|
|
Article: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician.(Review)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- November 22, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician By Christopher Wolff. Norton, 599 pp., $39.95
The sound of faith,
TOWARD THE END of his biography of Johann Sebastian Bach, Christoph Wolff tells a wonderful anecdote about Mozart's first encounter with Bach's music. Thirty-nine years after Bach's death, Mozart visited the St. Thomas School in Leipzig and listened to a performance of one of the motets. After a few measures, "Mozart sat up, startled" and, at the close of the performance, cried out, "This is music one can learn from!"
In this 250th anniversary year of Bach's death, radio listeners and concertgoers have been treated to such an abundance ...