A bit of Bach

With my son Jackson in Leipzig.

In the swirl of such complex and heartbreaking conflicts in our world, music can be a healing and uplifting respite. It can authentically articulate every range of emotion, rage to grief to the lightness of peace. Yesterday, before our concert in Leipzig, my son Jackson and our friends Janine and Dominic visited St. Thomas church to pay our respects to Johann Sebastian Bach, who is interred there. Many were taking seats to listen to the organ pieces of the master, swelling from above. We lit candles for the departed and listened as well. I was standing but noticed my son lost in the music. He is a truly great musician himself and was quite moved.

Bach before St. Thomas Church

Jackson listening to Bach during organ rehearsals

This is a fragment of what we were hearing in St. Thomas Church. I remembered Bach’s last words to his wife before he died on July 28,1750 in Leipzig. “Do not cry for me, for I go where music is born”

Bach’s final resting place

Bach’s remains lie within St. Thomas church. Standing there, I thought of Glenn Gould who spent a lifetime interpreting and immersing himself in Bach’s works. On another post I will include a video of the great Gould at work. But for now, just a bit of Bach and a stroll through the town that also hosted Mendelssohn, Goethe and Schiller. In fact, Goethe penned much of Faust here.

Later we had an energetic concert. It was a positive performance yet contained within the lyrics and strength of drums, bass and guitar strings the range of our feelings. From rage to hopelessness to fervent desire for a unified people.

Saying farewell in a small adjacent park