Bach Tatoo

Bach Tatoo

Continue of discussion from: Bach o Ring Tones [General Topics]

Douglas Cowling wrote (June 23, 2006):
Jean Laaninen wrote:
< You had me wondering there...since most of the people who perform Bach are not clerics (though some are). Thanks. In general, it is my experience that it takes a certain intellectual level in people to truly appreciate Bach >
I would rephrase that. Bach has an immediate visceral and emotional appeal which few other composers can claim. He is a populist composer and it requires nothing more than basic humanity to love "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring", the "Air on the G String", "Wachet Auf", the D minor Toccata .. the list goes on and few composers can touch him for sheer popularity.

But many of us don't just encounter Bach's music: we go on a lifelong journey with it, learning more about it everytime we play or listen to it -- and learning more about ourselves. That is not more "intellectual", that's a sign of our compelling curiousity about the man and his music.

Someone asked me once if I had a tatoo and I said no. Then I began to think of what I would choose and the image of the Bach monogram came to mind. And I thought, who else has been my friend for so long as Johann Sebastian Bach?

Now I just have to decide which part of my body should have a JSB tattoo.

Jean Laaninen wrote (June 23, 2006):
[To Douglas Cowling] Well, I can go along with what you are saying. It doesn't take quite the same intellectual level to enjoy Bach as to appreciate his technical merit, for example. And yes...it is definately a life-long pursuit.

If you direct a choir ??? maybe the tattoo could be on your right hand where the choir members would also be able to enjoy it regularly as you direct. Chuckle, chuckle.

Bradley Lehman wrote (June 23, 2006):
< Someone asked me once if I had a tattoo and I said no. Then I began to think of what I would choose and the image of the Bach monogram came to mind. And I thought, who else has been my friend for so long as Johann Sebastian Bach?
Now I just have to decide which part of my body should have a JSB tattoo. >
Since JSB fathered 20 children, it should probably be on the...earlobe. Small children in the house all the way from his early 20s into his 60s. When would there have been much time or place for silent contemplation of anything, or a completely uninterrupted night's sleep?

"Bach is the profoundest of every feeling." - Pablo Casals

Eric Bergerud wrote (June 23, 2006):
[To Bradley Lehman] Funny, I'd guess that with 20 children JSB would have had a tattoo on the palm of his hand. Mind you, I'm a Spock babby and parent, but there's no better way to get a 2 year old's attention than a good swat if they're doing something like eating a fish hook or sampling broken glass for desert. Bet that hasn't changed in 200 years.

Ed Myskowski wrote (June 24, 2006):
Brad Lehman wrote (to Doug Cowling):
>> Someone asked me once if I had a tattoo and I said no. Then I began to think of what I would choose and the image of the Bach monogram came to mind. And I thought, who else has been my friend for so long as Johann Sebastian Bach?
Now I just have to decide which part of my body should have a JSB tattoo.
Since JSB fathered 20 children, it should probably be on the...earlobe. <<
On first reading, I wondered if Doug set a straight line, waiting for the comedians to jump in. With uncharacteristic good taste, I let it pass. My standard advice to anyone considering a tattoo: Wouldn't weird hair be a better choice? So much easier to correct when (if?) your mind clears.

Mike Mannix wrote (June 24, 2006):
Every devotee should have the B.A.C.H. motif from the Art of Fugue engraved on their forehead and wear it with pride.

I opted for the opening bars of Brandenburg 5 tattoed on my scalp many years ago. It gives a whole new meaning to the concept of 'high-brow.

Yoël L. Arbeitman wrote (June 24, 2006):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< Now I just have to decide which part of my body should have a JSB tattoo. >
I don't think we should respond to this provocation:)

Teddy Kaufman wrote (June 24, 2006):
I wonder why one would wish to tattoo himself with Bach figure or monogram. Is it some kind of exhibitionism?

As a lover of Bach - his music "surrounds" me almost around the clock i.e., during breakfast, on my way to the hospital, in the O.R., in my clinic and in the background in the evenings while working in my study, etc.

Bach figure constantly appears on the desktop of my computers as well as on their screen savers. This might be considered as a sublimation to his tattoo.

