ARIA

It is somewhat ironic that one of the most recognizable melodies to come out of the Baroque Era is also one of the simplest and most spare. This Aria, written by Johann Sebastian Bach, bookends his magnum opus, “The Goldberg Variations”. Out of this theme (and its harmonic structure) the composer fashioned thirty highly inventive and individual pieces. It is poetry—distilled, transparent.

This music demands silence as a backdrop to listening. And while listening, we come to understand that famous quote, (attributed to Claude Debussy—and Mozart before him) "music is the silence between the notes."

Peaceful listening...