Numbers

Bach was a number freak.

Or so it seems.

He didn´t leave us any written confirmation about his fascination for numbers, nor did anybody ever mention having a conversation about it with him.

But as the saying goes, I have no proof, but also no doubt.

There’s a series of freakish coincidences in his life and music.

For example, when he was about to become a member of the Society of Musical Science, he delayed his inscription until the 13th person signed up so that he was assured a place as the 14th member.

Numerous allusions to this number appear in his music. But not only this one…

Also number 41.

And 144.

Funny thing, if you give a numeric value to each word of the alphabet:

2 for B, 1 for A, 3 for C, and 8 for H (BACH)

Add them up and, voilà, you get 14.

Add Johann to that and you get 41. Add Sebastian and you get 144.

My Bach album has had almost 40,000 streams only on Spotify, just 4 days after having been released. In case you’ve been asleep or haven’t been reading any of my e-mails lately, I released the first ever bandoneon album on Warner Classics, dedicated to Bach.

The Air from the Orchestra Suite nr.2 is a beautiful piece of music included on the album, and I’d like to point you out to the beautiful official video, which you can see here: → AIR by Bach, on Bandoneon 

Whenever you listen to a piece of music by Bach, see if you can find a 14, 41, or 144. And let me know if you do.

Yours,

Claudio.

→ AIR by Bach, on Bandoneon