Trinitarian Intimations in Bach’s The Art of Fugue

by Robert P. Imbelli

“History has proven that Bach was making music that would connect people to God.” Continue Reading »

13 Sep 2023

The Joys of the Harpsichord

by John Ahern

The piano is the instrument of expressive individualism; the harpsichord is the instrument of a vibrant, discursive life of the mind. Continue Reading »

22 Nov 2021

Letters

by Various

Ross Douthat’s summary of the state of the Catholic conversation (“Catholic Ideas and Catholic Realities,” August/September) demonstrates the author’s typical precision in observing his own intellectual communities. On multiple readings I can find nothing substantially to disagree with; and . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Nov 2021

Bach and Pythagoras

by Dan Moller

Anyone who begins playing Bach as an adult will notice two things: that he should have started earlier, ideally by studying the piano as a child instead of chasing a leathery orb around some field; and that there is something of the divine in Bach. Philosophers have always drawn a connection between . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Aug 2021

Briefly Noted

by Nathaniel Peters and Margaret Chisolm

Bach & God by michael marissen oxford, 288 pages, $35Michael Marissen, emeritus professor of music at Swarthmore, argues that Johann Sebastian Bach’s music embodies the theology of its text, and an acquaintance with that theology helps listeners understand and appreciate Bach’s music more . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2017