more Bach

Haverstick here...since all of the Bach discussions, I have been
listening to a lot of Bach's music, and as always, I come away
astounded. But, a comment my daughter Neela made is very relevant, I
feel, because of the wonderful simplicity of her insight. We were
listening to the 1st Lute suite (played on guitar by John Williams), and
I asked her what she thought of it...she said, "It sounds like God is
playing the guitar"...now, I liked that a great deal because it cuts
through all of the intellectual speculation about Bach's tuning systems,
and gets right to it, don't you think? Neela could care less about
spaces between notes or frequencies...she was deeply moved by the
profoundity of the music, and actually, what else is there?
And yes, I love the theoretical discussions about tuning
systems...let's don't lose sight of what music is all about in the first
place...folks like Bach were genuises regardless of systems...perhaps we
could say the man makes the tuning, not the tuning makes the man. I have
heard plenty of music in non 12 tunings since I got involved 6 years
ago, but, and I say this sadly, I have heard very little GREAT music in
non 12. I think the art of composition is the highest pinnacle of a
musicians gift, and it seems to be mighty hard to come by. I'll take a
great 12/eq piece any day over a commonplace just intonated work. In
fact, I daresay that it has been a lack of great pieces that has helped
contribute to the lack of acceptance by "ordinary" folks of "microtonal"
music. A lot of the music I've heard is rather cold and academic, remote
from humanity (Partch for sure), and just generally not the kind of
music that will MOVE someone deep in their spirit. Yes, the intellectual
part is fun and challenging, but it does not always translate into great
art.
I am afraid, at times, that the intellectual theory of non 12 music
takes precedence over the making of great music...perhaps when that
changes, non 12 music will find a place in people's hearts, which is
where all great art eventually winds up...Hstick

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