Bach and Chopin Decoded

Johann Sebastian Bach coded Bible verses and stories into his compositions—a technique later adopted by Frédéric François Chopin. In Bach and Chopin Decoded, pianist Meng Chan explores the ability of one brilliant composer to read another's thoughts through music, and the philosophical insights which can be gleaned from classical music masterpieces. In this book, Meng Chan is able to offer a convincing prove of who really composed the sometimes disputed 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor-BWV 565'; using the codes that he had discovered.

Johann Sebastian Bach coded Bible verses and stories into his compositions—a technique later adopted by Frédéric François Chopin. In Bach and Chopin Decoded, pianist Meng Chan explores the ability of one brilliant composer to read another's thoughts through music, and the philosophical insights which can be gleaned from classical music masterpieces. In this book, Meng Chan is able to offer a convincing prove of who really composed the sometimes disputed 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor-BWV 565'; using the codes that he had discovered. Some may wonder why these methods of writing codes into music were hidden for so long. We can only speculate, but must be sensible to the fact that these musicians became giants long after their passing. In their own time, they were just musicians jostling with the others, attempting to make a living. They have grown in stature only because their music stood the test of time. Exploring stories such as the second coming of Christ and how these composers managed to weave the tale into their music, Bach and Chopin Decoded reveals the startling innovation behind men commonly accepted as genius—but who were far more brilliant than we could have ever imagined.

Meng Chan was born in Malaysia. Denied music lessons as a child, he learned to read and play piano music by reserve engineering—listening to recordings and referring to the written score simultaneously). At age 17, piano teacher Wong Pin Lin heard his playing and was much impressed with his keen musical sensibilities. She suggested that he study the piano seriously, and gave him his first formal piano lessons. He also studied with Harold Taylor, author of "The Pianist's Talent", and was mentored by the late Peter Katin, whose encyclopedic knowledge of the piano repertoire was awe-inspiring. Meng credits his self-reliant music education for his habit of probing into a composer's intention. He has always believed that every note must be understood clearly in its context before it can be played truthfully. He is the author of "Sacred Images of the Well-tempered Clavier", about his discovery of Bach's use of codes to infuse Bible verses and stories onto the music manuscript, and "Bach and Chopin Decoded", about Chopin's understanding and adoption of these same codes for his own musical compositions.