On the Occasion of J. S. Bach's 333rd Birthday

It is appropriate, indeed mandatory, that the birthday[1] of one of the two greatest composers who ever lived[2] be celebrated. About Bach, the late William F. Buckley, Jr, whose political philosophy I abhorred, regarding it as eloquence in support of fascism, got it right when he commented:

[T]here are among us men and women who will not drink from this most precious vessel of our cultural patrimony. To some, he does not speak. If we understand that, then we understand, surely, what the problems are in Geneva, where grown men are actually talking to each other as if it were a challenge to formulate arrangements by which the world should desist from the temptation to destroy itself. If a human being exists who is unmoved by the B minor Mass, it should not surprise that human beings exist who are unmoved by democracy, or freedom, or peace. They have eyes but they do not see, ears but they do not hear. Well, Bach tended to end his manuscripts with the initials, “S. D. G.” — Soli Deo Gloria, To God alone the glory. But God shares that glory, and did so 300 years ago when Johann Sebastian was born[3].

Amen.

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1. I began writing this short article on March 21, J. S. Bach’s 333rd birthday, but other matters intervened. My apologies to the master, wherever he is.  ↩
   
2. The other being Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  ↩
   
3. National Review, February 26, 2018  ↩