Abstract
This chapter is a speculative psychological study of the music and life of Johann Sebastian Bach. It is argued that a profound division opened up in Bach’s soul in consequence of a series of overwhelming losses during his early formative years. These losses included the deaths of his mother, his father, and many siblings and other close relatives. One side of this division appeared in lasting bonds to the beloved ones who had passed into Eternity, while the other side manifested as a passionate love of life and people in this world. I suggest that Bach’s musical compositions, uniting sacred and secular musical traditions, embody a theme of creatively bringing these conflicting sides of his nature into an embracing wholeness.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to thank three people who have helped me immeasurably in completing this project: Benjamin Stolorow, Patricia Price, and Dorthy Levinson.
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Atwood, G.E. (2019). Time, Death, Eternity: Imagining the Soul of Johann Sebastian Bach. In: Mayer, CH., Kovary, Z. (eds) New Trends in Psychobiography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16953-4_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16953-4_17
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