Is a definitive Bach edition possible? Surely this is one composer who cannot be contained by a single interpretation. He was, according to Claude Debussy, "a benevolent God to whom all musicians should offer a prayer before starting work." It would take more than a lifetime to know all of Bach, but there is the promise of a lifetime of pleasure and discovery in returning to his music. He gave us a series of compositions through which - not merely in which - there arises a vast, humanistic vision of eternal truths. The best commentary on a Bach score is another. John Passion grows in depth and disarming sweetness in the light of the simplest melody from, say, the Goldberg Variations. Every violin sonata gains emotional resonance with the memory of his cantatas, every expression of faith in the monumental St. More than any other composer, Bach is the author of a "complete works": Every individual score only shines brighter in the light of the rest of his oeuvre. There are celebrations under way, none more exciting than Teldec's "Bach 2000: The Complete Works of Johann Sebastian Bach." It is a monumental achievement, one of the most significant events in the history of recorded music. The year 2000 marks the 250th anniversary of Bach's death.
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