After listening to “How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition” by Greenberg, I couldn’t wait for more, and took on Bach and the High Baroque next.

He didn’t just handle [sic] Bach, but did a great many compare and contrast lessons as well. (And speaking of George Frideric Handel, Greenberg tells us that both Bach and Handel died of the same cause at the hands of the same incompetent doctor. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health notes:

“The beautiful strains of George Frideric Handel's ‘Messiah’ and Johann Sebastian Bach's ‘Christmas Oratorio’ evoke a very different picture from the dark bond the two composers shared: Each was blinded by botched eye surgery at the hands of a flamboyant quack. . . . Both Handel and Bach underwent eye surgery at the hands of an "oculist" called the Chevalier John Taylor.

‘Taylor was the poster child for 18th century quackery,’ says Daniel Albert, MD, MS, the author of Men of Vision, a history of ophthalmology.

Handel lived with declining vision for the last decade of his life following failed cataract surgery by Taylor. Bach died a few months after his surgery for what was described as a painful eye condition, which Albert believes may have been cataracts and a detached retina. A post-operative infection likely killed Bach.

At the time, Albert observed, physicians had no concept of bacteria, and no anesthesia, so the idea was to operate as quickly as possible. But the risks may have been greater with a charlatan like Taylor. Albert describes him as "the most infamous of all ophthalmic quacks.”

This may seem like a digression, and it is for this review, but not for this course. Greenberg adds many biographical details and interesting observations about the times and the places where Bach worked.

Greenberg adds verve and excitement to his subject matter. He takes us through some of Bach’s greater works in a lot of detail, including the St. Matthew Passion and the Goldberg Variations, explaining just what makes them so extraordinary. Bach was not recognized as a genius in his own time, and as Greenberg opines, we are lucky that a lot (but not all) of his work is still around. And we - listeners and students - are lucky to have an excellent teacher like Greenberg, whose enthusiasm is infectious and whose knowledge of Bach gave me many more ways to appreciate him. ( )

While I have enjoyed Professor Greenberg's "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music," and appreciated his expertise, nothing quite prepared me for the depth of knowledge he displays about the music of the Baroque, and about Bach in particular. I have long loved the music of J. S. Bach, but Greenberg's love for his subject is so infectious and his explanations so clear and concise that I found myself listening with new comprehension. I really recommend this course which is available through Audible as well as The Great Courses. ( )

While I have enjoyed Professor Greenberg's "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music," and appreciated his expertise, nothing quite prepared me for the depth of knowledge he displays about the music of the Baroque, and about Bach in particular. I have long loved the music of J. S. Bach, but Greenberg's love for his subject is so infectious and his explanations so clear and concise that I found myself listening with new comprehension. I really recommend this course which is available through Audible as well as The Great Courses. ( )