Ben Wilson

I'm gonna show you how great I am. I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, I'd like to take this chance to apologize to absolutely nobody.

I'm gonna show you how great I am. I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, I'd like to take this chance to apologize to absolutely nobody.

I want you to imagine yourself as a German peasant in the early 1700s bear with me for a second Your life is mostly silent. Yes, you hear the sound of the wind brushing up against your wooden shutters. You hear birds singing in the morning. You hear the crack of the axe as it bites into cold timber, the quiet patter of livestock.

I want you to imagine yourself as a German peasant in the early 1700s bear with me for a second Your life is mostly silent. Yes, you hear the sound of the wind brushing up against your wooden shutters. You hear birds singing in the morning. You hear the crack of the axe as it bites into cold timber, the quiet patter of livestock.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The music isn't just outside of you, it's within you. The organ pipes seem to shake the entire church and everything in it. You're listening to the music of your local organist, Johann Sebastian Bach. I find it just amazing to think that some of the greatest, most universal music in history was created for church services in a little town in the middle of Germany of less than 10,000 people.

The music isn't just outside of you, it's within you. The organ pipes seem to shake the entire church and everything in it. You're listening to the music of your local organist, Johann Sebastian Bach. I find it just amazing to think that some of the greatest, most universal music in history was created for church services in a little town in the middle of Germany of less than 10,000 people.

johann sebastian bach isn't just one of the great classical composers he's one of the great artists of all time in any medium up there with da vinci and shakespeare so today we're talking about a man whose music has reached farther than any empire lasted longer than most religions and inspired a kind of devotion typically reserved for saints or prophets we're going to see how he was able to compose not only such great and transcendent music but so much of it

johann sebastian bach isn't just one of the great classical composers he's one of the great artists of all time in any medium up there with da vinci and shakespeare so today we're talking about a man whose music has reached farther than any empire lasted longer than most religions and inspired a kind of devotion typically reserved for saints or prophets we're going to see how he was able to compose not only such great and transcendent music but so much of it

We're also going to be taking a look at what his music meant to him and what it means for us. Welcome to How to Take Over the World. I'm going to show you how great I am. I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, I'd like to take this chance to apologize to absolutely nobody. Hello, and welcome to How to Take Over the World. This is Ben Wilson.

We're also going to be taking a look at what his music meant to him and what it means for us. Welcome to How to Take Over the World. I'm going to show you how great I am. I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, I'd like to take this chance to apologize to absolutely nobody. Hello, and welcome to How to Take Over the World. This is Ben Wilson.

Many people remember that when in 1977 the Voyager spacecraft was launched, opinions were canvassed as to what artifacts would be most appropriate to leave in outer space as a signal of man's cultural achievements on Earth. The American astronomer Carl Sagan proposed that if we are to convey something of what humans are about, then music has to be a part of it.

Many people remember that when in 1977 the Voyager spacecraft was launched, opinions were canvassed as to what artifacts would be most appropriate to leave in outer space as a signal of man's cultural achievements on Earth. The American astronomer Carl Sagan proposed that if we are to convey something of what humans are about, then music has to be a part of it.

To Sagan's request for suggestions, the eminent biologist and author Lewis Thomas answered, I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. After a pause, he added, but that would be boasting. That is from the excellent biography Bach, Music in the Castle of Heaven by renowned conductor and author John Eliot Gardner. I'm excited to talk to you about Johann Sebastian Bach.

To Sagan's request for suggestions, the eminent biologist and author Lewis Thomas answered, I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. After a pause, he added, but that would be boasting. That is from the excellent biography Bach, Music in the Castle of Heaven by renowned conductor and author John Eliot Gardner. I'm excited to talk to you about Johann Sebastian Bach.

I know some of you will probably roll your eyes. He is the boring old composer whose music is just an unrelenting succession of 16th notes, right? Late Baroque music, not the easiest to enjoy for many people. But I think even if you don't like classical music, it's just a lesson in how to produce unbelievable volumes of great art. And hopefully I can teach you to enjoy Bach if you don't already.

I know some of you will probably roll your eyes. He is the boring old composer whose music is just an unrelenting succession of 16th notes, right? Late Baroque music, not the easiest to enjoy for many people. But I think even if you don't like classical music, it's just a lesson in how to produce unbelievable volumes of great art. And hopefully I can teach you to enjoy Bach if you don't already.

I think one of the great testaments to the power of Bach comes from Friedrich Nietzsche. If you don't know, Nietzsche, who was a philosopher, came to truly hate and loathe Christianity. And Bach is the most Christian of all composers. He was an extremely religious Lutheran who viewed his music as an extension of his duty to serve and worship God. It is really very deeply Christian music.

I think one of the great testaments to the power of Bach comes from Friedrich Nietzsche. If you don't know, Nietzsche, who was a philosopher, came to truly hate and loathe Christianity. And Bach is the most Christian of all composers. He was an extremely religious Lutheran who viewed his music as an extension of his duty to serve and worship God. It is really very deeply Christian music.