Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1865

The Grand Journal of June 4^th, 1865 reports the following event:

“All editors and all music lovers in Paris know Mr. N. G. Bach, pupil of Zimmermann, first prize winner at the piano conservatory in the 1819 contest, one of our most respected and cherished piano teachers, great grandson of the great Sebastian Bach, whose illustrious name he dignifies.

“Informed by our common friend, Mr. Dollingen, administrator of the Grand Journal, that Mr. N. G. Bach’s apartment had been the stage of a true prodigy on the evening of May 5^th last, I then asked Dollingen to lead me to Mr. Bach, being welcomed at 8 Rue de Castellane with great courtesy. I believe to be unnecessary to mention that I only allowed myself to tell the readers this marvelous story after the proper consent of its hero.

On May 4^th last Mr. Leon Bach, a curious stuntman of an artist, gave his father a harpsichord remarkably carved. After long and detailed research, he found inside the historical details of that instrument: it was from April 1564, manufactured in Rome. Mr. Bach spent part of his day contemplating the precious harpsichord. He fell asleep thinking about that. Not surprisingly, his dream was like this:

In the depth of his dream he saw a man with a long beard at the headboard of his bed; he was wearing round shoes with large laces on top, large breeches, a long sleeve shirt, pleated at the top, a large collar and a steep hat with large rims. That person leaned over Mr. Bach and said: - The harpsichord that you have now has once belonged to me. It served me many times to entertain my master, King Henry III. When he was very young he composed an Aria with lyrics that he liked to sing and that I played for him many times. He composed the Aria and the lyrics to a woman that he met during a hunting trip and with whom he fell in love. She was kept away from him; people say that she was poisoned and that the King suffered a lot. Every time when he was said he used to sing that song. Then, in order to distract him, I used to play a Sarabande^[1] in my harpsichord, that I had created and that he liked very much. I then used to play those two compositions, always one after the other. I will play them for you.

Next the man in the dream approached the harpsichord, played a few chords and sang the Aria with so much feeling that Mr. Bach woke up crying. He lit a candle and check the time; it was 2am. He soon fell asleep again. It is here that the extraordinary begins.

When he woke up in the morning Mr. Bach was surprised by finding a page with the music on the bed, written with a very fine letter and microscopic notes. Since Mr. Bach is short sighted he had great difficulty to read all that and had to utilize a magnifying glass to decipher the scribbles.

A few moments later the successor of Sebastian Bach sat at the piano and executed the music without difficulties. The words and the Sarabande were exactly like the ones that the man in the dream had played for him! But Mr. Bach is not a somnambulist. He had never written a single verse in his entire life and the rules of poetry were totally strange to him. Here a passage of the music that we transcribed from the manuscript. We kept the orthography that, truth be said, is totally unknown to Mr. Bach.

I lost her,

The one I loved so much,

The dream of a lover,

Everyday a new touch,

A new desire.

Without her, life expires!

One day, in a faraway expedition, hunting,

I had that first sight.

An angel on the grounds, I thought!

I was the happiest of the Kings!

I would give my whole kingdom

to hold her once again,

To have her in the little cabin,

From my heart she would feel the rhythm.

Oh! They took her away from me,

Her final days secluded still;

My own life can only be

Bitter; she no longer suffers, no longer feels!

In that crying romantic song, as in the joyful Sarabande that follows, the musical staff is not less archaic than the writing. The clefs are different from those that are used today. The bass is written in one tone and the song in another. Mr. Bach was kind enough to allow me to hear the passages that have a simple, original and penetrating melody. In fact, our readers will soon be able to judge it themselves since they are in the hands of producers that are supposed to have it out with the editor Legouix, at the Boulevard Poissonnière, 27.

The journal Etoile tells us that King Henry III had a great passion for Marie de Cleves, Marquess of Isles, deceased at an early age in an Abby, on October 15^th, 1574. Wouldn’t that be the beautiful, sad and secluded lady that the verses mention? The same paper tells us that an Italian musician by the name Baltazzarini came to France in those days and that he was one of the King’s favorites. Had the harpsichord belonged to Baltazzarini? Was the Spirit of Baltazzarini that wrote the Sarabande? A mystery that we dare not investigate!”

