Bach Project - Chris Thile
Chris Thile
Chris Thile 2012 MACARTHUR FELLOW
Congratulations Chris!
It just absolutely slams you in the heart or gut or whatever it is.
Bach has that sort of immediacy. It’s music that fires on all cylinders.
He represents this sort of standard of perfection.
Edgar Meyer started playing all this Bach for us.
That was a great thing for me when I realized that Edgar Meyer,
who was already one of my heroes, was also a great Bach player.
All of the folk guys now, mandolin players and banjo players
and guitarists, they’re all playing a little bit of Bach.
When I fell in love with Bach and heard this Gould recording,
music that just fires on all cylinders, that has the immediacy
and emotional intensity, that clarity of intent.
I’ve never included the Bach in a set of mine
and it not been the biggest moment of the night for everybody.
And honestly, you play this music for them and they freak out about it.
People went crazy for it and in the autography line afterwards
that was always what people said, Wow, I love the Bach.
I’m gonna go listen to some Bach.
It’s something that people come to hear now.
And these are not classical music fans.
And Bach is one of those few things,
it’s one of the very few things in the world that I’d say,
everyone, everyone exposed to it in the right situation
or frame of mind is going to love it.
I love a routine of Bach’s was put the kids to bed
and he would take a carafe of brandy
and go upstairs to his little closet and write and write music.
Candle, cognac, and that closet and look at all the music we got from that
and to me that’s the picture that is always in my mind.
Anytime I’m trying to be creative or playing some Bach
and trying to remember that Bach is hopefully not,
not up in heaven right now looking down at me going,
What is this kid talking about?
What the hell is he doing to my music?
Hopefully he’s actually up there with his carafe of brandy
and a candle is lit and he’s writing more music.
That’s how I would like to think of him. In a little tiny closet.
Watch the Punch Brother play the Allegro from Bach's 3rd Brandenburg Concerto BWV 1048