PDF Evening in the Palace of Reason Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment PS James R Gaines 8601420012295 Books
Download As PDF : Evening in the Palace of Reason Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment PS James R Gaines 8601420012295 Books
Johann Sebastian Bach created what may be the most celestial and profound body of music in history; Frederick the Great built the colossus we now know as Germany, and along with it a template for modern warfare. Their fleeting encounter in 1757 signals a unique moment in history where belief collided with the cold certainty of reason. Set at the tipping point between the ancient and modern world, Evening in the Palace of Reason captures the tumult of the eighteenth century, the legacy of the Reformation, and the birth of the Enlightenment in this extraordinary tale of two men.
PDF Evening in the Palace of Reason Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment PS James R Gaines 8601420012295 Books
"Gaines contrasts Bach and Fredrick of Prussia throughout. Fredrick was violently abused by his father for years. This damaged him severely. He became a leading hope of the Enlightenment. Collected philosophers (Voltaire), musicians (C.P.E. Bach) etc. Evil, immoral, deceitful, arrogant, betrayer, hypocrite, warmonger and intelligent, he is representative of the rejection of the old Christianity and the embrace of the new "reason".
Bach is deeply religious. Stubborn, touchy, determined, self-driven, brilliant, unchangeable and warm father and husband. He collects and studies music of all ages and cultures. Spends large funds on music books. He rejects the modern music of "reason" (clear melody) for the old (fugue and counterpoint).
Every music score is noted 'for the glory of God'.
Therefore more than two men are contrasted here, two world views are set side by side.
Bach's world of spirituality, integrity, love for God succeeds as superior to Fredrick's world of war, materialism, deceit and love for power. La Mettrie wrote "Man a Machine". Humans are just a chemical machine and that is all there is!
He caused a scandal and naturally Fredrick invited him to move to Prussia. Bach wrote music that provides a glimpse into the transcendental that could never be created by machine. Naturally he was rejected by many and ignored by most.
Gaines explains Bach's achievement as first - hard, unremitting, years of riveted concentration. Second - his character protected him and his music from fickle tastes. His father, his anabaptist mother, Luther all played a part "in inspiring in him not only a love of God, but perhaps more important to his music, a sense of certainty rooted in something deeper than than approval or respect." (241)
Gaines clearly explains the basis of the enlightenment and also the romantic reaction. The enlightenment teaches us to study and rely on facts.
We now know, after Kuhn, what facts? Kant wrote this also. The romantics said to listen to our inner life, be real. "Yet these two postures stand opposed, one warning of the danger that the light of reason can blind us to a deeper kind of illumination, the other pointing out what can happen, what has happened, when we entrust ourselves to myth." (272)
Modernity "has no trouble knowing Frederick. . . His mask and loneliness are all too familiar. Bach is more of a stranger, a refugee from "God's time" displaced to a world where religion can be limited to a building and a day of the week, or dispensed with altogether." (272)
If we are only machines, where does music come from?
"Perhaps that is why music coming from a world where the invisible was palpable, where great cosmic forces played their part everywhere and everyday, could so deeply move audiences so far removed from Bach's time. . . Bach's music makes no argument that the world is more than a ticking clock, yet leaves no doubt of it." (273)
As Wagner said, " Only Bach wrote eternal truth."
This is an outstanding analysis of the appearance of modernity and the results of the enlightenment and romanticism. Profound insight into what has been lost and the misery that has replaced it.
This reading has moved me to listen to much more of Bach.
I am enjoying the difference."
Product details
|
Tags : Evening in the Palace of Reason Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment (P.S.) [James R. Gaines] on . Johann Sebastian Bach created what may be the most celestial and profound body of music in history; Frederick the Great built the colossus we now know as Germany,James R. Gaines,Evening in the Palace of Reason Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment (P.S.),Harper Perennial,0007156618,History Criticism - General,Modern - 18th Century,Bach, Johann Sebastian,Composition (Music),Enlightenment - Germany,Enlightenment;Prussia (Kingdom),Frederick,Music;Prussia (Kingdom);18th century;History and criticism.,18th Century World History,18th century,Enlightenment,Europe - Germany,European history,Genres Styles - Classical,HISTORY / Europe / Germany,HISTORY / General,History,History - General History,History / Modern / 18th Century,History and criticism,History World,Individual Composer Musician,MUSIC / General,Music,Music / History Criticism,Music Of The 18th Century,Music/Genres Styles - Classical,Music/Individual Composer Musician,Prussia (Kingdom)
Evening in the Palace of Reason Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment PS James R Gaines 8601420012295 Books Reviews :
Evening in the Palace of Reason Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment PS James R Gaines 8601420012295 Books Reviews
- Gaines contrasts Bach and Fredrick of Prussia throughout. Fredrick was violently abused by his father for years. This damaged him severely. He became a leading hope of the Enlightenment. Collected philosophers (Voltaire), musicians (C.P.E. Bach) etc. Evil, immoral, deceitful, arrogant, betrayer, hypocrite, warmonger and intelligent, he is representative of the rejection of the old Christianity and the embrace of the new "reason".
Bach is deeply religious. Stubborn, touchy, determined, self-driven, brilliant, unchangeable and warm father and husband. He collects and studies music of all ages and cultures. Spends large funds on music books. He rejects the modern music of "reason" (clear melody) for the old (fugue and counterpoint).
Every music score is noted 'for the glory of God'.