Albéric Second

-o-

After the lyrics the Grand Jounal inserted the song that unfortunately we cannot reproduce here. But since it is available for sale those that wish will be able to acquire it. (see Bibliographic News). Mr. Albéric Second finishes his article saying: “A mystery that we dare not investigate!” And why you dare not? That is a fact whose authenticity is demonstrated to you, as you acknowledge it yourself, and because it touches the mysterious life of beyond the grave you dare not search for its cause! You tremble when you face it! Then, despite all that, are you afraid of the apparitions or you fear to find the proofs that not everything ends with the life of the body? It is true that to a skeptical person that sees nothing and believes in nothing beyond the present, such a cause is very difficult to find. However, the more something is strange and seems not to conform to the known laws the more it should lead to analysis or at least raise curiosity.

It is true that certain persons are afraid of seeing very clearly because they would have to accept that they were wrong. Let us see, however, the deductions that every serious person may find in the fact, abstraction made of any Spiritist idea.

Mr. Bach receives an instrument that he attested to be an antique, something that is a reason for great satisfaction on his part. Influenced by that idea it is natural that it provoked a dream. In the dream he sees a man dressed in antique costumes, playing that instrument and singing an Aria of that time; nothing there that, rigorously speaking, cannot be attributed to a super excited imagination by the emotion and memory of the evening, particularly in a musician. But the phenomenon gets complicated here. The melody and the lyrics cannot be a recollection since Mr. Bach did not know them. Who then would have it revealed to Mr. Bach, if the man that he saw was nothing more than a fantasy? It is understandable that a super excited mind may lead to the recollection of forgotten things, but could it bring new ideas; could it teach us things that we did not know, have never learned and with which we have never dealt with? That on itself would be a fact of the highest relevance that deserved be examined because it would be a proof that the Spirit acts, perceives and conceives beyond matter. Let us keep it quiet, if you will. These considerations are of such an elevated and abstract order that not everybody can scrutinize them or not even give some thought to that.

Let us then move to the more material, more positive fact, that is the written song with the staff. Is that the result of imagination? The thing is there, touchable, and visible. Here is the place for an indispensable and scrupulous examination of the circumstances. Before we move further and to avoid hypothetical discussions, let us say that Mr. Bach, who we did not have the honor of knowing before, was kind enough to come to us and bring along the original piece in question. We could then hear from his own mouth all the details necessary to the clarification of the issue, at the time when he also confirmed some points reported by the journal.

Everything that was said about the dream was correct but the paper with the music was not brought to him on that same evening. In the morning of the following day Mr. Bach tried to remember the Aria that he had heard; he sat at the harpsichord and even tried to write the music, although imperfectly. About three weeks later the same individual appeared to him a second time; this time he sang the lyrics and said that he would give him the means of memorizing it. That is when he found the piece of paper on his bed when he woke up. He got up, played the music on the instrument and acknowledged that it was exactly the one he had heard, as well as the lyrics from which he only had a confusing memory. He also recognized the paper that belonged to him. It was a double face common musical paper on which he had written several things himself, in one of the faces. That piece of paper, with many others, was locked away inside a drawer in a desk located in another room of the house. One would have to had it removed from there and brought to his bed while he was asleep. Nobody could have done it in his household as far as he knew it. Who then? That is the terrible mystery that Mr. Albéric Second dare not scrutinize.

He found the Aria written on the clear face of the paper and according to the techniques and method of that time. The words were written with extreme precision, each syllable placed exactly under the corresponding musical note. Everything written with a pencil. The characters are really thin, but very clear and readable. The shape of the characters is typical of manuscripts of that time.

