John Smyth wrote:

>His music, *within movements* is infused with what I would call a sort of
>"mono-emotionalism".  There is no sense of ambiguity and mystery.

I find in Bach a very high level of ambiguity, mystery, and varied
emotionalism, particularly in the solo works for harpsichord and organ.

Felix Delbrueck wrote:

>It seems to me that generally the emotional and non-musical effects
>in Bach are musically stylized and symbolic - you won't get as direct an
>assault on your emotions or senses as in romantic composers.

That's a beautiful and insightful comment on Felix's part.

There are those who prefer the emotionalism of a work to hit them
"straight-on", and those who prefer the emotionalism below the surface, an
emotionalism which is even richer than the romantic can provide assuming
one digs a little to discover it.  I'm in the latter camp.  I liken the
emotionalism of the romantic to two "slugging" fighters who keep pounding
one another; each fighter knows exactly what the other is doing and will
continue to do.  Bach's musical emotionalism reminds me of two disciplined
and savvy fighters who are searching intently for the "keys" of the
opponent; when one fighter finds the other's keys, the latter boxer goes
down, not having any idea how he could have been penetrated.  This analogy
might stink, but I like it.

Bach's music is subtle, deep, and multi-faceted.  I can and have listened
to a Bach work one day and felt I had a good handle on the messages
conveyed, then on the very next day I have a very different notion of the
messages.  Once I played a short Bach piece for a few friends of little
classical music background; each one reported an entirely different
emotional response - that's one of the signs of emotionally complex music.
This example might stink also, but I like it.  I like most everything I
say and write.

Don Satz
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