Rutland Boughton

A very powerful exploration of Bach's spiritual life, positing two important concepts. In the general scheme of things Boughton claims that the socio-cultural wolrd of any age is -- or at-least so far has been -- at best an approximation of the inner vision of its finest creative spirits. More specifically, he claims that JS Bach was torn by an irreconcilable conflict between the depraved sterility of his own time, and the fact that the comparatively few people around him who shared that social vision were philospohically unsympathetic to the art which he practiced, and indeed was raising to a perfection unequalled then or since. Boughton's prose is lively, and his scholarship good (for the time). By all acoounts, he was a rather combative character, but then, so was Bach, and if he is incorrect in his analysis of Bach's situation -- which every reader will have to decide independently -- at-least he spoke with great moral and intellectual authority. This is an excellent book which deserves a much wider audience than it has ever had. It is also important to mention, in this age when even well-intentioned music-lovers are as likely as not to be unfamiilar with even the basics of music theory or history, that technical matters do not obstruct the flow of his argument. Had I the time on the planet, I would love to translate this book into one or two other languages.… (more)