---
title: "3 Bach Quotes By John Eliot Gardiner"
description: "3 Bach quotes by John Eliot Gardiner. Plus more from John Eliot Gardiner and more Bach sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/john-eliot-gardiner-43841_bach_the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-h_85582.jpg"
---

> [“The way we define opera circa 1700 may help us to throw light not just on the choices facing Bach and his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-help-us-to-throw-light-not/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/john-eliot-gardiner-43841_bach_the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-h_85582.jpg)

> [“We shall see shortly that Bach was to seize on a mutant type of opera that was to serve his purpose when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/we-shall-see-shortly-that-bach-was-to-seize-on-a-mutant-type-of-opera/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/745/john-eliot-gardiner-43841_quote_we-shall-see-shortly-that-bach-was-to-se_1525714.jpg)

> [“In his imaginative response to Luther’s text, Bach makes us aware that music can do much more than merely mirror the words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/in-his-imaginative-response-to-luther-s-text-bach-makes-us-aware-that/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf0/john-eliot-gardiner-43841_music_in-his-imaginative-response-to-luther-s_1551420.jpg)

## Other authors on Bach

## More by John Eliot Gardiner

> [“The way we define opera circa 1700 may help us to throw light not just on the choices facing Bach and his brilliant peer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-help-us-to-throw-light-not/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [“Music had shown that it could now articulate, reflect and project a sense of an established secular order – hence allowing the absolutist polemics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/music-had-shown-that-it-could-now-articulate-reflect-and-project-a/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [ “Talent \[by which I think she meant technique\] without genius is not worth much; but genius without talent is worth nothing whatsoever.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/talent-by-which-i-think-she-meant-technique-without-genius-is-not/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [“We shall see shortly that Bach was to seize on a mutant type of opera that was to serve his purpose when composing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/we-shall-see-shortly-that-bach-was-to-seize-on-a-mutant-type-of-opera/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [“In his imaginative response to Luther’s text, Bach makes us aware that music can do much more than merely mirror the words from start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/in-his-imaginative-response-to-luther-s-text-bach-makes-us-aware-that/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [“This faculty is mother wit, the creative power through which man is capable of recognising likenesses and making them himself. We see it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/this-faculty-is-mother-wit-the-creative-power-through-which-man-is/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [“His naivety was of the sort that Descartes no doubt had in mind when he concluded that the study of history, like travel, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/his-naivety-was-of-the-sort-that-descartes-no-doubt-had-in-mind-when/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [“Mattheson was perhaps too clever for his own good; nonetheless the smart money was on this sophisticated and broadly educated polymath. Later on he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/mattheson-was-perhaps-too-clever-for-his-own-good-nonetheless-the/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

> [“Kepler reportedly said, amid the massacres of religious wars, the laws of elliptical motion belong to no man or principality.’17 The same could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/kepler-reportedly-said-amid-the-massacres-of-religious-wars-the-laws/)

[John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/)

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