Bach’s Musical Offering

The date is May 7, 1747. The place is Potsdam, in the Kingdom of Prussia….about 15 miles from the capital city of Berlin. In the newly built summer palace of King Frederick the Great, the day was drawing to a close as it usually did – with an evening concert in the palace’s large music room. This would indeed be a memorable evening of music making. As it turned out the musicians readying their instruments to play that night wouldn’t actually get to perform. But what did transpire led to the creation of one of the most interesting and impressive pieces of music written during the entire era later named “the Baroque.”