Hofstadter, Dennett - The Mind's I

Prelude . . . Ant Fugue 155do not have a common melodic subject, there is nevertheless always some intangible abstractquality which underlies both of them, binding them together very strongly.TORTOISE: And there is something very dramatic about the few moments of silent suspensehanging between prelude and fugue-that moment where the theme of the fugue is about toring out, in single tones, and then to join with itself in ever-increasingly complex levels ofweird, exquisite harmony.ACHILLES: I know just what you mean. There are so many preludes and fugues which Ihaven't yet gotten to know, and for me that fleeting interlude of silence is very exciting; it's atime when I try to second-guess old Bach. For example, I always wonder what the fugue'stempo will be: allegro or adagio? Will it be in 6/8 or 4/4? Will it have three voices or five-orfour? And then, the first voice starts.... Suchan exquisite moment.CRAB: Ah, yes, well do I remember those long-gone days of my youth, the days when Ithrilled to each new prelude and fugue, filled with the excitement of their novelty and beautyand the many unexpected surprises which they conceal.ACHILLES: And now? Is that thrill all gone?CRAB: It's been supplanted by familiarity, as thrills always will be. But in that familiaritythere is also a kind of depth, which has its own compensations. For instance, I find that thereare always new surprises which I hadn't noticed before.ACHILLES: Occurrences of the theme which you had overlooked?CRAB: Perhaps-especially when it is inverted and hidden among several other voices, orwhere it seems to come rushing up from the depths, out of nowhere. But there are alsoamazing modulations which it is marvelous to listen to over and over again, and wonder howold Bach dreamt them up.ACHILLES: I am very glad to hear that there is something to look forward to, after I havebeen through the first flush of infatuation with the Well-Tempered Clavier-although it alsomakes me sad that this stage could not last forever and ever.CRAB: Oh, you needn't fear that your infatuation will totally die. One of the nice thingsabout that sort of youthful thrill is that it can always be resuscitated, just when you thought itwas finally dead. It just takes the right kind of triggering from the outside.