I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music.
Johann Sebastian BachRead
I have always kept one end in view, namely ... to conduct a well-regulated church music to the honour of God.
Interpretation
Bach emphasizes the importance of dedicating music to the glory of God within the framework of a structured church environment.
In this quote, Johann Sebastian Bach reflects on his commitment to creating church music that is not only organized and well-regulated but also serves a higher purpose—honoring God. This highlights the intersection of art and spirituality, where music becomes a means of worship and a reflection of one's devotion.
In practice
In a sermon about the role of music in worship, this quote highlights our dedication to creating meaningful experiences.
I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music.
Music's only purpose should be for the glory of God and the recreation _x000D_ of the human spirit.
On one of those rare occasions when Bach appraised his own life's work, he remarked: I worked hard.
I worked hard. Anyone who works as hard as I did can achieve the same results.
God's gift to his sorrowing creatures is a joy worthy of their destiny.
Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted. Suddenly, they become the bleached bones of a story.
So many new things have been discovered in the 20th century that now, at the end of the century, we need some kind of synthesis, some musical language which will allow us just to write music.
One mustn't always believe that feeling is everything. In the arts, it is nothing without form.
I sang a lot as a little girl and entered competitions. I loved singing in choirs, but it was as I got older that I really found my voice.
We have no longer an outside and an inside as two separate things. Now the outside may come inside and the inside may and does go outside. They are of each other. Form and function thus become one in design and execution if the nature of materials and method and purpose are all in unison.
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