Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Evening in the Palace of Reason: When Johnny Met Freddy

Spring is afoot and summer is not far behind. So, if you're like me, it's a fine time to start thinking about your summer reading --or something for those fine sunny spring mornings.

One book that has recently caught my attention is "Evening in the Palace of Reason" by James Gaines. A story of the meeting between J. S. Bach (always a welcome figure around these parts) and Frederick the Great. The encounter, which resulted in one of Bach's undisputed masterworks, takes place when is Bach already in the sunset of his years and Frederick The Great is on the rise. An encounter that tells us as much about music as the meeting of two very different world views.

A splendid little review of the book can be found here at the Denver post. Publisher's info is here.

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