/lit/ - Literature

Any good non-fiction /lit/ about music and composers?

EDIFYING THOUGHTS OF A TOBACCO SMOKER

Whene’er I take my pipe and stuff it
And smoke to pass the time away
My thoughts, as sitting there I puff it,
Dwell on a picture sad and grey:
It teaches me that what similar stripe
Am I myself unto my pipe.

Like me this pipe, so fragrant burning,
Is made of naught but earthen clay;
To earth I too shall be returning,
And cannot halt my slow decay.
My well-used pipe, now cracked and broken,
Of mortal life is but a token.

No stain, the pipe’s hue yet doth darken;
It remains white. Thus do I know
That when to death’s call I must harken
My body, too, all pale will grow.
To black beneath the sod ’twill turn,
Likewise the pipe, if oft it burn.

Or when the pipe is fairly glowing,
Behold then instantaneously,
The smoke off into thin air going,
‘Til naught but ash is left to see.
Man’s fame likewise away will burn
And unto dust his body turn.

How oft it happens when one’s smoking,
The tamper’s missing from its shelf,
And one goes with one’s finger poking
Into the bowl and burns oneself.
If in the pipe such pain doth dwell
How hot must be the pains of Hell!

Thus o’er my pipe in contemplation
Of such things – I can constantly
Indulge in fruitful meditation,
And so, puffing contentedly,
On land, at sea, at home, abroad,
I smoke my pipe and worship God.

— J. S. Bach

What is a good biography on the greatest composer ever, J.S. Bach? I desire to know the man who created the most transcendent and beautiful music in all of history.

Who is the Bach of literature?

Best book on music theory?

no

>mogs all religious writing and theology

>>20971012
You're not culturemaxxing if you're spending your time with only literature.

Who is the Bach of Literature?
Who is the Beethoven of Literature?
Who is the Palestrina of Literature?
Who is the Debussy of Literature?
Who is the Prokofiev of Literature?
Who is the Rautavaara of Literature?

>>20492130
>>20492159
Are you aware of just how many children this Christian chad had?

>Fugue

What is it that allows great writers, artists, men in general to be so productive with their work? I know no one in my life that comes even close to the productivity of these men and I feel like there is some secret they are keeping from us.

who is the Johann Sebastian Bach of literature

If materialism is true what explains music? I've never heard a good answer to this. The worst answer is something about humans wanting to solve patterns which make no sense.

I want to read more but I'm addicted to listening to (classical) music. I can go tens of hours of listening to it, but that leaves me with literally no concentration for anything else. I feel like my brain is stunted. What do I do? Please /lit/ you're my only hope.

>>19678499
>Germany's greatest contribution to the world
Umm, try again sweety.

Are there any essays or aphorisms or something of the sort written by a composer? All I can find are letters.

Any books about going full ascetic and making the God you worship Beauty? To throw away all human desires, envy, anger, lust, politics, relationships, ego, drugs and only to focus on aesthetic contemplation? Not only in terms of Art but Beauty in a mountain or lake.

Why are there so no geniuses in the arts like they were in the past? Surely there are people with the IQ and Ability of Shakespeare or Mozart amongst us yet they don't create anything? What changed?

>>19413680
> Has 20 children

Yes, very often that is the case.

plebs

pretty new to classical, so what is it exactly that makes bach so good to this board?

>>18335694
Attaching the picture might have been a good move.