EXPLORELEFT
Baroque composer Johann
Sebastian Bach’s fans included
scientist Albert Einstein, who’s
quoted as saying, “I have this
to say about Bach’s works:
Listen, play, love, revere—
and keep your trap shut.”
ABOVE
What’s believed to be Bach’s
skeleton, photographed in
1895 by anatomist Wilhelm
His. Otte examined the left
hand, as too many bones are
missing from the right hand.IT WOULD SEEM that musical genius
has many dimensions. In the case
of composer Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750), an anatomical endowment
may have enhanced his virtuosity. In
a study published in a German scien-
tific journal, anatomist and musician
Andreas Otte deduced that Bach—a
gifted organist and harpsichordist—had
an exceptional reach at the keyboard.
Using a photo (right) of what histori-
ans believe to be Bach’s skeleton, Otte
calculated the hand’s size—nearly 8½
inches from wrist to fingertips—and
its reach, as much as 10¼ inches from
thumb to last finger with the hand open
wide. Using those measurements, Otte
figured that Bach could play what’s
called a 12th: a position bridging 12
white keys. That reach—marked on
the keyboard at right—is uncommon
even today, when humans generally
are larger than in Bach’s time.
“We cannot judge exactly how rel-
evant the span of the hand is for the
art of a musician,” Otte says. And he
insists that his research not be inter-
preted as conditioning Bach’s musical
prowess on his reach: “That would be
a sacrilege.” —INES BELLINGER
THE MUSICAL
GREATNESS OF
BACH’S HANDS
CAN YOU REACH?
On this diagram of
an 18th-century forte-
piano’s keyboard, the
red dots show the reach
that Andreas Otte says
helped Bach play a 12th,
spanning 12 white keys.SOURCE: MARKUS ZEPF, BACH-ARCHIV LEIPZIG (PIANO KEYS). PHOTOS: FINE ART IMAGES/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES;
SAXON STATE AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DRESDEN (SKELETON)