Evening in the Palace of Reason. James Gaines

      

      EVENING IN THE PALACE OF REASON

      BACH meets FREDERICK THE GREAT in the AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

      James Gaines

       Copyright

      Fourth Estate

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published by Fourth Estate 2005

      Copyright © James Gaines 2005

      PS section copyright © Louise Tucker 2005, except

      ‘How I Came to Write This Book’ by James Gaines © James Gaines 2005

      Cover images: Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library

      PS™ is a trademark of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      James Gaines asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      Portraits of Johann Sebastian Bach and Frederick the Great © Bettman/CORBIS

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      Source ISBN: 9780007153930

      Ebook Edition © JULY 2014 ISBN: 9780007369461

      Version: 2019-10-23

       Praise

      From the reviews of Evening in the Palace of Reason:

      ‘A wonderful work of popular history, intelligent, stylish, wryly witty, serious yet never solemn, and above all passionate’

      JOHN BANVILLE, Guardian

      ‘Wonderfully engaging … a piece of theatre that is witty, instructive and often bizarre … It is a book that is almost impossible to put down when one is dancing, swerving, stumbling through the extraordinary brilliance, blood-thirst, cruelty, fecundity and religious and other feuds of the society that helped to inspire Bach and sustain Frederick’

       Independent on Sunday

      ‘Gaines’s style is readable, crisp and compelling. He is an excellent guide: informed, unpretentious and frank … The impressive research is lightly worn … The minor parts are well played: Voltaire, Handel, Maria Theresa and George II all contribute beautifully drawn cameos. The reader retains a strong sense of their deeper and more complex historical characters. Above all, the musical prose is first-rate. Gaines is thoroughly acquainted with the repertoire, and his ability to convey a sense of Bach’s unique sensibility and spiritual power is often remarkable … A story told with wit, knowledge, the odd flight of fancy, and love’

       Times Literary Supplement

      ‘James Gaines vividly brings to life the personalities involved … [A] dramatic story, told with great pace and gusto’

       Scotland on Sunday

       Dedication

       FOR ALLISON, NICK,

       WILLIAM, AND LILLIAN

       CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Dedication

Map

I. THEME FOR A PAS DE DEUX

II. BIOGRAPHY OF A TEMPERAMENT

III. THE HOHENZOLLERN REAL ESTATE COMPANY

IV. A SMALL, UNREADY ALCHEMIST

V. GIANTS, SPIES, AND THE LASH: LIFE WITH “FATTY”

       VI. THE SHARP EDGES OF GENIUS

       VII. WITNESS TO AN EXECUTION

       VIII. SONG OF THE ENDLESSLY ORBITING SPHERES

       IX. A CHANGELING AMONG THE SWANS

       X. THE ARTIST IN A PAINT-BY-NUMBERS WORLD

       XI. WAR AND PEACE AND A MECHANICAL DUCK

       XII. THE NIGHT OF A MUSICAL OFFERING

       XIII. AFTERLIVES: AN EPILOGUE

       P. S. Insights, Interviews & More …