Robert Peters replies to me replying to him:

>>>What is the mysterious X which makes Bach's music so touching that even
>>>an agnostic guy like me feels like a Christian when listening to the St
>>>Matthew-Passion?
>>
>>Talent?
>
>Yes, but talent for what?  For composing?  For moving people?

The short answer is yes.

>Every film composer can move people - but can he (or she) touch the soul?

Some do, some don't, just like other composers.

>Is touching the soul through music only a technical question of notes
>and chords?

What else could it be?  AND is Bach's X different in kind or degree or
both?  Bach certainly has his own artistic "personality," but so do many
other composers.  It's both an advantage and a limitation.  Bach could
no more be Chopin or Debussy than either one of them could be him.

The idea of the mysterious X (just drop it in your tea for greatness --
I'm kidding) is a highly Romantic one.  For me, an artist does things
better than other people, rather than has a greater Soul than others.
Too many composers, poets, and artists were not only idiots in anything
other than their art, but rather unlovely characters as well.  I know
enough of Bach's life to realize he was no saint and that he had no
special insight on life.  However, he did compose music better than most.

Steve Schwartz