Mr. Bach was not skeptical or materialistic and even less atheist, but like a lot of people, he was in the large rank of the indifferent, not much interested in philosophical things. He only knew Spiritism by name. What he had just experienced got his attention; far from not willing to scrutinize the matter he said to himself: let us investigate it. He read Spiritist books and began to understand it and willing to get more insights into the matter he honored us with his visit. Today the fact is no longer a mystery to him and even seems very natural; besides, he is now very happy with the faith and knowledge that the circumstances led him to acquire. That is what he gained.

He knows perfectly well that neither the music nor the lyrics could have come from him. He had no doubt that they had been dictated to him by the person that had appeared to him; but he asked himself who had actually written them, if that could be him in a somnambulistic state, even if he had never been a somnambulist. That was possible but if it was admitted as such then it would just prove even better the independence of the soul, like every event of that kind; these are very curious and numerous events with which science has never not get involved.

A particular detail seems to destroy that opinion and that is the fact that the handwriting has no relationship with that of Mr. Bach. In a somnambulistic state he would have to change the way he writes regularly and utilize that of the sixteenth century, something that is not plausible. Could that be a prank from someone in his household? Even admitting that hypothesis he guarantees that nobody there has the necessary knowledge to execute that. Well, if he was the one that had the dream and he only had an insufficient recollection to transcribe the words and the music, how come someone strange to all that would have a better memory? The carefully written characters would have required a long time and a great practical skill.

Another important point to clarify was the historical fact of that first passion of the King, not mentioned in history and that inspired such a melancholic music. Mr. Bach’s son asked one of his friends that works at the Imperial Library about the existence of any historical document about it; the answer was that if there was any indication it should be in the Estoile Jounal that was published in those days. The search immediately led to the discovery of the passage reported above. Henry III mother feared that such a woman of a superior soul could exert influence upon her son and had her sent away to be secluded and later on killed. The King did not accept that loss and remained broken heart for his entire life. Isn’t that a remarkable fact that the music refers to an event that was unknown to everybody, and consequently unknown to Mr. Bach, and that later on it was confirmed by a document of those days, hidden in a library?

That circumstance has fundamental importance since it demonstrates in a irrefutable way that the lyrics cannot be authored by Mr. Bach or by anyone else in the house. Every hypothesis of charlatanism falls before such material fact.

Only Spiritism could provide the key to this fact by the knowledge of the law that governs the relationships between the corporeal and the invisible worlds. There is nothing marvelous or super natural there. The whole mystery is in the existence of the invisible world formed by the souls of those that lived on Earth and that do not break their relationships with those that outlived them. Show someone that does not know electricity that one may correspond with someone else hundreds of miles away in a matter of minutes^[2] and that will seem miraculous; have that person learned the laws of electricity and it will become natural. That is what happens to the Spiritist phenomena.

In a session of the Spiritist Society of Paris in which Mr. Bach was present, the Spirit that had appeared to him gave the following explanations about the events that we have just reported.



Spiritist Society of Paris, June 9^th, 1865 – Medium Mr. Morin

Question to the spiritual guide to the medium – Can we call the Spirit that manifested to Mr. Bach?

Answer – My son, the serious issue raised by that spontaneous manifestation is very natural. Starting this evening it must be resolved so that there will not be doubt remaining about the way the music was made. The Spirit is here and will respond very clearly to the questions addressed to him.

Q – (to the Spirit that manifested to Mr. Bach) Considering that you wanted to come to us, anticipating our appeal, we would be grateful if you could give us explanations about the event that took place with your intervention. We also would like to know why Mr. Bach was chosen for the manifestation and what was his participation in the phenomenon.

A. – Thank you for your benevolence and for having me with you. I understand the importance you give to this fact; however, you must not be surprised since such kind of phenomenon is today almost generally spread and known by many people. To begin with I answer your first question. Mr. Bach was chosen for two reasons: first the sympathy that unites us; the second is totally in the interest of the Spiritist Doctrine. Given his position in the world, his age and long career honorably accomplished, his relationships with the press and the educated society made him the best instrument to give publicity to events that only the Spiritist press gives publicity. You were told many times that there would come a time when Spiritism would conquer its right to citizenship wherever there is reason, logic and common sense, being accepted even in journals that have denigrated it. Regarding the second question: Yes, you are right to seek the answer so that you avoid misunderstandings. The contribution – it is about contribution – has been made and it had the participation of the Spirit (me) and Mr. Bach, in the pure dream and in relation to the Spirits only.

