Bach, Now

The Good Shepherd Chapel; Washington National Cathedral

Pace yourself: it's a simple message, yet it resonated with so many of you.  It seems we're all multitasking, distracted, and unfocused these days, but I'm sure every generation throughout history declared that no other has ever been as overwhelmed as it is.  We'd do well to remember that busy is a relative concept - did you know that Johann Sebastian Bach, in addition to having twenty children and a full schedule of teaching and directing on top of his duties as organist and choirmaster, wrote more than two hundred cantatas, several motets, five masses, three oratorios, and four settings of the Passion story, as well as vast amounts of organ music?

I imagine that Bach found great peace in his music amongst the chaos of his life.  He's one of my favorite composers for the stunning beauty that infuses even the simplest of his phrases; you always know where the chords are going, but it's no less miraculous when they arrive there.  Whether you are listening to a single pianist, an unaccompanied choir, or a swelling orchestra and chorus, Bach unfolds the delicacy of the most complex passages and magnifies the delight of a single line until you feel your heart might burst.  Of music, he wrote,

The aim and final end of all music

should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.

As we head into Easter weekend, for which Bach wrote magnificent works, let's take a minute to refresh our souls.  And let's wish a Johann Sebastan Bach, born on March 31, 1685, a very happy birthday.