PERAHIA: For three years I couldn’t go to the piano, and I need music like I need to breathe. And in that period I needed Bach. There is a certain spirituality, a certain consolation that one gets. I think spirituality is a very important aspect of music, and it’s not necessarily tied to a strong religious belief. I remember speaking to Benjamin Britten about it. He said that when it came to music, he was a Christian composer.

Because I want the pieces to sound like they were written yesterday. I’m very dubious about this concept of authenticity. For me the most important aspect of the piece is the structure–that’s what gives it life. The instrument is much less important–as Bach himself demonstrated by transcribing the same pieces for different instruments. Mind you, he’s such a great musician that it’s beyond our capabilities to really comprehend his genius–at least my capabilities–but he was also very much a practical musician. “Do we have a harpsichordist here today? No? Let’s do it for the oboe.”

Isn’t that great? And he once punched the bassoonist, who didn’t like what he was writing–or something like that. I don’t know the whole story. But that was Bach. Bach was very tough. And a complete human being, you know? The complexity of his music is not for its own sake, but out of the necessity to explain something inside. So you have all these things going on, all this counterpoint, but it goes wild, it’s ecstatic. Still, one gets back to this question of structure. I was watching that 10-part PBS series on jazz–it was riveting. Because you hear the jazz people talk about chords and harmonies. You know how many people in the conservatory think about that? Zilch. It’s bizarre.

I think certain people excelled so much, virtuosos like Horowitz–maybe Lizst started the whole thing–that people just tried to emulate this amazing ability. And so they sit for eight hours a day, and I’m not kidding, practicing scales and etudes so they can master their instrument. And nobody thinks to be the old-fashioned Kapellmeister anymore. To compose, to improvise, to know the chords, to study harmony and counterpoint–all these things have gone out the window.

Yeah. But…

That’s right! Each of today’s composers writes so differently from the next–and 25 people go to their concerts. There’s no common language. This was not the case in the 18th century. Everybody was writing in the same language, and it was meant for people to enjoy. My ideal is still Mozart and Haydn. And Bach.