The Significance of Bach

© 1985 by Helmuth Rilling
Translated by Gordon Paine

At a reception in Stuttgart celebrating his recording projects, Helmuth Rilling delivered the following speech, in which he explores Bach's significance to the world today and explains his philosophy of the performance of Bach's music.

Why does the music of Johann Sebastian Bach hold such great interest for us today? Why do people of utterly different religious and even ideological persuasions listen to it and become involved with it?

Among the numerous possible answers to this question, four seem to me to be of particular importance.

The first has to do with the systematic, orderly quality of Bach's music-something one can perceive and experience instantly, without special background or training. Nearly everyone who hears this music is struck by its musical organization and the structural thinking behind it. This musical order, however, does not signify any limitation on the creative quality, the inventive strength, or the imagination of the music.

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