I was driving around town today and I kept forcing the same track to play on my CD player — track 37, the final movement of one of Gould’s performances of Bach’s Partita No. 3 for piano.

This is a complex, ornate, sublime experience encapsulated in a mere 2:15.  Both hands fly across the keyboard, with harmonies and dissonances blending into a wall of sound that is so intricate that the ear requires training just to make sense of it.

This piece has always been one of my favorites — fast-paced and intense piano and organ music will not fail to lift my spirits.  It made the perfect compliment to a gorgeous too-warm autumn day.