The Imperishable Johann Sebastian: Universum

Abstract

The semantic space examined in the present article under the aegis of the philosophical term Universum signifies the world as a whole, i.e., the summation of all things existing in the world and in human beings and, in the broad sense of the word, is synonymous to the category of the Universe. Moreover, this German word is also connected with the concept of the universal and the all-encompassing, and both of these observed gradations are applicative to Johann Sebastian Bach’s artistic heritage. In truth, one can only be astounded by the inclusiveness of the artistic content presented in the immense corpus of music written by the composer expressing practically everything that is essential of what forms the image of the world and man, where the truly boundless diversity of all sorts of thoughts and observations, emotional manifestations and effectual inner states in their individual and mass interpretations are imprinted in sounds. The composer’s music abounds with the strongest contrasts, which are presented in all possible oppositions: fantasy vs. canon, the spiritual vs. the mundane, the massive vs. the personal, etc.

Keywords: artistic legacy of J. S. Bach, multiplane realization of the sphere of the Universum, all-embracing system of oppositions