n
Bach was astonishingly busy, especially when he was a civil servant charged with overseeing the music in four Leipzig churches. He was married twice, a widow once and had 20 children. He taught music lessons and Latin classes. He rehearsed and performed his own organ works and directed the local boys choirs. Yet the Bach-Gesellschaft company has published 65 volumes of music, even though experts believe at least half of Bach\u2019s works are missing.<\/p>\n\n
Many scholars have asked: When did Bach find time to compose? But Kavanaugh is fascinated by another question: When did Bach find time to pray? Both questions may have the same answer.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cPerhaps all of these symbolic numbers and patterns were something Bach did as a kind of meditation,\u201d said Kavanaugh. \u201cThis may have been his own personal way of worshipping God. \u2026 And in the end, it didn\u2019t matter if anyone else figured it all out. He was writing his music for a different audience. This was between him and the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scholar Patrick Kavanaugh has heard oodles of baroque fugues and he swears that most of their composers were more interested in higher mathematics than in music. The melodic lines spin out one on top of another, creating dizzying layers of notes, intervals and overtones. This is the musical equivalent of watching chess masters maneuver on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n