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WHY THE WEB IS GREAT FOR MUSIC BOOKS

A critic on the trail of Bach's genius should follow it to where it lives: in the details (where, not coincidentally, both God and the devil are also said to dwell). But a discussion of musical details must include notated examples, and most readers--even many music-loving ones--are incapable of playing such things on the piano or hearing them in their mind's ear. This means the audience for incisive writing about Bach--in fact about music in general--has always been extremely limited.
 
It occurred to me that the multimedia nature of the internet might offer a way around this problem. This is what led me to write "Why Bach?", an online appreciation of Bach’s music which combines a book-length text with over 400 notated examples that play as a cursor follows along. So far, so enabling for the non-music reader. But the internet shows its real power in letting me use colour to link comments in the text to especially interesting moments in the music; this offers general readers a window into the inner workings of Bach’s art. (As simple as this method is, I haven’t seen it used before.) In this way I am able to show how Bach transforms a merely conventional figure into a more distinctive line, and from there, with another turn of his sorcerer’s wheel, into an unforgettable melody. I assume no knowledge of music theory on the reader’s part: even the layperson should be able to appreciate Bach's magical transformation. 

Early response to "Why Bach?" has been gratifyingly positive. Eminent Bach experts have praised the book, and some readers have suggested that all books about music should be web-based. I'm well aware that Bach's music can seem dauntingly fortresslike, but even fortresses have entrances. My principal hope for Why Bach? is that it will guide the lay-listener inside.

~ DAN BROWN

Picture credit: tnarik (via Flickr)