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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000014.txt from 2005/07
From: PhilFrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] Re: QOTD
Date: Fri, 08 Jul 2005 16:25:27 -0400
>> From: Oboeeee@-----.com
>> Subject: [DR-L] Quote of the Day
>
>> "Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible
>> delights of the soul."
>>
>> -Johann Sebastian Bach
>
>Okay, so what bassoon / oboe pieces do you recommend to accompany sex?
>
>=^..^=
I just came across a very similar quote yesterday, in a booklet accompanying
Murray Perahia's English Suites.
"The ultimate end and aim of thoroughbass should only be the glorification of
God and the recreation of the mind. Where these are not kept in view, there
can be no real music--only infernal jingling and bellowing."
"Das ultimative Ende und Ziel des Generalbass sollte nur dei Lobpreisung
Gottes und die Wiedererschaffung des Geistes sein. Wo dies nich im Blickfeld
bleibt, kann keine wirkliche Musik sein--nur ein infernales Geklimper und Gebrull."
(Some liberties taken with spelling given my lack of German character set.)
The quote is not attributed to any particular text source.
My dictionary translates "Geistes" as either "Spirit" or "Mind" or a couple
other things, too, though definitely not "Soul" (which would have been "Seele"
in German). The translation of Wiedererschaffung as "recreation" seems
suspect, as it probably is the concatenation of Wieder = "again" and Erschaffung =
"creation." "Re-creation" seems more portentous, less frivolous or likely to
include dissipating activities. Something like "rejuvenation" or "restoration"
might have been a better word choice?
(Not that I'm ruling out the more modern interpretation, given our current
understanding of the highly integrated nature of mind and body and spirit/soul.)
I wonder if the two quotes come from the same source. If so, the phrase
"permissible delights of the soul" would be quite a stretch. Of course, Bach's
thoughts of on the matter could have evolved in the time between the two quotes.
- Phil Freihofner
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