Prelude in B Minor

Prelude in B Minor

I have shared Prelude in B Minor by JS Bach before. But today I would like you to go with me on a little journey. (I did this to my wife and kids yesterday, and they loved it).

I’d like you to listen to this performance by Grigory Sokolov first. But don’t just listen, pay attention to the music coming out of his right and left hands. The right hand plays the same motive, starting loud and then quieting down. The left hand is the one that tells the story, and it gets progressively louder and more articulate as the piece progresses. 

Now listen to the same prelude transcribed by Charles Coleman for the full orchestra (including organ, I think). Again, listen for the “left and right hands.” The violins play the right-hand part, and the rest of the orchestra steps in and plays the part of the left hand.

And now go back to Sokolov performance… It sounds richer now, doesn’t it.

Vitaliy Katsenelson is the CEO at IMA, a value investing firm in Denver. He has written two books on investing, which were published by John Wiley & Sons and have been translated into eight languages. Soul in the Game: The Art of a Meaningful Life (Harriman House, 2022) is his first non-investing book. You can get unpublished bonus chapters by forwarding your purchase receipt to bonus@soulinthegame.net.