155 Days With Bach and Me

I love being up and out before the sun rises. Sitting here at Panera Bread (my usual spot for these music-every-day listening adventures) affords me an entertaining window on the world.

For example, sitting across from me is an elderly gentleman with a Pistons NBA World Champions 1989 ball cap perched askew on his head. He’s reading the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. His lips move as he reads. Occasionally, he underlines passages.

I struck up a conversation with him. (I could tell you his name. But I won’t. Just call him the Yogi Man.) He said he’s read the book six times. And, in his private life, he sits in meditation. I could imagine such a thing if this were Portland. Or L.A. But Grand Rapids — Church Central?

Fascinating.

Back to Bach. As I listen, I continue to observe people from all walks of life. (Speaking of walks…a blonde in a too-short skirt and a too-tight top just walked out to her car. Sort of takes my mind away from Yogis and meditation. But that’s life — a mix of the sacred and the profane.)

Today’s compositions should have been incredibly soothing and fun. I love the flute. And, as I’ve written in previous entries here, I can dig the harpsichord in small doses. I don’t know what I expected from the title Flute Sonatas. But something akin to New Age music, perhaps. Soothing. Gentle. Flowing.

Although this music is — as is all I’ve heard from Brilliant Classics — superbly performed and recorded, it is not New Agey (despite the presence of the Yoga Man sitting across from me). The juxtaposition of flute against harpsichord (or is it vice-versa?) is jarring. Not soothing.

Or, to be more accurate, the flute is soothing. The harpsichord is jarring. So this is like some kind of Red Bull drink with a shot of bourbon in it — a stimulant and a depressant in one.

The two instruments blend together well in the Allegro movement from Sonata in E flat major (BWV 1031). Then, they’re playing in a kind of complimentary fashion, sort of like asking and answering. The harpsichord will play something that the flute will take up or compliment. There’s a very nice melody to this piece.

Sonata in A major, BWV 1032, movement one (Vivace) begins with a very Baroque-sounding harpsichord passage (lots of trills and briskness) that hooks me. The flute enters and I’m still hooked. The flute around the 2:50 mark reminds me of something from a jazz composition. Or Jethro Tull.

What I find interesting about this music is that my mind can only listen to one piece of it at a time. I either hear the flute, or I hear the harpsichord. When I try to just absorb the piece as a whole, I get a headache. Like I’m trying to take in too much at once.

Playing the flute is Stephen Preston. Playing harpsichord is Trevor Pinnock, CBE (which means Commander of the Order of the British Empire).

Both play admirably. They’re fine musicians.

I just don’t think my mind is wired to take in two instruments that do battle for my attention.

The compositions on today’s CD are:
BWV 1030 – 1717 (Bach was 32)
BWV 1031 – 1730 (Bach was 45)
BWV 1032 – 1717 (Bach was 32)