"Musical Offering"

J.S. Bach wrote an amazing piece of music called “Musical Offering” that was an offering to Fredrick the Great.  It is really a master work on the Canon.  There are several ways to manipulate the melody of a canon, and in the “Musical Offering” he does them all.  I wanted to really dissect this piece of music, to be able to truly demonstrate to the non-musician just how complicated this beautiful piece of work is, but the more I researched it, the more I realized there is just too much complexity in it, to explain it in simple terms.  There are two ways I can think of to describe the complexity of what he does. Here is the first one:  A canon, reduced to its most simplest terms, is like a round, like “Row Row Row Your Boat”.  Now imagine a native american woven rug.  If we look at “Row Row Row Your Boat” as a rug that has a pattern, that then repeats itself over lapping the original pattern, and weaves in, in an appealing manner.  Perhaps we use the single pattern repeated in three different shades of a color, so that they interweave in a visually appealing way.  Now imagine taking a pattern, and weaving it in three or four patterns that are now also different colors, not just shades of the same color, while still not making it clash anywhere.  Now lets take the pattern and have the second pattern repeat itself twice as fast as the primary pattern, while still maintaining visual beauty.  Now take the pattern and flip it, where you had the pattern go down, now it goes up, and vice versa.  while still weaving into the original pattern as well.  Now take the original pattern and weave in the mirror image of itself.  In the “musical Offering” bach weaves ten of the most intricate rugs you have ever seen, including one that can literally rise endlessly, well beyond the means of an instrument to play. In the margins of this piece Bach writes “As the keys ascend, so do the glory of the king”.  Also there are two movements of the “Musical Offering” that don’t state the duration of repetition, but rather instruct the performers to discover it “By seeking, you will discover”.  This piece of music is so complicated, yet is at the same time rooted in its primary melody, that repeats over and over again throughout the piece.  It is a beautiful, and eerie melody that is innocent, beautiful and melancholy all at the same time.  In truth I don’t think this rug metaphor completely does justice to how complicated and difficult this piece was to compose.

What the “Musical Offering” is, is an amazing metaphor for two people.  Actually it is probably a beautiful metaphor for a lot of people, but I am going to focus on two.  One, my readers will be very familiar with, Holden.  The other will be less familiar to my readers, but very familiar to Priscilla Gilman’s readers, Benj.  While reading Priscilla’s book “The Anti-Romantic Child” I was reminded time and time again of two things: Holden, and the “Musical Offering”.  More than a book about autism, “The Anti-Romantic Child” is a book about a parent’s quest to come to terms with reality versus perception, and anticipation.  It is a beautiful tribute to a child, and to language. To dreams lost, and opportunities realized.  To the possibility of disillusionment, turned into a powerful faith in the written word and metaphor, and finding deeper meaning in those very same written words and metaphors.  Most of all it is a love story of a mother for her child, and a seemingly unending amount of energy on that mothers part to do everything in her power to help the potential of a child be reached.  “The Anti-Romantic Child” will be out on paperback next month, I strongly advise everyone to get a copy and read it (http://www.amazon.com/The-Anti-Romantic-Child-Memoir-Unexpected/dp/0061690287/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332977703&sr=8-1).   

Like Bach’s melodies, and hidden endings, Holden and Benj are so completely complicated, and sometimes unfathomable to comprehend, while still being so beautiful, inspiring and often reassuring.  They have a way of weaving in their own melodies of life, in complicated, complex patterns that remain so pure and beautiful, innocent and melancholy.  They turn our worlds upside down, and make us rethink our perceptions and preconceived notions of life.  They are as fragile as a petal, yet as rigid glass.  They endlessly surprise us with their mixture of inflexibility, and adaptability.  Just like the “Musical Offering” there are surprises around every corner, and each turn is a lesson in life.  They are our master works, inspiring us to help others appreciate the complexity, and graceful beauty that they both are.

I don’t think I can ever listen to Bach’s music in the same way I used to in college.  I now have a far greater appreciation for the beauty in complexity and subtlety that I don’t think I could have ever appreciated if it were not for Holden.  I can not speak for Priscilla Gillman, but I suspect the same is true for her and Wordsworth.  I could spend years trying to get people to understand the subtle nuances that are Holden, but I think I couldn’t find a better metaphor for him, then Bach’s “Musical Offering”, beauty and grace, in complexity and sometimes seemingly chaos, that is Holden.