My Bach is better than my bite...

This morning, I listened to Concerto No. 4 in G major of Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg concertos. It is one of the most brilliant pieces of music ever written. If you listen very carefully, you can almost hear the mathematical patterns underlying this piece. The Brandenburg concertos are an example of Baroque music, which is steadily rhythmic, and features polyphony, which is a melodic structure where melodies and counter melodies play off each other in unison. Another feature is the music changes from being either loud and strong, or soft and subtle at precise moments without the usual gradual transition of crescendo or diminuendo. If you were to assign numerical values to the music, a pattern would certainly emerge.

The six Brandenburg concertos were presented by Bach to the Margrave (Christian Ludwig) of Brandenburg in 1721.

Indeed, to any extra-terrestrial life-form intercepting the Voyager spacecrafts (which were launched in 1977), the first piece of music they will hear (from its Golden Record) is the first movement of Concerto No. 2 in F major. Certainly an excellent example of the creativity of humanity as an introduction to intelligent life on Earth.

The Voyager spacecrafts flew beyond the path of Pluto some time ago and are now leaving our solar system. Let us hope that the invitation to visit planet Earth will be in peace.

Merlin's human, Kim came over for dinner. They had weisswurst (which is a German sausage) with mashed Pontiac potatoes, and zuchini (courgette) and asparagus. I very much enjoyed her visit again, and I hope Merlin did not miss her too much while she was out. Merlin's other humans, Jordan and Liam, also stopped by very briefly (they are the offspring of Kim). Now that they are older, I do not mind them as much, but still prefer my peace and quiet.

I have been a bit more aloof today. Must be the weather.

If you enjoyed reading this, let me know. You can email me at keisercat@wildmail.com