Canonical puzzles

Happy Birthday, J.S. Bach!!

Bach was born on March 21, 1685. The man was a musical genius. GENIUS. In his lifetime, he was known primarily for his tremendous ability to play the organ -- and he was especially known for his improvisation skills on the instrument. On at least one occasion, he generated and played a 3-part fugue on the spot! There are rumors that he improvised a 6-part fugue, but the evidence is not solid -- that would be beyond the capacity of any modern composer, I'm told.

Here are some fun facts about the guy:

- Bach was a devout Lutheran. At the end of almost every one of his compositions, he wrote the letters "SDG," for Soli Deo Gloria ("To God alone be the glory").

- In 1705, Bach walked 260 miles to hear the famous organist Buxtehude play. To make this journey, he took a month's absence from his job.

- Bach was once thrown in jail for a month because his employer at the time didn't like that Bach had accepted a new job.

- Bach was a prolific composer. He was also a prolific...father. He and his first wife (his cousin, ew) had 7 children together. After she died, he married Anna Magdelena and together they had 13 children. That's 20 children in total! Sadly, 11 died as young babies. :(

- Bach enjoyed creating and solving musical puzzles.

- Bach incorporated lots of symbolism and code into his music. As one small example, he inserted his "musical signature" in many of his pieces. His musical signature was, well, his last name: B-A-C-H. In the German music notation system, "B" = B flat and "H" = B natural. So to add his signature, he would simply weave the 4-note motif (B-flat, A, C, B natural) somewhere into his piece. He also incorporated statements of his faith and belief in God into his music.

- The Bible that Bach owned and scribbled notes in was found in Frankenmuth, Michigan!! Go here for the story.

- Bach's comment on playing the organ: "There's nothing to it. You simply hit the right notes at the right times and the instrument plays itself." :)

To commemorate this special day, I am listening to Bach's "Goldberg Variations" while working. However, my favorite Bach composition of all time (thus far -- I've probably only heard 5% of his music) is his "Little" Fugue in G minor. I was introduced to that piece in elementary school. My elementary school music teacher wanted to teach us the concept of a "fugue," and he used Bach's fugue in G minor to accomplish the task. We all listened to the piece together and were told to listen for the reentries of the fugal theme. Every time a new voice (part) entered with the main fugue theme, my teacher placed a pacman on the blackboard. When the final booming bass voice entered with the the theme, he placed a huge pacman on the board and it gobbled up the others.

I can't listen to that piece now without envisioning the little pacmen. I'm sure that Bach is proud. :)