I never liked Bach when I was growing up. I thought he was incredibly boring. I played a few Bach pieces (very simple ones) on the piano as I was taking lessons, and they were always some of my least favorite classical pieces I played. My 14-year-old self was pretty convinced that Bach was just straight up overrated.

Then a few years ago, I found a list online of 100 classical music pieces you must listen to before you die. I decided to work my way through that list (I still haven’t, by the way, and can’t even locate the list…but that’s neither here nor there). One night, in the middle of a very difficult period of my life, I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to listen to the next piece on that list, which happened to be Bach’s Mass in B minor.

I pulled up a version on YouTube and started listening. It was the middle of the night, and I remember closing my eyes to listen and feeling completely and utterly transported. That listening experience remains the most powerful experience with music that I have ever had. I could hear Bach’s joy. I could hear him worshipping and praising God. And, as trite and exaggerated as this sounds, in some sections, I felt like I could literally hear heaven. I remember listening in my bed, headphones in, eyes closed, and wondering how he could have possibly captured that in his music, and thinking sincerely that this has to be what heaven sounds like.

Beethoven tells you what it’s like to be Beethoven, and Mozart tells you what it’s like to be human. Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe. – Douglas Adams

This morning, I woke up to my Facebook feed full of Bach. I follow Classic FM (I highly recommend their feed, if you are at all interested in classical music), and they were streaming a concert (performed to an empty music hall) of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, and had a special post dedicated to Bach because, as it happens, today is Bach’s birthday. He was born this day in 1685.

To honor Bach’s birthday, I decided to listen to his Mass in B minor. I didn’t really expect to be moved as much by it this morning as I was that night several years ago. After all, I’ve listened to it a number of times since then with perfect composure. But as the music moved from the devastation of Christ’s crucifixion to the joy and jubilation of His resurrection, I teared up. Maybe because it feels like a promise. Maybe because it made me feel like everything is going to be okay.

Whatever the reason, I agree that we need Bach – now more than ever.

Photo by David Schou, used under the Creative Commons License