num_pages: 336
description: In one corner, a godless young warrior, Voltaire's heralded'philosopher- king', the It Boy of the Enlightenment. In the other, a devout if bad-tempered old composer of 'outdated' music, a scorned genius in his last years. The sparks from their brief conflict illuminate a turbulent age. Behind the pomp and flash, Prussia's Frederick the Great was a tormented man, son of an abusive king who forced him to watch as his best friend (probably his lover) was beheaded. In what may have been one of history's crueler practical jokes, Frederick challenged old Bach to a musical duel, asking him to improvise a six-part fugue based on an impossibly intricate theme (possibly devised for him by Bach's own son). Bach left the court fuming, but in a fever of composition, he used the coded, alchemical language of counterpoint to write A Musical Offering in response.
language: English
title: Evening in the Palace of Reason : Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment
titlecomplete: Evening in the Palace of Reason : Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment
genres: Philosophy, Classical Music, Art, Music, Nonfiction, History, European History, 18th Century, Germany, Biography
ratings_count: 1135
publisher: Fourth Estate