Bach

Lots of Bach lately. From the last few weeks:

* The Brandenburg Concertos, several different versions, my current favorite being the Consortium Musicum. But I still want the 1982 Trevor Pinnock.
* The Art of Fugue, not on harpsichord or piano or organ, but as a chamber work performed by the Musica Antiqua Koln. I'm new to Bach's last work and, unsurprisingly, it's a very good time.
* The Musical Offering, with Chiyoko Arita at the harpsichord (out of print, I believe) is one of the most beautiful things in my music library.
* all six harpsichord concertos by Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra. Just okay.
* some of the Keyboard Partitas, performed by Igor Kipnis on harpsichord. I have a great weakness for solo baroque harpsichord (as somewhere Scarlatti's ears begin to burn).
* various Glenn Gould, including The Well-Tempered Clavier (Book I), the Toccatas, the 2- and 3-part Inventions, and the 1955 Goldberg Variations.

Last night during dinner, I had the Brandenburg Concertos playing in the music room and The Art of Fugue simultaneously shuffle-mixed on my nearby phone. Both Bachs were audible, and overlapping. Waves of baroque beauty, long interweaving lines of lovingly patterned self-reference, each meeting and lapping warmly at the feet of the other. Even when the two pieces were in contrasting keys there was no disharmony, leading me to suggest that Bach contains no internal contradictions.