Finsternis

A really cool thing I learned today:

"Und von der sechsten Stunde an war eine Finsternis über das ganze Land bis zu der neunten Stunde.:
[And from the sixth hour on there was a darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried aloud and said]

In Bach's St. Matthew Passion, "Finsternis" [darkness] is an F-flat which, thanks to equal temperament, we recognize as the enharmonic equivalent of E. But in Bach's day it didn't exist! That is, it is using an impossible note for an impossible event as a form of musical exegesis.

The reaction I get when trying to share this with friends is a mixture of pity, apathy and annoyance. This is the kind of expression that I suspect you, dear reader, are making right now. It only makes me feel a little lonely and highly dorky.

Still, I'm delighted by this and by the promise of more if I keep at it.