Therefore more than two men are contrasted here, two world views are set side by side.
Bach's world of spirituality, integrity, love for God succeeds as superior to Fredrick's world of war, materialism, deceit and love for power. La Mettrie wrote "Man a Machine". Humans are just a chemical machine and that is all there is!
He caused a scandal and naturally Fredrick invited him to move to Prussia. Bach wrote music that provides a glimpse into the transcendental that could never be created by machine. Naturally he was rejected by many and ignored by most.
Gaines explains Bach's achievement as first - hard, unremitting, years of riveted concentration. Second - his character protected him and his music from fickle tastes. His father, his anabaptist mother, Luther all played a part "in inspiring in him not only a love of God, but perhaps more important to his music, a sense of certainty rooted in something deeper than than approval or respect." (241)
Gaines clearly explains the basis of the enlightenment and also the romantic reaction. The enlightenment teaches us to study and rely on facts.
We now know, after Kuhn, what facts? Kant wrote this also. The romantics said to listen to our inner life, be real. "Yet these two postures stand opposed, one warning of the danger that the light of reason can blind us to a deeper kind of illumination, the other pointing out what can happen, what has happened, when we entrust ourselves to myth." (272)
Modernity "has no trouble knowing Frederick. . . His mask and loneliness are all too familiar. Bach is more of a stranger, a refugee from "God's time" displaced to a world where religion can be limited to a building and a day of the week, or dispensed with altogether." (272)
If we are only machines, where does music come from?
"Perhaps that is why music coming from a world where the invisible was palpable, where great cosmic forces played their part everywhere and everyday, could so deeply move audiences so far removed from Bach's time. . . Bach's music makes no argument that the world is more than a ticking clock, yet leaves no doubt of it." (273)
As Wagner said, " Only Bach wrote eternal truth."
This is an outstanding analysis of the appearance of modernity and the results of the enlightenment and romanticism. Profound insight into what has been lost and the misery that has replaced it.
This reading has moved me to listen to much more of Bach.
I am enjoying the difference. - A music student leant this to me and after reading it, I bought 6 copies to give to all my musician friends. it's good to read by youtube, so you can listen to the different pieces it discusses. It
s probably not appropriate for folks without music theory background. We knew Bach was brilliant, but I feel like I appreciate his genius even more after reading this book. Absolutely fascinating! - I read the book and then went back and read the parts about J.S. Bach again. Recommended. The music is more meaningful when you know some of the stories behind it. It is heartbreaking to know that he died thinking his music would be permanently out of fashion. And that it was for 150 years. Also, that his son Carl was likely complicit in laying the musical trap that Fredrick set for "old Bach." It was a cruel world then, too.
As you read the book, you will want to listen to the works the author describes. Note that there is a helpful (but already dated) Discography at the end of the book. Also consider getting the Bach Edition, a collection of all his works in a big boxed CD set, to accompany the book. Also, consider the Angela Hewitt boxed set of keyboard works played very beautifully on the piano. - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) .... (Says Wikipedia).
Here is what the back cover of this book says
(Bach) `created ...the most celestial and profound body of music in history; Frederick the Great built the colossus we now know as Germany... Their fleeting encounter in 1757 signals a unique moment in history where belief collided with the cold certainty of reason.'
Awesome, isn't it? Fritz met Bach 7 years after Bach died. Truly a unique moment.
And Fritz built Germany, though he himself died in 1786. That was 85 years before the Hohenzollern's Germany was founded by Bismarck in 1871, during the reign of Wilhelm I, who was Fritz' nephew's son's nephew, or something like that.
The cold certainty of reason can get a lot done.
This is all not the author's fault, so far. The book is generally well worth reading an entertaining `double biography' of the two men, who were not really meant for each other. Different worlds and different times, despite their overlapping. Bach's Thuringia and Saxony, his music and his religion were not suitable for Fritz' Prussia. Their meeting happened in 1747, when one of them was nearly on his way out (3 more years for him), and the other still relatively fresh in his career as king.
Still Gaines shouldn't have said that the Hohenzollern had ruled Germany for 300 years by then. No, they hadn't. They had started with ruling a small patch in the patchwork, and succeeded in growing their patch to a substantial size inside the total carpet. Germany as an entity didn't exist during Fritz' time. His Prussia had grown to challenge the leadership of the Habsburgs inside the Holy Roman Empire though.
(The book has a not altogether bad map at the contents section. The map could have been improved if the edges hadn't been cut off, which would have allowed to see the neighbors, specifically the `original' Prussia. Isn't it a joke that the book's map has `Prussia' outside its frame and needs to place an arrow to the NE?)
I feel more competent about Prussia and the Hohenzollern than about Bach's music. I tend to believe what Gaines writes about Bach, but I am often a little skeptical about his Fritzology. This book was recommended to me by a bassoonist. That supports my trust in its musicology, and it makes me chuckle at the story of young Bach's fist fight with the bassoon student who was offended when Bach said that his bassoon sounded like a bleating goat. You must have forgotten that one, Maestro! - I enjoyed this book very much. I love Bach's music, and I found it beautiful yet profound. The music appears to me there is so much wonder in it that is inexhaustible. After I read something about the technique of fugue it really fascinated me. This book told the relevant stories of the one particular crowning achievement, but not the technical part of the compositions, which I wish it had gone into a bit more in laymen's terms. However that may be too much to expect. Nevertheless, the history included to usher in the main story is itself very interesting read.
