In the December 31 issue of The Nation, Michael O’Donnell writes, “Glenn Gould, the virtuoso pianist and great interpreter of Bach, once described the way recordings of music ‘insinuate themselves into our judgments, and into our lives,’ thereby giving recording artists ‘an awesome power that was simply not available to any earlier generation.’ Listen to a favorite record often enough, and it becomes authoritative; a different interpretation, however fresh and ingenious, arouses suspicion. … Music in the age of recording is the subject of Reinventing Bach, an unusual book by Paul Elie that champions recording technology as the means of survival for classical music generally, and the music of Bach in particular. … Classical music has experienced years of diminishing ticket sales and the indifference of young listeners and so must exploit technology, Elie believes, in order to endure. To prove as much, he lived for ‘a thousand and one nights’ with Bach’s music on compact disc, MP3 and radio, and he emerged on the other side of the experience eager to proselytize both the music and the recording technology that captured it. Against the instinct of purists to denounce the ubiquitous cheapening of classical music in ringtones, overheated movie trailers and hip-hop songs, Elie contends: ‘The more various our encounters with Bach, the more objective his genius is.’ ”
Posted January 9, 2013
