WTF Bach

Borges, Bach, Barthelme.


Listen Later

Would you object to the comparison of Messiaen and Borges? I see both 20th century giants deeply steeped in the masters of the past, throughly conversant in the antique, and yet they bring something uniquely modern— magical. Borges’ stories have the ability to stun, to make one wonder, or in the case of the story I read today, elicit tears.

After Shakespeare’s Memory, (1983) which I believe is his last published story, I offer my somewhat chaotic rendition of the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel Hoch, BWV 769.

Following this, Donald Barthelme, an exciting, quirky read: The School (1976.) The frontispiece of my Barthelme book is a painting by Kandinsky— perhaps this is the right metaphor.

June 13th, episode 99, sees the release of volume 4 in my J.S. Bach Complete Keyboard Works series. You can save the release here in eager anticipation:

https://modernclassicalx.lnk.to/BachCompleteKeyboardWorksVol4PartitasPtOne

The two tracks I made for this episode are available as a free download. Here you are!

We Rely On Listener Support! How to Donate to this Podcast:

The best way to support this podcast, is to become a paid Substack subscriber at wtfbach.substack.com

Enough paid subscribers = exclusive content, monthly merchandise giveaways!

You can also make a one-time donation here:

https://www.paypal.me/wtfbach

https://venmo.com/wtfbach

https://cash.app/$wtfbach

Thank you for listening! Thank you for your support.



Get full access to W.T.F. Bach? at wtfbach.substack.com/subscribe
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

WTF BachBy Evan Shinners

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

55 ratings


More shows like WTF Bach

View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,830 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

299 Listeners

The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

10,726 Listeners

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast by Joshua Weilerstein

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

2,194 Listeners

UnJustified by MSW Media

UnJustified

7,699 Listeners

You'll Hear It by Peter Martin & Adam Maness

You'll Hear It

16 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,198 Listeners

The Bulwark Podcast by The Bulwark

The Bulwark Podcast

12,558 Listeners

Hard Fork by The New York Times

Hard Fork

5,535 Listeners

Decoding the Gurus by Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

Decoding the Gurus

954 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,223 Listeners

Unexplainable by Vox

Unexplainable

2,311 Listeners

On with Kara Swisher by Vox Media

On with Kara Swisher

3,519 Listeners

If Books Could Kill by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

If Books Could Kill

9,372 Listeners

Bulwark Takes by The Bulwark

Bulwark Takes

996 Listeners