Why "Weaving Bach" ?

        This performance of the complete Second Book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, by Johann Sebastian Bach, is being presented in conjunction with the California Fiber Show, an exhibit of weavings and fiber sculptures in the Boehm Art Gallery, where the concerts are being presented. In discussions with Mea Daum, Publicity Director for the Performing Arts Department, and Vicki Cole, Director of the Boehm Art Gallery, several different dates, and concurrent exhibitions were discussed as possibilities for presenting the Bach Preludes and Fugues in the intimate setting that the Boehm Gallery offers. When the possibility of doing this series of concerts during the Fiber Show came up, there was an immediate "aha" moment. It seemed an absolutely perfect fit that Bach, the master of polyphony, should be heard with the visual accompaniment of art pieces created of fiber.

        Polyphony is a musical term that comes from two ancient Greek roots: poly, meaning many, and phonos, meaning sound. A piece of polyphonic music is one which has two or more layers, or strands of melodies. Each melody in a polyphonic piece is independent, and can be heard by itself as a satisfying musical thought. Yet each melody is designed to compliment and fulfill the other melodies. Bach, in the history of Western art music, was the unparalled master of polyphonic writing. No one before or after him was able to exploit the polyphonic possibilities and combinations of melodies as he did.

        When one plays Bach, it is as if one is weaving many strands of melody into a single perfect tapestry of sound. This is why the fiber art is so appropriate to the music. It provides a visual analog to the aural process of Bach's musical composition. What these beautiful fiber pieces do in space - weaving together many strands of thread into pieces of visual art, Bach does in sound. The pliability of thread/fiber corresponds to the elasticity of Bach's melodies, taking on new shapes as he combines and recombines them into objects of powerful beauty - floating in aural space much as these fiber pieces often seem to float in visual space. While one exists in space, the other exists in time.

        It is our hope that you will experience for yourself the deep underlying connection between these two artistic media both, in their own way, weaving beauty.