Note: This last phrase has its explanation in the article that follows about dreams

I brought the piece of paper to Mr. Bach after taking it from a piece of furniture adjacent to his bedroom and the music was written by Mr. Bach himself that used his own body as a means of transmission. I wrote the words since I knew them, and the work may then be considered completely spiritual since Mr. Bach, in his dream, was almost completely dematerialized.

Q. – Any person that is a medium could have served in that case? A. – Certainly not because if Mr. Bach did not have the required skills it is likely that both of us would not have been chosen for that propagation.

Q. – How did Mr. Bach utilized his own body to write the music? Did he do that in somnambulistic state? A. – I said that he used his own body as a means of transmission because his is still incarnate and cannot act like a discarnate Spirit. An incarnate Spirit can only utilize the limbs and not the perispirit since it is the perispirit itself that keeps the Spirit bonded to the body.

Q. – Can you tell us who composed the lyrics? A. – If I had been the one I have a good dose of pride to keep the honor, but no. I clearly explained it saying that I knew the words. Those words as well as the music are really the composition and inspiration of my then master King Henry.

Q. – Would that be an indiscretion to ask you about your personality and to tell us what was your position under Henry III? A. – There is no indiscretion as long as there is general interest. I respond by saying that I left my homeland, Florence, coming to France and was introduced to the court by a princess that heard me singing and wanted to please the still infant, making him hear the poor minstrel. There was so much pleasure that they decided to have me at his disposal and I spent a long time by his side as a musician, but in reality, I was a friend that he liked a lot and that felt good with me. The fact that I died before him made me see how much he was attached based on his grief with the loss. My name was mentioned here: I was Baltazzarini.









Mrs. Delanne was present at the session and received identical answers given to Mr. Morin by hearing. The next day she wrote the communication below in her house that confirms and complements that of Baltazzarini:

“When the time is right God employs all means to have the divine science penetrating the layers of Society. Regardless of the opinion that one may have about the new ideas, each one must serve the cause, even if in spite of oneself, in the place where each one is placed. Since the Spirit of Mr. Bach lived in the domains of Henry III and personally related to the King as a close friend, he liked very much to hear those verses and in particular the music. The harpsichord was his favorite instrument. That is why the Spirit of Baltazzarini appeared to him and used that instrument to bring the Spirit of Bach back to the time in which he lived and to show him, as to science, that the doctrine of reincarnation is everyday confirmed by new proofs. The music alone would not have been sufficient to bring Mr. Bach to light immediately. He needed a phenomenon that he could not explain on his own, an entirely unconscious participation. He must promote the doctrine by telling this story, seeking to understand the means by which it was produced, asking the help of the minds that like him seek the truth. His respectable age, honorable position and reputation in the world and in literature, he is one of the first milestones planted in the rebellious world, considering his trustworthy good-faith; he cannot be taken by a mad person or have the authenticity of the manifestation denied. Besides, rest assured that all this happened by design. As you can see the press abstained from commenting and yet the article was produced by a non-believer, a jester of science that is the only one that could give a plausible explanation for the fact. God has his own points of view; he sows the divine see onto the hearts when he thinks it is appropriate. This event shall have more repercussion than you think. Work always quietly and wait confidently.

We have told you many times; at the right time and place God will solicit people and events that will lift the obstacles and give you the confirmation that the bases of the doctrine have received the sanction of the Spirit of Truth. Spiritism grows and expands; the branches of the gigantic and blessed tree reach out all over the globe. Spiritism daily conquers new followers in all classes and new phalanxes come to join the ranks of the discarnate. The more difficult your work becomes the greater the assistance of the good Spirits.

St. Benedict”

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[1] A dance music in triple metric (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarabande)


[2] Reference to the newly developed telegraph, in the first part of the nineteenth century (TN)