Bach’s Passacaglia

It is a tradition in India to perform music of spiritual depth only if one is a spiritual master. The purpose of music not being for the development of ego of the performer, but rather for the enlightenment and spiritual edification of the listener. In other words, music’s goal is connection with the Divine. In … Read more

The Folly of Memorization

It was 1856 and Clara Schumann was newly widowed. She hadn’t seen her husband, Robert, for several years; his ragings, during his institutionalization, specifically made clear that he did not wish to see her. But as a new, and young, widow, still with many of their nine children at home to feed, she needed to … Read more

A Bridge for the Future

There is a law of diminishing returns that states that a benefit will require an ever increasing input of energy to maintain a fixed result. In the United States, in early 2017, we witnessed a casual amount of bullshitting by our nominally-elected president. The outrage and shock by the citizenry was high. But today, after … Read more

Mystical Connection: Bach and Messiaen

I’m in Lüneburg, Germany – a small, former Hanseatic town that was once one of the wealthiest places in Germany, thanks to the salt mines here which created, by the Middle Ages, the largest industry in all of Europe. For Bach aficionados, it’s also the first place where Sebastian Bach came, setting off on his … Read more

A Blessing in Music

“I will not let you leave me until you have blessed me.” Loosely translated, the patriarch, Jacob, spoke this to the angel with which he wrestled for a night, leaving him with an injured hip. Some five millennia later, I’m standing (for two and a half hours) on the Davies Hall stage, playing Messiah, with … Read more

What I did last summer

I can’t recall how many times it happened, but it seems to me that most of my grade school years, through high school, had an English class which started with the assignment to write a short essay on “What I did last summer.” Long before we could even envision a life in which Facebook could … Read more

Advent in Germany

I used to think that England had the corner on the Christmas spirit; doesn’t America try to emulate that Dickensian depiction of Christmas each December?  But when I got to Germany and saw the Weihnachts Markt in Köln, I updated my opinion:  Germany has the corner on the Christmas scene!  Never have I seen people … Read more