{"product_id":"evening-in-the-palace-of-reason-bach-meets-frederick-the-great-in-the-age-of-enlightenment-isbn-9780007156580","title":"Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment","description":"Johann Sebastian Bach created what may be the most celestial and profound body of music in history; Frederick the Great built the colossus we now know as Germany, and along with it a template for modern warfare. Their fleeting encounter in 1747 signals a unique moment in history where belief collided with the cold certainty of reason. Set at the tipping point between the ancient and modern world, \u003cem\u003eEvening in the Palace of Reason\u003c\/em\u003e captures the tumult of the eighteenth century, the legacy of the Reformation, and the birth of the Enlightenment in this extraordinary tale of two men. | \u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne Sunday evening in the spring of his seventh year as king, as his musicians were gathering for the evening concert, a courtier brought Frederick the Great his usual list of arrivals at the town gate. As he looked down the list of names, he gave a start.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Gentlemen,\" he said, \"old Bach is here.\" Those who heard him said there was \"a kind of agitation\" in his voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo begins \u003cstrong\u003eJames R. Gaines\u003c\/strong\u003e's \u003cstrong\u003eEvening in the Palace of Reason\u003c\/strong\u003e, setting up what seems to be the ultimate mismatch: a young, glamorously triumphant warrior-king, heralded by Voltaire as the very It Boy of the Enlightenment, pitted against a devout, bad-tempered composer of \"outdated\" music, a scorned genius in his last years, symbol of a bygone world. The sparks from their brief conflict illuminate a pivotal moment in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehind the pomp and flash, Prussia's Frederick the Great was a tormented man. His father, Frederick William I, was most likely mad; he had been known to chase frightened subjects down the street, brandishing a cane and roaring, \"Love me, scum!\" Frederick adored playing his flute as much as his father despised him for it, and he was beaten mercilessly for this and other perceived flaws. After an unsuccessful attempt to escape, Frederick was forced to watch as his best friend and coconspirator was brutally executed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty years later, Frederick's personality having congealed into a love of war and a taste for manhandling the great and near-great, he worked hard and long to draw \"old Bach\" into his celebrity menagerie. He was aided by the composer's own son, C. P. E. Bach, chief keyboardist in the king's private chamber music group. The king had prepared a cruel practical joke for his honored guest, asking him to improvise a six-part fugue on a theme so fiendishly difficult some believe only Bach's son could have devised it. Bach left the court fuming. In a fever of composition, he used the coded, alchemical language of counterpoint to write A Musical Offering in response. A stirring declaration of everything Bach had stood for all his life, it represented \"as stark a rebuke of his beliefs and worldview as an absolute monarch has ever received.\" It is also one of the great works of art in the history of music.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet at the tipping point between the ancient and the modern world, the triumphant story of Bach's victory expands to take in the tumult of the eighteenth century: the legacy of the Reformation, wars and conquest, and the birth of the Enlightenment. Most important, it tells the story of that historic moment when Belief -- the quintessentially human conviction that behind mundane appearances lies something mysterious and awesome -- came face to face with the cold certainty of Reason. Brimming with originality and wit, \u003cstrong\u003eEvening in the Palace of Reason\u003c\/strong\u003e is history of the best kind, intimate in scale and broad in its vision.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Evening in the Palace of Reason has given me enormous pleasure and instruction.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJan Morris, author of A Writer’s House in Wales\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gaines writes very accessibly…A marvelous story that will captivate the classical music audience.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An eloquent and fascinating study, highly debatable at points yet all the more stimulating for that…Accessible and entertaining.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTime magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gaines elegantly sketches parallel biographies of the two protagonists....His enthusiasm is infectious.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Intelligent, stylish, wryly witty, serious yet never solemn, and above all passionate in its celebration of a great composer.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“James Gaines writes with great beauty and intelligence…an exciting saga that brings the turmoil of the Enlightenment alive.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWalter Isaacson, author of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“History winningly told , with the immediacy of a great novel...Gaines paints a whole age with the skill   of Tuchman.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMary Karr, author of THE LIARS CLUB and CHERRY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Lively…with a delicious cast of characters…Gaines shows himself a deft writer.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDenver Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Filled with sensible speculation and insights, Gaines’ books is a model for humanities writing.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Antonio Express-News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Highly entertaining… Lovers of music, European history, and Western philosophy will find this book an enormous pleasure.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gaines writes with admirable erudition…No author could want a more promising pair of antagonists.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gaines paints a whole age with the skill Barbara Tuchman brought to A Distant Mirror, or the antic wit of a writerly Hieronymous Bosch.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMary Karr, author of The Liars’ Club\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A moving portrait . . . Gaines has a deep understanding of music and an infectious zeal for narrative history.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople, four stars\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Articulate, well-informed and rigorous…Gaines makes this dauntingly technical subject accessible.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Impossible to put down when one is dancing, swerving, stumbling through [the] extraordinary brilliance…a wonderfully engaging tale.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Independent (Sunday)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“First rate...[Gaines] writes superbly and makes us feel at home with things that would have sounded arcane otherwise.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A moving portrait...Gaines has a deep understanding of music and an infectious zeal for narrative history.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople (four stars)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gaines maps sweeping cultural history with dazzling virtuosity…You won’t find a more lucid and engaging guide.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A book-length romp that is less like a B-Minor Mass than an Italian opera…Wonderful.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHarper's Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889050906853,"sku":"NP9780007156580","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780007156580.jpg?v=1730230401","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/evening-in-the-palace-of-reason-bach-meets-frederick-the-great-in-the-age-of-enlightenment-isbn-9780007156580","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}