Die Stille vor Bach plot
The title refers to the well-known poem by the Swedish poet Lars Gustafsson, The Silence of the World for Bach. In it, Bach's significance to the world, and the position of his music in the history of European civilization, is made clear by the simple, poetic idea that there once existed a world without Bach's music. This film deals with how Bach transformed the world through his music. We see fragments in which pieces of music by Bach and two sonatas by Mendelssohn are performed on authentic instruments, but also on contemporary instruments such as a harmonica.