Alain Bruguieres wrote (June 24, 2006):
Bach Tattoo or Ring tones

As you probably know, a mathematician needs a definition before he feels confident enough to utter a wholly irrelevant statement.Here is what I found online about the word tattoo.*
*

*
tattoo noun
*

1: a drumbeat or bugle call that signals the military to return to their quarters

2: a design on the skin made by tattooing

3: the practice of making a design on the skin by pricking and staining v : stain (skin) with indelible color

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=00-database-info&db=wn:
WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University

As for Definition 1: I'm not fortunate enough to own a cell phone, but this seems to apply perfectly to a Ring tone. I may even add that if I don't own a cell phone, it's precisely because I do not wish to expose myself to the risk of hearing a 'drumbeat or bugle call that signals the military to return to their quarters'.

At this stage we may consider that the 'tattoo' and the 'Ring tone' issues are unified under one single item.

As for Definition 2 : the word 'skin' applies to the superficial layers of our person; in our times this clearly includes a computer screen or - for that matter - the visual aspect of a cell phone. Therefore one may consider a screensaver as a modern form of a tattoo.

Definition 3 suggests a painful process. Also there's the idea that you'd better know what you're doing.

What's the purpose of a tattoo? I can only speculate, not being an adept of this practice. Identification to a group - the Bach cantata group for instance. A religious or magical ritual. Initiation ritual. Seduction, Glamour (Ich bin herrlich, ich bin schön, BWV 49).

I'm not quite sure that a tattoo is the best way of expressing my attachment to Bach's music; it is not clear to me whether exhibiting the Bach monogram is an enhancement to the sex-appeal; identification to so small a group as Bach lovers is not a critical issue; the magic or religious potency of Bach's music is sufficient in itself; similarly listening to Bach's music is an initiatic pathway to many abilities some consider er... well, probably with other forms of music it would be perfectly suitable.

Now if I were to pick a Bach motive for a 'Ring tone', I would probably consider a 'Wachet Betet' Ring tone, or an 'Auf Tiefer Not schrei ich zu Dir' one. But this latter choice has already been made, there's a cell phone operator, SFR, which uses the first 7 notes of this chorale melody for a jingle. Any other idea of a Bach melody suitable for this?

Nuyan wrote (June 24, 2006):
There are potential side benefits.

Either a Bach tattoo or ring tone can be used as a partner filter. You should not, however go for the popular works.

Imagine your cell phone going off and having a lass (lad) say to you:
"Oh, I listen to The Art of the Fugue all the time."
You know immediately that a relationship is worth pursuing.

The tattoo should only be used if the subject of tattoos asises in conversation. Then you let drop: "A while back, I had the final chorale of the Saint John put in a rather private place. I had the tattooist mimic Bach's own scoring style." The odds are against that statement arousing any curiousity, but when it does.............!

On the other hand, if either of the above elicits a blank stare, you have been forewarned. [;)]

Eric Bergerud wrote (June 24, 2006):
[To Ed Myskowski] That's a very gidea for genuine Bach loonies. Actually you'd only have to buy a wig. That you could simply remove when the brain cooled down: those dyes can linger for weeks. (My son plays rock music for a living - even makes money. He decided to be the only 21st century male rocker not to have a tattoo - an anti-signature I guess. Normal hair too. Of course he does wear three ear rings. Anyway I've seen lots of tattoos and lots of dyed hair pass through the house in the last ten years. It can get very odd.)

Yoël L. Arbeitman wrote (June 24, 2006):
Alain Bruguieres wrote:
< Now if I were to pick a Bach motive for a 'Ring tone', I would probably consider a 'Wachet Betet' Ring tone, or an 'Auf Tiefer Not schrei ich zu Dir' one. But this latter choice has already been made, there's a cell phone operator, SFR, which uses the first 7 notes of this chorale melody for a jingle. Any other idea of a Bach melody suitable for this? >
I propose "Wachet auf, ruft uns der Fernsprecher".

Douglas Cowling wrote (June 24, 2006):
[To Yoël L. Arbeitman] "Tönet Ihr Pauken" ?

Jean Laaninen wrote (June 24, 2006):
[To Yoël L. Arbeitman] Hilarious.

Mike Mannix wrote (June 25, 2006):
JSB had the first heavy-metal hair.

His statue at Arnstadt represents him as such. Apart from Hanns Eisler's National Anthem, perhaps the only lasting achievement of the old German 'Democratic' Republic.

Mike Mannix wrote (June 25, 2006):
I did the Bach souvenir shops in 1999. When it's raining I still use the JSB umbrella I bought in Eisenach, and I've still got a JSB goodie bag from Leipzig.

In Dresden you could buy a watch with a bit of the Frauenkirche in it, but as they couldnt guarantee a bit from the organ loft I didnt buy one.