The Score

…one moment there's nothing. Then there's something. Your mind's blank — then there's an idea. From second to second. There it is, the germ of your cantata, your chorale, your partita. Out of the void. Out of nothing — to something. In a millionth of a second. A divine spark!

Spring 1747. Potsdam, Prussia. Johann Sebastian Bach reluctantly visits the court of Frederick II, Europe's most ambitious and dangerous leader.

The two men could hardly be more different. As the Age of Enlightenment da...