Roger Sherman will return to one of his favorite subjects and composers, Johann Sebastian Bach, in a lecture titled “Bach by the Numbers: Symbols and Puzzles” on Sunday, Nov. 4. This Orcas Currents event will begin at 2 pm that afternoon in Orcas Island Community Church.

“There is much more to the music of Bach than what we hear when played,” he observes. For over a century, music theorists have tried to discover the many ways in which Bach included numerical symbolism in his compositions. They are clearly full of numeric content, but was this symbolism intentional? And if so, what did it mean?

In this presentation, Sherman will explore three specific topics. The first is the hidden symbols in the title page of an important work, which may solve one of the most enduring controversies in Bach’s keyboard music. Another such topic is a solution to the puzzle called Canon 13, which Bach holds in his hand in his famous portrait. Finally, Roger will discuss Bach’s use of proportional parallelism to create “eternal music” in his works and collections.

Roger Sherman is a resident of Orcas Island who has had a life-long interest in the music of J. S. Bach. He served as Artistic Director of the Orcas Choral Society and as Associate Organist of Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. He has given organ concerts in settings around the world, many of them featuring Bach’s music.

As President of The Gothic Catalog, a collection of recordings specializing in organ and choral music, he has been the producer and the recording and mastering engineer for over 300 works. And for the past 25 years, he has hosted the popular radio program “The Organ Loft” on KING–FM radio in Seattle.

In addition to his musical activities, Roger pursued a career in computer technology with Boeing Computer Services and Microsoft, where he served as the company’s first Director of Testing.

This Orcas Currents event is cosponsored by Janet Alderton, Carl de Boor, and Joe Cohen and Martha Farish. Admission is free but donations are welcome.