Music and Art

Lecture

Music and Art A Musical Einstein:
J.S. Bach and the Art of Counterpoint

Tom Cimarusti, Ph.D., Program Coordinator and Professor of Music History, Florida Gulf Coast University

J.S. Bach’s musical style often incorporated one of the most intellectually demanding compositional processes — counterpoint. Simply defined as note against note, this style of writing dominated much of the Baroque period and often featured the composer’s prowess in writing overlapping melodies. This lecture will investigate Bach’s genius in writing polyphonic works and will offer participants an introduction to the composer with examples from both sacred and secular works.

This presentation is part of Tom Cimarusti's Music and Art series.

Image: Composite image of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). U.S. Public Domain.

Tom Cimarusti

Tom Cimarusti

A native of Los Angeles, Tom Cimarusti received his Ph.D. at Florida State University and is currently a professor of music history at Florida Gulf Coast University. Although his primary research interests include 18th- and 19th-century Italian opera and song, chamber music and the music of communal utopias, he also lectures on world music and is an avid accordionist. He has presented his research at conferences in Europe, Asia and the United States. He is currently working on an edition of hymns associated with the late 19th-century religious cult, the Koreshan Unity. He has been the recipient of numerous research grants and excellence-in-teaching awards. In 2016, he founded the Center for Public Musicology, an organization that provides lectures, demonstrations and performances at venues throughout Southwest Florida. He lives in Naples with his wife, Christy, and two boys, Paul and Christopher.