The ability of music to "tell a story"—with or without an accompanying text—has always fascinated me. In fact, my first published article, while still a student, concerns the musical symbol of death in Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni. I wrote about music and text in Schubert Lieder, and on the psychology of loss in Beethoven's "Farewell" Piano Sonata, Op. 81a, an article covered in Haaretz, May 1996. In addition, I gave talks on narrative content in two Bach Sarabandes, from the G-minor English Suite (No. 3), and from the E-major French Suite (No. 6). The G-minor Sarabande talk was covered in Haaretz.

Here is the G-minor Sarabande, in a wonderful live performance by Edward Aldwell (1938-2006), American pianist, and co-author, with Carl Schachter, of the canonical harmony textbook, Harmony and Voice Leading.