Usually, when a piece of music moves me, I’m inclined to study it to death.

Occasionally though, I come across some amazing pieces of music that I deliberately won’t study.  I’m afraid that doing so would upset the novelty; familiarizing myself with its intricacies would take away some of the magic.

Can you relate?  How so?

For me, two pieces of music come to mind:

First, Bach’s Fugue in C# minor from Well-Tempered Clavier Volume 1.  This piece makes my blood boil (in a good way!).  Here’s Glenn Gould playing both the prelude and fugue – the fugue starts at 2:40:

Second is John Adam’s Phrygian Gates.  This is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I know; I’ve never heard anything quite like it.  It’s also a monster; pianists beware!