The Palace of Reason

A Musical Offering

by Paul Robinson

In the Palace of Reason is based on the music of Bach’s contrapuntal masterpiece, A Musical Offering, and the fascinating story of how it came about.

The title of Paul Robinson’s new work for Harmonie Band is adapted from the title of a book by Gaines (An Evening in the Palace of Reason), which recounts the genesis of ‘A Musical Offering’. Bach, invited to the palace of Frederick the Great, was presented by the king, who reputedly despised counterpoint, with a theme ‘as resistant as possible to Bach’s powers of improvisation’. Bach’s rebuttal was a three-part fugue that later became the impossibly complex six-part fugue, annoying the king even further.

This intensely contrapuntal work is a vehicle of great flexibility. The ambiguous orchestrations and ordering of the elements that comprise the work have inspired interpretations ranging from the symphonic approach of Toscanini to the icy precision of Anton Webern.

Paul Robinson’s settings bring to the forefront the complexities and layering in a contemporary musical language, ending with a straight arrangement of the 6-part Ricercar, reaffirming the timelessness of this music.

In the Palace of Reason is scored for violin; viola; cello; 2 clarinets doubling flute and saxophones; piano and synthesiser; mandolin doubling accordion; percussion including vibraphone, drum sampler and toy piano.

The work lasts for approximately 40 minutes.